NRS118B.150. Prohibited practices by landlord: Rent and additional charges; payments for improvements; meetings; utility services; guests; fences; dues for associations of members; public officers or candidates; trimming of trees.

      1.  Except as otherwise provided in subsections 2 and 3, the landlord or his or her agent or employee shall not:

      (a) Increase rent or additional charges unless:

             (1) The rent charged after the increase is the same rent charged for manufactured homes of the same size or lots of the same size or of a similar location within the park, including, without limitation, manufactured homes and lots which are held pursuant to a long-term lease, except that a discount may be selectively given to persons who:

                   (I) Are handicapped;

                   (II) Are 55 years of age or older;

                   (III) Are long-term tenants of the park if the landlord has specified in the rental agreement or lease the period of tenancy required to qualify for such a discount;

                   (IV) Pay their rent in a timely manner; or

                   (V) Pay their rent by check, money order or electronic means;

             (2) Any increase in additional charges for special services is the same amount for each tenant using the special service; and

             (3) Written notice advising a tenant of the increase is received by the tenant 90 days before the first payment to be increased and written notice of the increase is given to prospective tenants before commencement of their tenancy. In addition to the notice provided to a tenant pursuant to this subparagraph, if the landlord or his or her agent or employee knows or reasonably should know that the tenant receives assistance from the Fund for Low-Income Owners of Manufactured Homes created pursuant to NRS 118B.215, the landlord or his or her agent or employee shall provide to the Administrator written notice of the increase 90 days before the first payment to be increased.

      (b) Require a tenant to pay for an improvement to the common area of a manufactured home park unless the landlord is required to make the improvement pursuant to an ordinance of a local government.

      (c) Require a tenant to pay for a capital improvement to the manufactured home park unless the tenant has notice of the requirement at the time the tenant enters into the rental agreement. A tenant may not be required to pay for a capital improvement after the tenant enters into the rental agreement unless the tenant consents to it in writing or is given 60 days’ notice of the requirement in writing. The landlord may not establish such a requirement unless a meeting of the tenants is held to discuss the proposal and the landlord provides each tenant with notice of the proposal and the date, time and place of the meeting not less than 60 days before the meeting. The notice must include a copy of the proposal. A notice in a periodic publication of the park does not constitute notice for the purposes of this paragraph.

      (d) Require a tenant to pay the rent by check or money order.

      (e) Require a tenant who pays the rent in cash to apply any change to which the tenant is entitled to the next periodic payment that is due. The landlord or his or her agent or employee shall have an adequate amount of money available to provide change to such a tenant.

      (f) Prohibit or require fees or deposits for any meetings held in the park’s community or recreational facility by the tenants or occupants of any manufactured home or recreational vehicle in the park to discuss the park’s affairs, or any political meeting sponsored by a tenant, if the meetings are held at reasonable hours and when the facility is not otherwise in use, or prohibit the distribution of notices of those meetings.

      (g) Interrupt, with the intent to terminate occupancy, any utility service furnished the tenant except for nonpayment of utility charges when due. Any landlord who violates this paragraph is liable to the tenant for actual damages.

      (h) Prohibit a tenant from having guests, but the landlord may require the tenant to register the guest within 48 hours after his or her arrival, Sundays and legal holidays excluded, and if the park is a secured park, a guest may be required to register upon entering and leaving.

      (i) Charge a fee for a guest who does not stay with the tenant for more than a total of 60 days in a calendar year. The tenant of a manufactured home lot who is living alone may allow one other person to live in his or her home without paying an additional charge or fee, unless such a living arrangement constitutes a violation of chapter 315 of NRS. No agreement between a tenant and his or her guest alters or varies the terms of the rental contract between the tenant and the landlord, and the guest is subject to the rules and regulations of the landlord.

      (j) Prohibit a tenant from erecting a fence on the tenant’s lot if the fence complies with any standards for fences established by the landlord, including limitations established for the location and height of fences, the materials used for fences and the manner in which fences are to be constructed.

      (k) Prohibit any tenant from soliciting membership in any association which is formed by the tenants who live in the park. As used in this paragraph, “solicit” means to make an oral or written request for membership or the payment of dues or to distribute, circulate or post a notice for payment of those dues.

      (l) Prohibit a public officer, candidate for public office or the representative of a public officer or candidate for public office from walking through the park to talk with the tenants or distribute political material.

      (m) If a tenant has voluntarily assumed responsibility to trim the trees on his or her lot, require the tenant to trim any particular tree located on the lot or dispose of the trimmings unless a danger or hazard exists.

      2.  The landlord is entitled to require a security deposit from a tenant who wants to use the manufactured home park’s clubhouse, swimming pool or other park facilities for the tenant’s exclusive use. The landlord may require the deposit at least 1 week before the use. The landlord shall apply the deposit to costs which occur due to damage or cleanup from the tenant’s use within 1 week after the use, if any, and shall, on or before the eighth day after the use, refund any unused portion of the deposit to the tenant making the deposit. The landlord is not required to place such a deposit into a financial institution or to pay interest on the deposit.

      3.  The provisions of paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (j) and (m) of subsection 1 do not apply to a corporate cooperative park.

      4.  As used in this section, “long-term lease” means a rental agreement or lease the duration of which exceeds 12 months.

      (Added to NRS by 1981, 2028; A 1983, 1357; 1985, 2219; 1987, 983; 1989, 1795; 1991, 2277; 1995, 2755; 1997, 790, 1101, 2984; 1999, 3192; 2001, 1180, 1941; 2003, 2474; 2005, 1599)