What do Nebraska landlord tenant laws say about repairs, entry and deposits?

Nebraska landlord tenant day counts and deposit limits, with sources

Download this table: CSV or JSON.

What repairs is a landlord responsible for in Nebraska?

Section 76-1419(1) of the Nebraska Revised Statutes, read 2026-10-29 on nebraskalegislature.gov, puts four duties on the landlord, the first two owed after written or actual notice and the first tied to the minimum housing codes: “(1) The landlord shall: (a) Substantially comply, after written or actual notice, with the requirements of the applicable minimum housing codes materially affecting health and safety; (b) Make all repairs and do whatever is necessary, after written or actual notice, to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition; (c) Keep all common areas of the premises in a clean and safe condition; (d) Maintain in good and safe working order and condition all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and other facilities and appliances, including elevators, supplied or required to be supplied by him or her;” (Nebraska Revised Statutes 76-1419) Items (e) and (f) of that subsection add receptacles for ashes, garbage, rubbish and other waste, running water, reasonable amounts of hot water and reasonable heat.

Where a minimum housing code applies to the premises, the closing sentence of 76-1419(1) makes subdivision (1)(a) the measure of the landlord's maximum duty, so the duties owed after written or actual notice are read against that code. Work shifts to the tenant only by agreement: in a single-family residence, 76-1419(2) allows a deal in writing, for good consideration and in good faith, covering (1)(e), (1)(f) and specified repairs; for any other dwelling unit, 76-1419(3) calls for a separate writing signed by the parties and supported by adequate consideration, and the agreement does not diminish or affect the obligation of the landlord to other tenants.

For a habitability repair at a Nebraska rental, such as a broken furnace, a plumbing leak or a waste area that needs work, a property manager can post the job on InstaBids and get written bids.

How long does a landlord have to make repairs in Nebraska?

Section 76-1425(1), read 2026-10-29, names no finish date for a repair; the count is fourteen days, and it runs inside the tenant's written notice of a material noncompliance by the landlord: “(1) Except as provided in the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, if there is a material noncompliance by the landlord with the rental agreement or a noncompliance with section 76-1419 materially affecting health and safety, the tenant may deliver a written notice to the landlord specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach and that the rental agreement will terminate upon a date not less than thirty days after receipt of the notice if the breach is not remedied in fourteen days, and the rental agreement shall terminate as provided in the notice subject to the following.” (Nebraska Revised Statutes 76-1425)

The next sentence of 76-1425(1) keeps the agreement alive: if the breach is remediable by repairs or the payment of damages or otherwise and the landlord adequately remedies the breach prior to the date specified in the notice, the rental agreement will not terminate.

When a tenant's written notice names a repair, a property manager can describe that repair once on InstaBids, add photos and compare written bids side by side.

How much notice does a landlord have to give before entering in Nebraska?

Section 76-1423(3), read 2026-10-29, sets the count in hours and in writing, except in case of emergency or if it is impracticable to do so: “Except in case of emergency or if it is impracticable to do so, the landlord shall: (a) Give the tenant at least twenty-four hours' written notice of the landlord's intent to enter. Such notice shall be provided to each individual unit and include the intended purpose for entry and a reasonable period during which the landlord anticipates making entry; and” (Nebraska Revised Statutes 76-1423)

For an emergency, 76-1423(2) drops the consent step: “(2) The landlord may enter the dwelling unit without consent of the tenant in case of emergency.” (Nebraska Revised Statutes 76-1423)

For planned work, under 76-1423(1) the tenant shall not unreasonably withhold consent to the landlord to enter for the purposes that subsection lists, among them to make necessary or agreed repairs and to exhibit the dwelling unit to workmen or contractors.

For a repair that means sending workers into an occupied Nebraska unit, a property manager can post the job on InstaBids and pick a contractor before planning entry with the tenant.

How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Nebraska?

Section 76-1416(2), read 2026-10-29, gives fourteen days from the end of the tenancy for the balance and a written itemization: “(2) Upon termination of the tenancy, property or money held by the landlord as prepaid rent and security may be applied to the payment of rent and the amount of damages which the landlord has suffered by reason of the tenant's noncompliance with the rental agreement or section 76-1421 . The balance, if any, and a written itemization shall be delivered or mailed to the tenant within fourteen days after the date of termination of the tenancy.” (Nebraska Revised Statutes 76-1416)

If the tenant gave no mailing address or instructions, the same subsection sends the balance and the written itemization by first-class mail to the tenant's last-known mailing address, and 76-1416(5) binds the holder of the landlord's interest in the premises at the time of the termination of the tenancy. Under 76-1416(3), if the landlord fails to comply with subsection (2), the tenant may recover the property and money due, along with court costs; where the failure to comply with subsection (2) is willful and not in good faith, the tenant may recover an amount equal to one month's periodic rent or two times the amount of the security deposit, whichever is less, as liquidated damages.

At move-in, under 76-1416(1) a landlord may not demand or receive security in excess of one month's periodic rent, a cap that is not applicable to housing agencies organized or existing under the Nebraska Housing Agency Act.

For animals, the same subsection says a pet deposit not in excess of one-fourth of one month's periodic rent may be demanded or received when appropriate, again outside housing agencies under the Nebraska Housing Agency Act.

For move-out cleaning, painting and repairs on a Nebraska unit before the deposit balance goes back, a property manager can post the turnover work on InstaBids and get written bids.

When can a tenant end a lease over repairs in Nebraska?

Under 76-1425(1), read 2026-10-29, when there is a material noncompliance by the landlord with the rental agreement or a noncompliance with 76-1419 materially affecting health and safety, the tenant may deliver a written notice to the landlord saying the rental agreement will terminate upon a date not less than thirty days after receipt of the notice if the breach is not remedied in fourteen days. If substantially the same act or omission behind a noticed noncompliance recurs within six months, the tenant may terminate upon at least fourteen days' written notice specifying the breach and the date of termination. Even if the breach is not remedied in fourteen days, the tenant who may deliver a written notice to the landlord for a noncompliance may not terminate for a condition caused by the deliberate or negligent act or omission of the tenant, a member of his or her family, or other person on the premises with his or her consent (76-1425(1)).

Outside a repair dispute, under 76-1437 the landlord or the tenant may terminate a month-to-month tenancy by a written notice given to the other at least thirty days prior to the periodic rental date specified in the notice, and may terminate a week-to-week tenancy by a written notice given to the other at least seven days prior to the termination date specified in the notice.

For a health and safety repair a tenant has raised in writing, like a leaking roof or a broken water heater, a property manager can post it on InstaBids and get written bids from contractors.

When can a tenant withhold rent over repairs in Nebraska?

Section 76-1427(1), read 2026-10-29, links rent to one kind of failure, where the landlord deliberately or negligently fails to supply water, heat or essential services, and only after written notice; it gives the tenant three routes: “(1) If contrary to the rental agreement or section 76-1419 the landlord deliberately or negligently fails to supply running water, hot water, or heat, or essential services, the tenant may give written notice to the landlord specifying the breach and may: (a) Procure reasonable amounts of hot water, running water, heat and essential services during the period of the landlord's noncompliance and deduct their actual and reasonable cost from the rent; (b) Recover damages based upon the diminution in the fair rental value of the dwelling unit; or (c) Procure reasonable substitute housing during the period of the landlord's noncompliance, in which case the tenant is excused from paying rent for the period of the landlord's noncompliance.” (Nebraska Revised Statutes 76-1427)

Under 76-1427(3) those rights do not arise until the tenant has given written notice to the landlord, nor for a condition the tenant or a person on the premises with the tenant's consent caused, and the section is not intended to cover circumstances beyond the landlord's control; the deliberately or negligently missed supply is the trigger. Under 76-1427(2), a tenant who chose to give written notice to the landlord over a supply the landlord deliberately or negligently failed to provide, and who proceeds under this section, may not proceed under section 76-1425 as to that breach.

When water, heat or another essential service goes out at a rental, a property manager can post the repair that restores it on InstaBids with photos and line up written bids to compare.

Who does Nebraska landlord tenant law cover?

The Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act governs rental agreements for dwelling units, and section 76-1408, read 2026-10-29, sets aside eight arrangements that are not governed by the act unless created to avoid the application of the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. First on that list: “Unless created to avoid the application of the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, the following arrangements are not governed by the act: (1) Residence at an institution, public or private, if incidental to detention or the provision of medical, geriatric, educational, counseling, religious, or similar service.” (Nebraska Revised Statutes 76-1408) Next come a purchaser occupying under a contract of sale, a member of a fraternal or social organization, transient occupancy in a hotel or motel, an employee of a landlord whose right to occupancy is conditional upon employment in and about the premises, an owner of a condominium unit or a holder of a proprietary lease in a cooperative, premises used primarily for agricultural purposes, and a lease of improved or unimproved residential land for a term of five years or more; all of these are not governed by the act.

Whether the Nebraska rental is a single house or a building of dwelling units, a property manager can post its upkeep and repair jobs on InstaBids and compare written bids.

Nebraska statutes a property manager works to

What to put in a written repair scope for a Nebraska rental

• The repair in plain words, with photos, and the 76-1419(1) duty the landlord meets with it: make all repairs and do whatever is necessary, after written or actual notice, to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition, or maintain in good and safe working order the supplied electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilating or air conditioning facilities; where a minimum housing code applies, subdivision (1)(a) sets the maximum duty.
• The day the tenant's written notice of a material noncompliance arrived and the day work begins, because that notice says the rental agreement will terminate if the breach is not remedied in fourteen days (76-1425(1)).
• The entry plan for the workmen or contractors: the landlord's at least twenty-four hours' written notice to each individual unit naming the intended purpose for entry and a reasonable period for it, except in case of emergency or if it is impracticable to do so (76-1423(3)).
• At move-out, the written itemization of rent and damages applied against the security and the date the balance and itemization are delivered or mailed, within fourteen days after the date of termination of the tenancy (76-1416(2)).

Download this checklist as text

Phoning contractors one at a time, or one written scope?

Once a tenant's written notice of a material noncompliance names fourteen days for the breach to be remedied (76-1425(1)), phoning contractors one at a time eats into that window. With one written scope carrying the repair and the date the notice arrived, you describe it once, contractors bid in writing on that scope, and you choose who gets your number.

Property managers can post a rental job on InstaBids today.

How InstaBids works

Related answers on other pages

Sources

• Nebraska Revised Statutes 76-1423, read 2026-10-29: nebraskalegislature.gov
• Nebraska Revised Statutes 76-1408, read 2026-10-29: nebraskalegislature.gov
• Nebraska Revised Statutes 76-1425, read 2026-10-29: nebraskalegislature.gov
• Nebraska Revised Statutes 76-1416, read 2026-10-29: nebraskalegislature.gov
• Nebraska Revised Statutes 76-1437, read 2026-10-29: nebraskalegislature.gov
• Nebraska Revised Statutes 76-1431, read 2026-10-29: nebraskalegislature.gov
• Nebraska Revised Statutes 76-1427, read 2026-10-29: nebraskalegislature.gov
• Nebraska Revised Statutes 76-1419, read 2026-10-29: nebraskalegislature.gov