Responding to a Nevada summary eviction: file the affidavit by the fifth judicial day
Nevada procedure · Last verified August 17, 2026
Nevada's summary eviction is the most tenant-unfriendly procedural design in American landlord-tenant law, and not because of what it says about the merits. It is because of who has to file.
In an ordinary lawsuit the party seeking relief files first. In a Nevada summary eviction, the landlord serves a notice and then waits. If the tenant files nothing, the landlord applies and gets an order without any further notice to the tenant.
Doing nothing loses.
A note on sources
Nevada's summary eviction procedure is NRS 40.253 and 40.254, in Chapter 40 of the Nevada Revised Statutes, and it runs in justice court under the Justice Court Rules of Civil Procedure. This site's Nevada corpus publishes the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure, which govern district court — so both the statute and the justice court rules sit outside it.
This page therefore describes the procedure and cites it precisely rather than reproducing the text. The official statutes are published by the Nevada Legislature; the Nevada Supreme Court publishes self-help forms and instructions at nvcourts.gov.
The five judicial days
Under NRS 40.253, a tenant may contest the eviction by filing an affidavit with the court that has jurisdiction, before the close of business on the fifth judicial day after the day of service of the notice, stating the reasons why the tenant is not guilty of an unlawful detainer.
Three parts of that need care:
"Judicial days" are not calendar days. Weekends and court holidays do not count, so the actual calendar date is later than five days — but it is also not seven or ten, and it must be computed against the court's own calendar.
"Before the close of business" — not merely on the fifth day. A filing attempted after hours on day five is late.
"With the court" — the affidavit goes to the justice court identified on the notice, not to the landlord.
If nothing is filed, the position is stark: the landlord can obtain an eviction order from the judge at the end of the five days without any further notice.
What the affidavit is for
The affidavit states why the tenant is not guilty of an unlawful detainer. It is not a request for time, and it is not a hardship letter. It is a statement of the legal and factual reasons the eviction should not proceed — for example:
- the rent claimed has been paid, or is not owed in the amount stated;
- the notice was defective in form, content, or service;
- the notice period had not expired when the landlord applied;
- the landlord is retaliating, or the eviction is otherwise prohibited;
- habitability or repair issues that the law recognizes as an answer; or
- the tenancy is not of a type the summary procedure reaches.
Filing the affidavit converts the matter into something the court must actually decide, usually at a hearing.
Two different statutes
| Statute | What it covers |
|---|---|
| NRS 40.253 | summary eviction for default in payment of rent |
| NRS 40.254 | summary eviction and exclusion of a tenant from certain types of property, including no-cause situations |
The notice you received should identify which is in play, and the answer to "how long do I have" is the same five judicial days in the summary procedure.
Separately, NRS 40.251 allows a no-cause notice once a periodic tenancy or lease term has ended, and that notice does not have to give a reason.
The notice must tell you where to file
The statutory notice must advise the tenant of the court that has jurisdiction over the matter. If the notice you received does not identify the court, that is a defect worth raising — and practically, it is the first thing to look for, because you cannot file the affidavit without knowing where.
What this procedure is not
A summary eviction is not a money judgment. It decides possession. A landlord who wants unpaid rent as a judgment generally has to bring a separate action, which is why some tenants find an eviction order and a later collection suit arriving from the same dispute.
If a money judgment has been entered against you and enforcement has begun, that is a different problem with different remedies — and if the judgment was entered by default in district court, setting aside a Nevada default judgment covers NRCP 60(b) and the special route for defendants who were never personally served.
How Nevada compares
| Nevada summary eviction | Colorado | Texas | Illinois | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who files first | the tenant | the landlord files a complaint | the landlord files | the landlord files |
| Tenant's deadline | 5 judicial days from service of the notice | by the return date | by the answer date | by the return date |
| Consequence of not filing | order without further notice | default | default | default |
| Where the response goes | the justice court on the notice | the court | the court | the court |
| Counts calendar or judicial days | judicial | calendar | calendar | calendar |
That first row is the whole story. Nevada is one of very few places where the party being sued has to open the court file.
A short checklist
- Find the date of service of the notice and count five judicial days — excluding weekends and court holidays.
- File before the close of business on that fifth judicial day. After hours is late.
- Identify the court on the notice. The affidavit goes there, not to the landlord.
- Say why you are not guilty of an unlawful detainer — payment, a defective notice, an expired or improper notice period, retaliation, or the type of tenancy.
- Do not rely on talking to the landlord. Negotiations do not stop the five judicial days.
- Keep a file-stamped copy.
- Check whether the notice identified the correct court and statute. Defects in the notice are themselves a reason the eviction should not proceed.
- Expect possession only. Unpaid rent is usually pursued separately, so an eviction order is not necessarily the end of the dispute.
Where these rules live
- NRCP 60 — Relief from a judgment or order
- NRCP 65 — Injunctions
- NRCP 6 — Computing and Extending Time
- Official material: NRS 40.251, 40.253 and 40.254, published by the Nevada Legislature, and the Nevada Supreme Court's landlord-tenant forms and instructions at nvcourts.gov.
This page explains how the procedure works. It isn't legal advice. NRS Chapter 40 and the Justice Court Rules of Civil Procedure are outside this site's Nevada corpus, which publishes the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure; check the current statute and your local justice court's requirements before relying on the deadlines described here.