Nevada tenant screening laws

If you collect an application, credit report or background check fee and then rent the unit to someone else without doing the thing the fee paid for, refund the fee. You may not charge any of those fees for a minor who is a member of the applicant's household. Nevada's landlord and tenant chapter sets no dollar limit on these fees (NRS 118A.306).

• For this rule, a household means people living in the same home who are related by blood, adoption, marriage or domestic partnership, and a minor is anyone under 18 (NRS 118A.306(3)).
• When a prospective tenant asks, give them a copy of the written lease they would sign (NRS 118A.235).
• If the property is in any foreclosure proceeding, tell the prospective tenant in writing (NRS 118A.275).See Required disclosures and lease language on the Nevada page
• Advertising that shows a preference based on a protected characteristic, or refusing to rent because of one, is barred (NRS 118.100).See Fair housing on the Nevada page

Keep a clear screening file: what each fee pays for, whether that service was performed, what report information you checked, and what notice the applicant received. Review the Nevada fee rules above before collecting money (NRS 118A.306; FTC: landlord consumer-report guidance).

• For each permitted fee, record the service, payment and completion status. If you rent to someone else without performing the paid service, use those records to identify the required refund. Do not charge these fees for a household minor. Keep this fee record separate from the report’s findings and the rental decision (NRS 118A.306).See Application and screening fees on the Nevada page
• Check that the report belongs to the applicant and that dates and case outcomes are complete. An eviction filing or criminal charge does not by itself establish the outcome. Address mistaken identity, duplicate records or missing results through the reporting company’s correction process; do not substitute a vague risk label for the actual information. Apply fair-housing requirements and any additional rules that cover the property (FTC: tenant background checks and rights).See Fair housing on the Nevada page
• If a consumer report contributes to a denial or less favorable rent, deposit or cosigner terms, give the required adverse-action notice. Include the reporting company’s name, address and phone number; explain that it did not make the decision and cannot explain your reasons; and state the rights to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information and request a free report from that company within sixty days of the notice. Keep the decision reasons and notice delivery record, restrict report access and dispose of reports securely when retention duties allow. Additional duties can apply to credit scores and investigative reports (FTC: landlord consumer-report guidance).

Nevada's Fair Housing Law bars refusing to rent, setting different terms, deposits or services, or advertising a preference because of race, religious creed, color, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, ancestry, familial status or sex. It also bars falsely saying a unit is unavailable and interfering with anyone exercising these rights (NRS 118.100).

• Allow a tenant with a disability to make reasonable modifications at the tenant's own cost when needed to use the home, and make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies and services. Where reasonable, you may require restoration at move-out, reasonable wear and tear excepted (NRS 118.101(1), (2)).
• You may not refuse to rent to a person with a disability solely because an animal that assists, supports or serves the person will live there. You may ask for proof, such as a health care provider's statement (NRS 118.105).
• An owner of no more than three single-family houses who rents without a real estate licensee, and an owner living in a building of up to four units, are generally outside the law's definition of a dwelling, subject to limits on recent transactions, but the advertising ban still covers them (NRS 118.060(2); NRS 118.100(3)).
• A tenant may file a complaint with the Nevada Equal Rights Commission or sue in district court for actual and punitive damages, costs and attorney's fees, and a violation is a defense to an eviction (NRS 118.110; NRS 118.115; NRS 118.120).
• Familial status means living with a child under 18 in one's lawful custody or with the custodian's written permission, being pregnant, or being in the process of obtaining custody (NRS 118.065).
• The state animal-proof provision must be considered with independent federal limits on disability inquiries and reasonable accommodations. Federal rules generally bar inquiries about an applicant's disability or its nature or severity, while allowing specified inquiries made uniformly, including ability to meet tenancy requirements and eligibility for disability-specific housing. The accommodation regulation includes a guide dog under a no-pets policy and a needed reserved parking space as examples. Review the particular request under current law (NRS 118.105; 24 CFR 100.202 and 100.204).