Pawning for holiday cash in Nevada: the rules before you pawn
In plain words: a pawn loan is cash against something you hand over. In Nevada the pawnbroker can charge up to 13% a month in interest plus a one-time $5 charge, must hold your item for at least 90 days, and must give you a printed receipt. Know the monthly cost before you sign, and keep the receipt.
The rules the shop must follow
- Interest up to 13% a month on the loan
- One initial charge of up to $5 per loan
- No higher rate or discount, including on a "sale" or "buyback" set up to dodge the cap
- Held for redemption at least 90 days after you pawn it
- A printed receipt with the loan amount, rate and a description of the item
- Every payment written on it, split into principal and interest, with dates
What it really costs
- Interest: $26 a month
- 1 month: $200 + $26 + $5 = $231
- 3 months: $200 + $78 + $5 = $283
- Borrow only what you need; interest runs on the full amount
- Pay back early; ask how interest is counted for a partial month
- Make sure every payment is written on the receipt as principal or interest
Pawn or sell?
If you won't need the item back, selling it outright avoids the monthly interest. If you will want it back, pawning lets you redeem it, but every month you wait adds 13% of the loan. Compare the two numbers the shop gives you before you decide.
At the counter
- Date and time, and who handled it
- Your name, age, address and one ID number
- A description of the item, with marks, engravings and serial numbers
- The amount loaned and the pawn ticket number
- You must certify in writing that you have the legal right to pledge or sell the item (NRS 646.020(2))
- A shop may not take property from anyone under 18, or anyone intoxicated (NRS 646.060(8))
- Pawning something you know is stolen is a crime (NRS 205.275)
Pawning a car
A pawnbroker can move a pledged car to a storage lot, but must hold it there for the same 90 days and may charge no more than $3 a day for storage (NRS 646.045, 646.050(4)). A loan where you keep driving the car is a title loan, with different rules: see holiday bill help.
Problems
- An officer investigating a crime can place a written hold on pawned property (NRS 646.047)
- If you try to redeem it, the shop must tell you the officer's name and department
- Contact that officer about getting it back
- Pawnbrokers send police a copy of every day's transactions (NRS 646.030)
- Give police your report number, serial numbers and photos
- Stolen from your porch: package theft
The shop overcharged or broke the rules
A pawnbroker or employee who breaks the rate, holding-period or receipt rules in NRS 646.050, keeps a false record, or takes property from a minor commits a misdemeanor (NRS 646.060). Keep your receipt and report it to the police where the shop is.
Other ways to cover holiday costs
- Holiday bill help: payment plans and payday loan limits
- Power or gas shutoff notice
Read 2026-11-05 from Nevada Revised Statutes on this house's law shelf: NRS 646.020, 646.030, 646.045, 646.047, 646.050 and 646.060 (chapter 646, Rev. 4/15/2026); NRS 205.275 (chapter 205, Rev. 4/15/2026).