Holiday season

Rent-to-own in Nevada: your rights on TVs, furniture and holiday gifts

In plain words: a rent-to-own deal in Nevada is a lease you can walk away from at the end of any term, not a loan. The contract must show, above your signature, the total you'll pay to own the item and the cash price (NRS 597.030, 597.040). You can buy it early, and if you fall behind you have a short window to reinstate without losing what you've paid (NRS 597.070).

Before you sign: what the contract must show (NRS 597.030)

The money

The number and total of all payments to own it, and their due dates
The cash price on the day you sign
What you pay up front
Every other fee: late, default, reinstatement, pickup

The item

A description, with its serial number if there is one
Whether it's new or used, and any damage
Who repairs it while you're leasing
That the maker's warranty passes to you when you own it, if the warranty allows

Your rights

You don't own it until every payment is made
You can buy it at any time before the lease ends, at the price stated
You can end it without penalty by returning it in good repair at the end of a term and paying what's past due
Your right to reinstate

The risk

If it's lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed, you're responsible for its fair market value
The disclosures must be clear, in writing, right above your signature (NRS 597.040)
You get a copy of the agreement

What a rent-to-own contract can't include (NRS 597.060)

Not allowed

A confession of judgment
A wage assignment
A claim on anything of yours except the leased item
A waiver of your claims or defenses
Permission to breach the peace to take the item back

Ads and receipts

An ad that shows a payment must say it's a lease, the total to own, and that you don't own it unless you pay it all (NRS 597.090)
You get a written receipt for every cash or money-order payment (NRS 597.080)

Fell behind on a payment?

1. Reinstate fast. Pay everything past due, any late fee, and pickup and redelivery costs if it was taken back, within 5 days of the renewal date for monthly payments or 2 days if you pay more often than monthly (NRS 597.070(2)).

2. Gave it back in that window? You can still reinstate within 21 days after returning it, or 45 days if you'd paid at least two-thirds of the total to own (NRS 597.070(3)-(4)).

3. They took it anyway. A repossession during the reinstatement window doesn't end your right. If you reinstate, they must give it back or give you something of comparable quality and condition (NRS 597.070(5)).

If the store broke these rules

Write to the store describing what it did wrong. If it doesn't fix it within 30 days, you can sue for your actual damages or 25% of the total cost to own, whichever is more, plus attorney's fees and costs (NRS 597.110). If the store sues you, you can claim the same amount against it. Willful violations are a misdemeanor (NRS 597.100). Small amounts: small claims.

What these rules don't cover

Car leases, business leases, and rentals that come with an apartment and have no option to buy are outside these rules (NRS 597.020(2)). Buying a car: lemon law and car buying. Buying on credit or with a pawn loan: pawn shop loans.

Short on money for gifts and bills

See holiday bill help and holiday food help, or call 211.

Read 2026-11-05 from Nevada Revised Statutes on this house's law shelf: NRS 597.010 to 597.110 (chapter 597, Rev. 4/15/2026).