Nevada HOA rental restrictions and the declaration rule

Nevada Revised Statutes 116.335 ties rental restrictions to the declaration. Unless the declaration prohibited renting at the time the owner purchased, the association cannot prohibit that owner from renting or leasing the unit. And unless the declaration required the owner to get approval to rent at the time of purchase, the association cannot require that approval. The effect is that a board cannot manufacture a new rental ban or a short-term-rental prohibition through a rule when the declaration is silent.

There is a second protection. If the declaration contains a cap on the number or percentage of units that may be rented, that provision cannot be amended to lower the cap. So an owner who bought when rentals were allowed up to a certain share keeps that headroom. The association can still enforce rental limits that the declaration actually contained when the owner bought, including short-term rental rules and minimum lease terms.

If renting is part of the plan, you need to read two things in the packet. First, where any rental restriction lives: a limit in the recorded declaration can bind you, while a board rule with no declaration basis is likely unenforceable. Second, the timing: the protection runs from what the declaration said at purchase, so confirm what it will say for you as the new owner, not just what protected the seller.

Read these together before you make an offer:

• Whether any rental restriction sits in the recorded declaration or only in a board rule or resolution.
• Any short-term-rental prohibition or minimum lease term, and whether the declaration authorized it.
• Any cap on the percentage of units that may be rented, and whether it is already at its limit.
• Recent board minutes for rental rules or declaration amendments under consideration.

For an investor, the rental rules can be the whole deal, and in Nevada the difference between a declaration restriction and a board rule decides whether it binds you.

An HOA Notes brief reads the declaration, the rules, and the minutes together, separates an enforceable rental restriction from a board rule that conflicts with the statute, and cites the page behind every finding.

Nevada Revised Statutes section 116.335 (Rental restriction -- declaration required). Any restriction on the right of a unit owner to lease their unit must be contained in the declaration; the executive board cannot impose rental restrictions through board-adopted rules or regulations that are not authorized by and consistent with the declaration; a purported rule-based rental ban or short-term rental prohibition that has no basis in the declaration is unenforceable. The association may enforce rental restrictions that are expressly stated in the recorded declaration, including short-term rental prohibitions and minimum lease term requirements, as long as the declaration authorized them at the time the owner purchased.

When you read the disclosure packet, watch for board-adopted rules prohibiting short-term rentals where the declaration is silent, board resolutions restricting rental frequency or minimum lease terms without declaration authority, and association demanding approval of all leases with no declaration basis. HOA Notes flags each of these against the statute and tells you which restrictions are actually enforceable.