Holdover Clause
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what Nevada law says, what's specific to Las Vegas - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- Our Nevada record sets no multiple of rent for holding over - NRS 118A.470 lets a landlord bring an action for possession and for rent and also recover actual damages.
- The multiplier Nevada law does name is in NRS 40.360(2) and it falls on damages: judgment is rendered for the rent and for three times the amount of the damages assessed.
- Which of those two provisions a residential holdover runs on is not something our Nevada record settles, so treat the treble-damages route as a question to put to a Nevada lawyer.
- Ending a periodic tenancy without cause takes at least 30 days' notice under NRS 40.251, at least 7 days week to week and at least 5 days for a tenancy at will.
- Our record finds no holdover rent provision in either the Las Vegas Municipal Code or the Clark County Code, so any premium above the rent already payable comes only from what the lease says.
Understanding the Holdover Clause
A holdover clause covers what happens when your lease term ends and you are still in the unit. Most Las Vegas leases use it to name a penalty rent, often a multiple of your normal rent, and to imply the eviction case starts the next morning.
Our Nevada record sets no multiple of rent for that situation. What NRS 118A.470 gives a landlord instead is an action for possession and for rent, plus actual damages - and the three-times figure our record does find sits in a different chapter, where it multiplies damages rather than rent.
What renters assume
Renters hear that Nevada law triples what a holdover costs, then read the penalty line in their lease as that statute at work.
What is actually true
The three multiplies damages, not rent. Under NRS 40.360(2) judgment is rendered for the rent and for three times the amount of the damages assessed, so the rent goes in at its own amount and any premium above it comes only from what the lease itself says.
Sixteen cities sit on that chart and only five of them carry a number. Miami collects 2x rent as double rent, Chicago 2x the yearly value on a willful holdover, Phoenix up to two months' rent on a willful one, and New York City 2x after the tenant's own notice. The other eleven rows, Las Vegas among them, carry no rent multiplier at all.
Nevada's row is the one that needs explaining, because it has no bar and still carries a note reading 3x damages. That chart measures a multiple of rent, and the multiplier in NRS 40.360(2) is applied to the damages a court or jury assesses, with the rent entered as its own separate part of the same judgment - so there is no rent multiple for the row to show.
Plain English Version
Nevada never set a price for the extra days. Two different parts of Nevada law describe what a landlord can be awarded when a tenant stays on, one of them multiplies by three, and the thing it multiplies is the proven loss rather than the rent, which goes in at what the rent actually is. That leaves the paragraph you signed as the document naming any figure above your ordinary rent.
Holdover Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Las Vegas, NV
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
If the Lessee retains possession of the Premises after the term of this lease expires, the Lessor may either accept further rent payments by the Lessee, in which case a month-to-month tenancy shall be created, or sue for possession; and Lessor shall be entitled to recover from Lessee all damages sustained by him as a result of Lessee's failure to vacate the Premises, including but not limited to lost rent, court costs and attorneys fees. In no case shall a holdover tenancy be created. In the event Lessee retains possession without Lessor[']s consent beyond the term of this lease, the monthly rental shall be 150% of the rental for the original term.
Quoted from the published opinion in Roth v. Dillavou, No. 2—04—0840 (Ill. App. Ct., 2d Dist., Sept. 8, 2005). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
“after the term of this lease expires, the Lessor may either”
Expiry is only one of the two doorways into NRS 118A.470. The section applies where a tenant remains in possession without the landlord's consent after the term expires or after the rental agreement is terminated, which puts a tenancy ended early and one that simply ran its course on the same footing.
“for possession; and Lessor shall be entitled”
On one side of that semicolon is the property, on the other the money, and NRS 118A.470 hands a landlord both in the same action: possession, rent, and actual damages as well. Actual damages is a figure a court arrives at from evidence of loss, not one a drafter settles in advance.
“Lessor[']s consent beyond the term”
Consent is what routes you into one branch of NRS 118A.470 or the other. Say the landlord agrees to your staying: the section turns the tenancy into a week to week one where you pay weekly rent and a month to month one in all other cases, carrying the same terms and conditions of the old rental agreement with it, unless specifically agreed otherwise. That final qualifier is the gap a lease climbs through when it prices a holdover itself.
“150% of the rental for the original term”
A multiple does appear in Nevada law, attached to a different quantity. NRS 40.360(2) has a court or jury assess the damages occasioned by the detainer, together with any amount found due for waste of the premises during the tenancy, then enters judgment for the rent and for three times the amount of the damages thus assessed. Nevada names no multiple of rent for holding over, which leaves the percentage in this sentence to the drafting. Read the current text of both sections before you rely on either figure.
The clause was enforced exactly as written. Because the lease itself said no holdover tenancy would arise - only a month-to-month one - the court held the original lease terms carried straight through the post-term period, which kept the tenant's co-signer on the hook for it. One judge dissented, warning that reading it this way exposes a guarantor to open-ended liability.
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Nevada Law on Holdover Clause
- NRS 118A.470 names no multiple of rent. Where a tenant remains in possession without the landlord's consent after the term expires or the agreement is terminated, the landlord may bring an action for possession and for rent and may also recover actual damages.
- The multiplier in Nevada law is in NRS 40.360(2) and it multiplies damages, not rent. The court or jury assesses the damages occasioned by the forcible entry or the forcible or unlawful detainer, together with any amount found due for waste of the premises during the tenancy, and judgment is rendered for the rent and for three times the amount of the damages thus assessed.
- If the landlord consents to the tenant's continued occupancy, NRS 118A.470 converts the tenancy to week to week where the tenant pays weekly rent and to month to month in all other cases, otherwise on the same terms and conditions as the old rental agreement unless specifically agreed otherwise.
- Ending a periodic tenancy without cause takes at least 30 days' notice, at least 7 days for a week-to-week tenancy and at least 5 days for a tenancy at will (NRS 40.251). Under NRS 40.360(3), where the unlawful detainer follows a default in rent and the lease has not expired by its own terms, execution on the judgment is held for 5 days so the tenant or another interested party may pay the judgment and costs into court and be restored.
NRS 118A.470; NRS 40.360(2) - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Holding over in Nevada is not priced as a multiple of your rent. NRS 118A.470 is a single paragraph, added to the statutes in 1977 and unamended since: where a tenant remains in possession without the landlord's consent after the term expires or the agreement is terminated, the landlord may bring an action for possession and for rent and may also recover actual damages.
The three-times figure lives somewhere else entirely. NRS 40.360(2) sits in the general forcible entry and unlawful detainer chapter, where the court or jury assesses the damages occasioned by the detainer together with any amount found due for waste of the premises during the tenancy, and judgment is rendered against a defendant guilty of that detainer for the rent and for three times the amount of the damages thus assessed.
Read that split slowly, because it is where the two get confused. The trebling attaches to the assessed damages; the rent is a separate part of the same judgment, at its own amount.
Here is the limit of what we can tell you. Our Nevada record does not settle which of those two provisions a residential holdover actually runs on, and that is not a gap we are going to fill with a guess - put it to a Nevada attorney, or to the Civil Law Self-Help Center, before you assume either one governs your situation.
Consent changes the shape of the question completely. Where the landlord agrees to your continued occupancy, NRS 118A.470 converts the tenancy to week to week if you pay weekly rent and to month to month in all other cases, otherwise on the same terms and conditions as the old rental agreement unless specifically agreed otherwise.
Notice comes first either way. NRS 40.251 takes at least 30 days' notice to end a periodic tenancy without cause, at least 7 days for a week-to-week tenancy and at least 5 days for a tenancy at will, and under NRS 40.360(3), where the unlawful detainer follows a default in rent and the lease has not expired by its own terms, execution on the judgment is held for 5 days so the tenant or another interested party may pay the judgment and costs into court and be restored.
One caution about every figure on this page. Because the statute text behind it was read from a republisher rather than the legislature's own published pages - so confirm the current text of NRS 118A.470, NRS 40.360 and NRS 40.251 before you rely on any day-count or figure here.
Nevada Tenant Protections
Our Nevada record sets no multiple of rent for a holdover. NRS 118A.470 lets a landlord bring an action for possession and for rent and also recover actual damages, and the three-times figure in NRS 40.360(2) is applied to the damages a court or jury assesses, together with any amount found due for waste, with the rent entered as its own part of the judgment.
Our record does not settle which of the two provisions a residential holdover runs on, so treat that as a question for a Nevada attorney rather than something this page can answer. Where the landlord consents to your staying, NRS 118A.470 continues the tenancy week to week if you pay weekly rent and month to month otherwise, on the old terms unless specifically agreed otherwise.
Ending a periodic tenancy without cause takes at least 30 days' notice under NRS 40.251, at least 7 days week to week and at least 5 days for a tenancy at will. Confirm the current statute text before acting on any of these figures.
What's Specific to Las Vegas
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
Las Vegas adds no holdover premium of its own. Our record finds no provision on holdover rent in either the Las Vegas Municipal Code, codified through Ordinance No. 6937 of January 21, 2026, or the Clark County Code, codified through Ordinance No. 5318 of November 19, 2025.
Which of those two codes covers you depends on your address, and here that is not a technicality. The municipal code governs the incorporated city, while the county code governs the unincorporated urban towns - Paradise, Winchester, Spring Valley, Enterprise, Sunrise Manor and Whitney - and neither one carries a holdover rent provision, so the answer does not change with the line on the map.
What is published locally is the route, not a price. The Civil Law Self-Help Center, operated by the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada under contract with Clark County, sets out the no-cause path a landlord takes when a tenancy ends: a 30-day notice, or 7 days where rent is paid weekly, followed by a 5-day notice to leave. NRS 40.251 matches those periods.
One extension is worth knowing before the clock starts. Under NRS 40.251, a tenant who is 60 or older, or who has a disability, may request an additional 30 days on written proof - so the request has to be made, and the proof has to be in writing.
Read that number closely. Our Nevada record sets no statutory multiple of rent, so the figure in front of you is a contract term.
In Nevada those are not the same thing. NRS 40.360(2) trebles the damages a court or jury assesses and enters the rent as its own part of the judgment.
Compare it to NRS 40.251 - at least 30 days to end a periodic tenancy without cause, at least 7 days week to week, at least 5 days for a tenancy at will.
It should. NRS 118A.470 continues the tenancy week to week where you pay weekly rent and month to month otherwise, on the old terms unless specifically agreed otherwise.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- NRS 118A.470; NRS 40.360(2), read on law.justia.com. Nevada publishes the official text at www.leg.state.nv.us.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
-
A penalty multiple after expiry
The clause jumps to a multiple of rent the day your term ends. Our Nevada record names no statutory rent multiple, so that rate is your landlord's ask.
-
Three times rent, written in
A clause borrowing Nevada's three and attaching it to rent. NRS 40.360(2) trebles assessed damages, and the rent goes into that judgment at its own amount.
-
Damages left undefined
A promise of all damages with nothing describing them. NRS 40.360(2) has a court or jury assess them, together with any amount found due for waste of the premises.
-
Only the 5-day notice named
The clause mentions a 5-day notice and stops. The no-cause route runs a 30-day notice first, or 7 days where rent is paid weekly.
-
Verbal permission to stay on
Consent decides which rule you are under. NRS 118A.470 continues the tenancy where the landlord agrees, so get that agreement in writing.
Your Rights as a Las Vegas Tenant
-
No multiple of your rent
NRS 118A.470 lets a landlord sue for possession and for rent and also recover actual damages. It names no multiple of the rent itself.
-
Written notice before a case
NRS 40.251 takes at least 30 days' notice without cause, at least 7 days week to week and at least 5 days for a tenancy at will.
-
An extra 30 days on request
NRS 40.251 lets a tenant who is 60 or older, or who has a disability, request an additional 30 days on written proof.
-
Consent continues the tenancy
NRS 118A.470 turns occupancy your landlord agrees to into week to week where you pay weekly rent, month to month otherwise, on the old terms.
What To Do - Step by Step
Find the end date and the clause
Open the lease, locate the term end date and the holdover paragraph, and read the exact rate it names. That number comes from the contract, not from our Nevada record.
Check whether it multiplies rent or damages
The distinction is the whole Nevada question. NRS 40.360(2) trebles the damages a court or jury assesses, and the rent is entered as its own part of the same judgment.
Get any permission to stay in writing
If your landlord agrees you can remain, save it. NRS 118A.470 continues the tenancy week to week where you pay weekly rent and month to month otherwise, which is a different situation from a holdover.
Count the notice against NRS 40.251
At least 30 days to end a periodic tenancy without cause, at least 7 days week to week, at least 5 days for a tenancy at will. Photograph the notice, note the delivery date, keep the envelope.
Ask for the extra 30 days if it applies
A tenant who is 60 or older, or who has a disability, may request an additional 30 days under NRS 40.251 on written proof. Make the request in writing and keep the copy.
Keep paying and keep receipts
Pay your ordinary rent on time and document every payment. Rent goes into a judgment at its own amount, and non-payment hands a landlord a far cleaner case than a holdover argument ever does.