Can My Landlord Keep My Deposit Over Mold?
A landlord can only keep your deposit over mold if the mold was damage you caused, beyond normal wear and tear. Under NRS 118A.242 a Nevada landlord may apply a security deposit to unpaid rent, to damage the tenant caused other than normal wear, and to reasonable cleaning costs. Nothing else.
So the argument is never really about mold. It is about cause. Mold from a failing roof, a slab leak or a plumbing fault is the landlord’s repair obligation, not your damage. Mold from a bathroom that was never ventilated over two years is a harder conversation.
The three things a deposit can be used for
NRS 118A.242 is narrow, and the narrowness is the tenant’s protection:
- Unpaid rent. Straightforward and rarely disputed.
- Damage the tenant caused, other than normal wear and tear. This is where mold claims live, and where they are won or lost.
- Reasonable costs of cleaning. Cleaning, not remediation of a building defect.
Normal wear and tear is explicitly excluded. That phrase does a lot of work here, because deterioration a building experiences through ordinary use is not chargeable to you.
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Whose fault was the water?
Every mold deposit dispute reduces to that question, and the answer usually sits in the building rather than in your behaviour.
If the moisture came from something the landlord is required to maintain under NRS 118A.290, which includes waterproofing of the roof and exterior walls, plumbing in good working order, and ventilation and air-conditioning in good repair, then the mold is a consequence of a repair obligation. A landlord cannot charge a tenant for the results of their own deferred maintenance.
If the moisture came from something you did or failed to do, the picture changes. A shower run for months with a broken extractor you never reported, a leak you noticed and did not mention, or a window left open through a monsoon storm are all arguments a landlord can make. Note the pattern in each: the tenant knew and stayed silent. Reporting promptly is what removes that argument entirely.
This is the practical reason to put every maintenance concern in writing while you live there. The same paper trail that starts the repair clock also proves, months later, that you told them.
The 30 day rule, and the penalty for missing it
If you are charged anyway
Ask for the itemised accounting in writing if you did not receive one, and ask specifically what the mold charge covers and what caused the moisture. A landlord who cannot answer the second question is on weak ground.
Where a landlord did remediation, ask for the scope and any lab results. Proper remediation produces documents. If there are none, what happened was probably cleaning, which is a different charge with a different justification.
Nevada Legal Services and the Clark County self-help centre handle deposit disputes routinely, and small claims exists for exactly this. For what a landlord owes you during the tenancy rather than after it, see renters rights for mold in Las Vegas.
This is general information about Nevada statute, not legal advice. Speak to an attorney about your situation.
Common questions
- Can my landlord keep my deposit for mold in Nevada?
- Only if the mold is damage you caused beyond normal wear and tear, or falls under reasonable cleaning costs. NRS 118A.242 limits deposit use to unpaid rent, tenant-caused damage other than normal wear, and reasonable cleaning. Mold caused by a building defect the landlord must maintain is not tenant damage.
- How long does my landlord have to return it?
- Thirty days after the tenancy ends, either returning the deposit or providing an itemised written accounting of how it was applied.
- What if they miss the 30 days?
- The landlord becomes liable for damages equal to the entire deposit, plus additional damages up to the deposit amount again, as the court determines. The court weighs the landlord’s good faith, course of conduct, and the harm caused.
- Is mold ever normal wear and tear?
- Surface mildew in a shower that cleans off is ordinarily maintenance rather than damage. Growth inside walls, in flooring or across a ceiling is not wear and tear at all; it is the result of a moisture source, and the question becomes who was responsible for that source.
- They say I caused it by not ventilating. Now what?
- Ask what the moisture source was and whether the ventilation system was in good repair, which is one of the landlord’s duties. If the extractor fan did not work and you reported it, the argument largely collapses. If you never reported it, expect it to be contested.
Landlords and property managers: document it properly
A written finding on the moisture source settles most deposit disputes before they start. Free on-site inspection for property owners and managers.