Tenant Advocates Push to Overhaul Nevada's Fast Summary Eviction Process Ahead of the 2027 Legislative Session

What happened

Tenant advocates, attorneys and elected officials held a press conference last Wednesday calling for changes to Nevada's summary eviction process, the Nevada Current reported. The event followed a morning of eviction court-watching by the Nevada Housing Justice Alliance, which has monitored eviction hearings over the past several years.

Ben Iness, coalition coordinator with the alliance, called eviction courts "the culminating venue of our state's housing crisis and affordability crisis." Democratic Assemblymember Erica Mosca and Democratic U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford also attended, according to the outlet. For more on housing costs in the valley, see our real estate coverage.

How Nevada's summary eviction process works

Tenants must file first

Under Nevada's summary eviction process, tenants rather than landlords must start a court proceeding or face being evicted summarily, the Nevada Current reported. Jonathan Norman, advocacy, outreach and policy director for the Nevada Coalition of Legal Service Providers, said having the tenant file the first pleading is "contrary to every other civil process in the United States."

A two-minute hearing

The Current described one case observed that morning involving a mother of three children who was behind $3,287 in rent from August. Her proceeding before hearing master Daniel Westmeyer lasted roughly two minutes. She told the court she had been rebuilding her life after homelessness when her daughter got sick and she missed work. The eviction was granted but stayed for 10 days.

Legal challenge to hearing masters

Lawyers at the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada filed a lawsuit last month arguing it is unconstitutional for a hearing master, rather than an elected judge, to rule in summary eviction cases, according to the Current. Norman said every other justice court in Nevada uses an elected justice of the peace for eviction cases, and that only Las Vegas Justice Court relies on unelected hearing officers.

What the filing numbers show

A Nevada Supreme Court report cited by the Current counted 78,000 eviction filings in Nevada in fiscal year 2025. Roughly 54,000 of them were filed at Las Vegas Justice Court. Filings had reached nearly 85,000 in fiscal 2024, a jump that followed the expiration of earlier eviction protections and rental assistance funding.

A 2021 state law paused eviction proceedings while rental assistance applications were processed, and it expired in 2023. A scaled-back version of that protection was vetoed the same year, the outlet reported.

Vetoes and the governor's race

The legislative record

Lawmakers first sought to change the process in 2021, when Democrats controlled the governor's office and both legislative houses, but the bill was turned into a study bill. Reform bills passed in the 2023 and 2025 sessions, and Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed both. His 2023 veto message said the bill would "impose additional and unnecessary delays" on property owners.

Lawmakers also passed caps on rent increases for seniors, 10% in 2023 and 5% in 2025, and Lombardo vetoed both. Bills on habitability and automatic sealing of eviction records passed in 2025 and were killed by Lombardo, according to the Current.

What the governor's office points to

Lombardo's office did not answer whether he would reconsider his stance. It pointed to 2025 legislation he signed sending $21 million in eviction diversion rental assistance to county governments, and a bill adding modest transparency around rental prices in leases. He had vetoed a nearly identical transparency bill in 2023.

Ford's position

Attorney General Aaron Ford, who is running against Lombardo, told the Current he "would support efforts to bring Nevada's summary eviction process in line with the rest of the nation." His campaign said he would also back making price-fixing on essential goods such as rent illegal and limiting rent increases for seniors. Ford's 2025 price-fixing bill was vetoed. Follow the race in our elections coverage.

What to watch next

• Norman said he expects Assemblymember Elaine Marzola, presumed to be Assembly Speaker, to carry another summary eviction reform bill in the 2027 Legislative Session.
• State lawmakers have announced a plan to reintroduce a 10% rent cap for seniors in 2027.
• Advocates plan to bring back bills on habitability and automatic sealing of eviction records.