Q1. When did the new 60-day notice requirement for rental increases take effect?
A1. July 1, 2021. Which surprises many people because when you look up NRS 118A.300, it still has the old 45-day notice in the text. While the actual codification of the change into law has not yet occurred, the bill’s history (AB308) provides an effective date of July 1, 2021 and that’s the date courts will hold property managers to for any notices of rent increases served July 1st and beyond.

AB 308 Overview via NELIS: AB308 Overview (state.nv.us)
The Bill as Enrolled to see changes to NRS 118A.300: AB308 Text (state.nv.us)

Q2. I sent a rent increase notice to my tenant via Email, is that proper service?
A2. If the letter of the law is followed, no. Per NRS 118A.190, all written notices to the tenant prescribed by that chapter, which include advance notice of increased rent (NRS 118A.300), must be served by the sheriff, a constable, a person who is licensed as a process server or the agent of an attorney licensed to practice in this State. If this is not how property management brokerages are conducting their notices, it’s subject to judicial discretion whether the notice will be accepted at all or for a judge to determine whether service suffices based on if the tenant has actual knowledge of it; actually received a notice; or from all the facts and circumstances the tenant reasonably should know that it exists (NRS 118A.190(1)(a), (b), ( c), respectively).

Contrary to popular belief, the requirement that only eviction notices have to be officially served is not what the black and white letters of the law say. Again, all notices to the tenant identified in NRS 118A must be served in the manner identified in NRS 40.280. It’s important not to compound what NRS 40.280 governs with NRS 118A.190, which is only referring to NRS
40.280 to describe the way in which all notices under NRS 118A must be served.

Circling back to the original question presented, is email sufficient service? Depends. Serving the rent increase notice in any other manner not prescribed by NRS 40.280, leaves it up to chance. If the judge allows it, the landlord/property manager would have to present the facts and circumstances to show actual knowledge or receipt, such as an Email reply back from the tenant saying “I received it” or something to that effect – which again, depending on the judge, may or may not be sufficient.  

Ed Kania from the Law Office of Ed Kania recently stated: “NRS 118A.190 technically says that the property manager can’t serve their own rent increase notices. I have never encountered the courts disallowing a rent increase notice because it was not served properly but that doesn’t mean that the courts might not suddenly decide to start enforcing it.”