Renter rights by state

Nebraska renter rights: the basics for first-time renters

Last reviewed: October 2026 · First Apartment Kit

Nebraska renters are covered by the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 76-1401 to 76-1449. This guide summarizes the key sections of that law, read directly on the Nebraska Legislature's website, plus the Nebraska Judicial Branch's renter and landlord self-help pages.

Quick facts

Quick facts are simplified. Read the sections below for exceptions, and check your city or county too.

Security deposits

• Cap: a landlord can't take more than one month's rent as security, however it's labeled. A separate pet deposit of up to one-fourth of a month's rent is allowed when it makes sense. (Housing agencies under the Nebraska Housing Agency Act are exempt from the cap.)
• Deductions: unpaid rent and damage caused by your breaking the lease or failing to meet your duties as a tenant.
• Return: the balance and a written itemization must be delivered or mailed to you within 14 days after the tenancy ends. If you don't leave a mailing address, the landlord mails it to your last known address, so give a forwarding address in writing.
• If the landlord doesn't follow the rules: you can recover the money due, court costs, and reasonable attorney's fees. If the failure was willful and in bad faith, you can also get the lesser of one month's rent or twice the deposit.
• Government-ordered move-outs: you aren't liable for damages tied to having to leave because a government agency found the home unfit due to the landlord's neglect.

Rent increases and late fees

Nebraska's landlord-tenant Act doesn't limit how much rent can go up or how big a late fee can be, so those come down to your lease. Read the late-fee terms before you sign.

The Act bans certain lease clauses: you can't be made to give up your rights under the Act, agree to a confession of judgment, agree to pay attorney's fees, or excuse the landlord's own negligence. Those clauses are unenforceable even if you signed them.

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

Either side can end a month-to-month tenancy with written notice at least 30 days before the rent day named in the notice. A week-to-week tenancy needs at least 7 days' written notice. A fixed-term lease generally runs to its end date. A tenant who stays after the tenancy ends without the landlord's consent can be sued for possession and, if the holdover is willful and in bad faith, may owe up to three months' rent or triple damages.

When the landlord can come in

You can't unreasonably refuse entry for inspections, repairs, services, or showings. Except in an emergency or when it isn't practical, the landlord must give at least 24 hours' written notice to each unit, stating the purpose of the visit and a reasonable time window, and must enter only at reasonable times. The landlord can't abuse access or use it to harass you.

Repairs and living conditions

The landlord must follow housing codes that affect health and safety, keep the home fit and habitable, keep common areas clean and safe, maintain electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and supplied appliances, provide trash receptacles and removal, and supply running water, reasonable hot water, and reasonable heat.

• End the lease: for a serious problem affecting health and safety, give written notice that the lease will end on a date at least 30 days away unless it's fixed within 14 days.
• No heat, water, hot water, or essential services: after written notice, you can buy reasonable amounts of the service and deduct the actual cost from rent, sue for the reduced rental value, or move to reasonable substitute housing and not pay rent during that time.
• Damages: you can sue for damages and a court order, with attorney's fees if the landlord's failure was willful.
• Defense: if you're sued for nonpayment, you can counterclaim for what the landlord owes you. The court may order you to pay rent into court while the case is pending.

None of these remedies apply to problems you or your guests caused. Always give notice in writing and keep a copy.

Eviction basics

If rent is late, the landlord can give written notice that the lease will end if you don't pay within 7 calendar days. For other serious lease violations, the notice is 30 days with 14 days to fix the problem. Certain violent or drug-related criminal activity can bring a 5-day notice with no right to cure.

Only a court can evict you. The landlord files a complaint for restitution, and the summons must be served within 3 court days of being issued. The trial is held 10 to 14 days after the summons is issued, before a judge, so show up. If the landlord wins, a sheriff or constable restores possession on a date no more than 10 days after the writ issues. A landlord who locks you out or willfully cuts off electric, gas, water, or another essential service owes you three months' rent as damages plus attorney's fees.

Retaliation and discrimination

A landlord can't retaliate by raising rent, cutting services, or bringing or threatening an eviction because you complained to a housing code agency about a health or safety violation or joined a tenants' union. Retaliation is a defense to eviction. Exceptions apply if you caused the code violation or are behind on rent.

Nebraska's Fair Housing Act (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 20-318) bars housing discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, disability, familial status, sex, or military or veteran status. The Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission takes complaints.

City and county rules

The state Act applies statewide, but many cities have their own housing codes, and the Act ties a landlord's repair duties to the local minimum housing code where one exists. Check your city's code enforcement office for inspections.

Move-in checklist for Nebraska renters

• ☐ Get a written lease and read all of it before signing
• ☐ Get a receipt for the deposit and any move-in money
• ☐ Photograph every room, dated, before you unpack
• ☐ Fill out (or write your own) move-in condition list and keep a copy
• ☐ Note the rent due date, grace period, and late fee
• ☐ Write down how to request repairs, and do it in writing
• ☐ Save the landlord's legal name and address for notices
• ☐ Put your notice deadline for moving out in your calendar

Still apartment hunting? Our list of questions to ask a landlord before signing a lease covers deposits, fees, repairs, and move-out rules you will want answered in writing.

Where to get help in Nebraska

• Nebraska Judicial Branch — Renter/Landlord self-help — official court information; links to Legal Aid's forms.
• Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission — housing discrimination complaints.
• Find free legal aid near you — the federal Legal Services Corporation's directory of local legal aid offices.
• File a housing discrimination complaint with HUD — the federal fair housing agency.

More help

Nonprofit and legal aid resources (not government sources):

• Legal Aid of Nebraska — free help for eligible renters (nonprofit).
• Law Help Nebraska — forms and information from Legal Aid of Nebraska (nonprofit).

Official sources

These are the official state law and government pages we checked for every fact on this page. The law itself controls if anything here differs.

• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1415, Prohibited lease provisions
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1416, Security deposits
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1419, Landlord to maintain fit premises
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1423, Access
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1425, Noncompliance by landlord
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1427, Failure to supply heat, water, or essential services
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1428, Landlord noncompliance as defense
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1430, Unlawful ouster or cutoff of services
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1431, Tenant noncompliance; 7-day nonpayment notice
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1437, Periodic tenancies; holdover
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1439, Retaliation prohibited
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1442 and 76-1446, Summons and trial timing
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 20-318, Fair housing
• Nebraska Judicial Branch, Renter/Landlord self-help

Not legal advice; laws change and cities may add rules. Check the official sources below or a local legal aid office. This page is a plain-language summary written by First Apartment Kit, not the law itself. Last reviewed: October 2026.

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