Nevada Fair Housing Laws: Protected Classes, Complaints, and Remedies

Nevada’s fair housing laws prohibit landlords, sellers, real estate agents, property managers, and lenders from discriminating against you based on race, religious creed, color, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, ancestry, familial status, or sex.¹ The protections cover the entire housing process, from your first inquiry about a unit through the terms of your lease or purchase. Nevada tracks the federal Fair Housing Act but goes further, expressly adding sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and ancestry to the list of protected classes.

Who Is Protected

NRS 118.100 lists ten protected characteristics.¹ The federal Fair Housing Act covers seven of them: race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability.² Nevada adds sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and ancestry.

Two of these classes need a closer look because their definitions decide who qualifies.

Familial Status

Familial status means living with a child under 18 when you have lawful custody or written permission from the custodial parent, being pregnant, or being in the process of adopting or obtaining custody of a child.³ A landlord cannot turn you away, charge you more, or push you toward a different unit because you have kids.

One exception: a community that qualifies as housing for older persons under the federal Housing for Older Persons Act can lawfully exclude families with children if at least 80 percent of occupied units have a resident 55 or older and the community follows specific verification and publication rules.

Disability

Disability under Nevada law is a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such an impairment, or being regarded as having one.⁴ The definition is broad on purpose. It covers visible conditions like mobility limitations and invisible ones like chronic illness, PTSD, or depression. Housing providers cannot ask whether you have a disability or what kind. They can only ask for limited verification when you request a specific accommodation.

What Landlords, Sellers, and Agents Cannot Do

The statute reaches far beyond outright refusals. NRS 118.100 makes several categories of conduct illegal:¹

Refusing to sell, rent, or negotiate with someone because of a protected characteristic.
Charging higher rent, demanding a larger deposit, or imposing stricter lease terms on some tenants than others.
Telling a prospective tenant a unit is unavailable when it actually is.
Steering applicants toward or away from particular neighborhoods or buildings.
Blockbusting: trying to profit by pressuring homeowners to sell with claims that people of a certain race, religion, or background are moving in.
Publishing a listing or notice that expresses a preference or exclusion based on a protected characteristic, whether in print, online, or through targeted digital advertising.

The advertising rule catches more than blunt statements like “no children.” Language that would discourage a reasonable person in a protected class from applying, such as “ideal for young professionals,” can be used as evidence of discrimination. HUD has also made clear that ad-targeting tools on social media and search platforms can violate the Fair Housing Act even without the advertiser’s knowledge, because algorithms can end up excluding people based on race, sex, familial status, or other protected traits.⁵

Retaliation

NRS 118.100(6) makes it illegal to coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with anyone exercising fair housing rights or helping someone else exercise them. A landlord cannot raise your rent, refuse to renew, cut off services, or harass you because you filed a complaint, cooperated with an investigation, or testified for another tenant. If a landlord tries to evict you in retaliation, NRS 118.115 gives you a defense in the possession proceeding.⁶

Disability Accommodations and Modifications

Nevada law creates two separate rights for tenants with disabilities, and who pays depends on which one you’re using.

A reasonable accommodation is a change to a rule, policy, or service. The landlord pays, because nothing is being built or altered. Common examples include waiving a no-pet policy for an assistance animal, assigning an accessible parking space, or allowing a live-in aide in a unit with single-occupancy limits.⁷

For assistance animals, NRS 118.105 prohibits a landlord from refusing to rent to a person with a disability solely because an assistance animal will live in the unit. The landlord can ask for proof that the animal provides assistance, support, or a service related to the disability. A statement from a healthcare provider confirming that role is enough.⁸ The landlord cannot demand detailed medical records or a specific diagnosis.

A reasonable modification is a physical change to the unit or common areas: grab bars, wider doorways, a ramp. The tenant pays. The landlord can require you to restore the unit to its original condition when you leave (minus normal wear and tear), and can require an additional security deposit to cover estimated restoration costs. That deposit must go into an interest-bearing account, and the interest belongs to you. A landlord cannot raise your standard security deposit simply because you requested a modification.⁷

Criminal Background Screening

No Nevada or federal law bans criminal background checks in housing. But HUD guidance warns that blanket policies rejecting anyone with any criminal history can violate the Fair Housing Act through disparate impact, because conviction rates differ significantly across racial and ethnic groups. A screening rule that produces that effect without a legitimate business justification exposes the landlord to liability.

Arrest records carry almost no weight on their own. HUD’s position is that there is virtually no situation where an unresolved arrest, standing alone, is a legitimate screening factor. Blanket bans on all convictions are also suspect. Landlords are expected to evaluate applicants individually, weighing the nature and severity of the offense, how much time has passed, and evidence of rehabilitation, and to give applicants a chance to explain before deciding. Whatever policy a landlord uses has to be applied the same way to every applicant.

Exemptions You Should Know About

A handful of narrow federal exemptions apply in Nevada. They are read narrowly, and none of them permits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin. The prohibition on discriminatory advertising also stays in effect even where an exemption otherwise applies.

Owner-occupied buildings with no more than four rental units, where the owner lives in one of them (the “Mrs. Murphy” exemption).²
A single-family home sold or rented by a private owner without a broker, if the owner does not own more than three such homes at the time.
Housing owned or operated by a religious organization, which may limit occupancy to members of that religion so long as membership itself is not restricted by race, color, or national origin.
Private clubs not open to the public, which may limit lodging to members under the same racial-neutrality condition.
Housing for older persons under the federal Housing for Older Persons Act, which is exempt from familial status protections if it meets the 80 percent occupancy rule and the community’s verification and publication requirements.

Using a property manager or listing through a real estate broker usually knocks a landlord out of the owner-occupied and single-family exemptions.

How to File a Complaint

If you believe a landlord, seller, agent, or lender has discriminated against you, you have three routes, each with its own deadline. You do not have to pick just one, and you do not have to exhaust the administrative process before going to court.

Administrative Complaint With NERC or HUD

You can file with the Nevada Equal Rights Commission under the procedure set out in NRS 233.160, or directly with HUD.⁹ The HUD deadline is one year from the last act of discrimination.¹⁰ Your complaint should describe what happened, the dates, who was involved, and any evidence you have: emails, texts, application paperwork, lease documents, and names of witnesses.

The agency will investigate, review documents, interview parties, and often try to resolve the matter through conciliation. If that fails and investigators find reasonable cause, the case can go to an administrative hearing or be referred to the Nevada Attorney General or the U.S. Department of Justice.

Lawsuit in State or Federal Court

You can sue to enforce NRS 118.100 in Nevada district court within the timeframe set by NRS 118.120.¹¹ You can also file a private federal lawsuit within two years of the most recent discriminatory act. If you already filed with HUD, the time HUD spent processing your complaint does not count against that two-year federal deadline.¹⁰

What You Can Recover

A successful fair housing claim can produce several kinds of relief.

Actual damages cover documented losses: higher rent you paid after being denied a unit, moving costs, and the expense of finding alternative housing. Emotional distress damages are also available. You do not need a psychiatric diagnosis to recover them, though testimony from a mental health professional strengthens the claim. Courts may add punitive damages in egregious cases. A prevailing plaintiff can also recover court costs and reasonable attorney fees under NRS 118.120.¹¹

Injunctive relief is often the most practically valuable outcome. A court can order the landlord to stop the practice, rent you the next available unit, change screening policies, undergo fair housing training, or take other corrective steps.

Civil penalties apply when the U.S. Department of Justice brings a case, typically in pattern-or-practice situations. The statutory base amounts are up to $50,000 for a first violation and up to $100,000 for subsequent violations.¹² Those figures are adjusted for inflation. As of mid-2025, the adjusted amounts are $131,308 for a first violation and $262,614 for subsequent violations.¹³ Lower penalty tiers apply in administrative proceedings before a HUD administrative law judge, and penalties climb significantly for repeat violators.

1
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 118.100 – Prohibited Acts and Practices
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3604 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing and Other Prohibited Practices
3
Nevada Public Law. NRS 118.065 – Familial Status Defined
4
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code NRS 118.045 – Disability Defined
5
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Guidance on Application of the Fair Housing Act to the Advertising of Housing, Credit, and Other Real Estate-Related Transactions through Digital Platforms
6
Nevada Legislature. NRS Chapter 118 – Discrimination in Housing – Section 118.115
7
Nevada Legislature. NRS Chapter 118 – Discrimination in Housing – Section 118.101
8
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code NRS 118.105 – Landlord May Not Refuse to Rent Dwelling Because Person With Disability Will Reside With Animal That Provides Assistance, Support or Service
9
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 118.110 – Aggrieved Person May File Complaint
10
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Learn About FHEO’s Process to Report and Investigate Housing Discrimination
11
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 118.120 – Actions for Injunction or Damages
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3614 – Enforcement by Attorney General
13
eCFR. 28 CFR Part 85 – Civil Monetary Penalties Inflation Adjustment