The short answer
Most Nevada home foreclosures are non-judicial. They run under the power of sale in a deed of trust (NRS 107.080), not through a lawsuit. After missed payments and federal waiting rules, the lender records a notice of default, waits at least 3 months, records and publishes a notice of sale, and holds the trustee sale.
In an owner-occupied home you can generally reinstate until 5 days before the sale (NRS 107.0805), petition for mediation within 30 days after service of the notice of default (NRS 107.086), or sell at any point before the sale. After a trustee sale there is no right of redemption (NRS 107.080). HOA foreclosures work differently.
This is not legal advice. Talk to a Nevada attorney. Below is a plain-language reading of the statutes as the Nevada Legislature publishes them, checked on the date above. Deadlines turn on the exact dates on your paperwork, so have an attorney or a HUD-approved housing counselor read your notices.
The timeline at a glance
| Stage | What happens | Key time rule | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Missed payments | Loan becomes delinquent | Servicer generally cannot make the first foreclosure notice or filing until the loan is more than 120 days delinquent, with limited exceptions | 12 CFR 1024.41(f) |
| Pre-default notice | Servicer mails a notice with the amount to cure and other account details | At least 30 days before the notice of default is recorded, and at least 30 days after default | NRS 107.500 |
| Notice of default and election to sell | Recorded with the county recorder and mailed by registered or certified mail | Starts the cure period; mediation materials must be included for owner-occupied homes | NRS 107.080, 107.086 |
| Cure (reinstatement) period | You can make good the missed payments and costs | 35 days in general; for owner-occupied housing, until 5 days before the sale | NRS 107.080(2), 107.0805(1) |
| Mediation election | Petition the district court, or waive mediation | No later than 30 days after service of the notice of default | NRS 107.086(3) |
| Notice of default posted on the home | Copy posted in a conspicuous place on the property | No later than 100 days before the sale | NRS 107.087 |
| Waiting period | No notice of sale yet | At least 3 months after the notice of default is recorded | NRS 107.080(2)(d) |
| “Danger” notice | Served on the owner of owner-occupied housing | No later than 60 days before the sale | NRS 107.085 |
| Notice of sale | Recorded; served or mailed; posted in a public place; published | Posted 20 days in a row; published once a week for 3 consecutive weeks; posted on the home no later than 15 days before the sale | NRS 107.080(4), 107.087 |
| Trustee sale | Property sold at auction | May be postponed by oral proclamation; after three oral postponements, new notice is required | NRS 107.082 |
| After the sale | Trustee’s deed recorded and posted on the property | Recorded within 30 days (or delivered within 20 days and recorded by the buyer within 10); posted within 5 days of recording | NRS 107.080(10)-(11) |
| Possession | Former owner may be removed after a 3-day notice to surrender once title is perfected | Tenants on a monthly lease generally get at least 60 days | NRS 40.255 |
Stage 1: Missed payments and the federal 120-day rule
Under Regulation X, the federal mortgage-servicing rules, a servicer generally cannot make the first notice or filing for foreclosure until the loan is more than 120 days delinquent (12 CFR 1024.41(f)(1)). The narrow exceptions are a due-on-sale violation or joining another lienholder’s foreclosure.
If the servicer gets a complete loss-mitigation application before that first notice, it cannot start foreclosure while the application and any appeal are pending (12 CFR 1024.41(f)(2)). A complete application received after the first notice but more than 37 days before a scheduled sale also blocks the sale until the review is finished (12 CFR 1024.41(g)).
Nevada adds its own steps for owner-occupied residential loans. At least 30 days before recording a notice of default, the servicer must mail a notice showing what it takes to cure (NRS 107.500). It must also contact you to explore alternatives, then wait 30 days (NRS 107.510). While an application for a foreclosure-prevention alternative is pending, it cannot record a notice of default or notice of sale, or hold the sale (NRS 107.530). These Nevada sections do not apply to a financial institution that foreclosed on 100 or fewer owner-occupied Nevada homes in its prior reporting year (NRS 107.460).
Stage 2: The notice of default is recorded and mailed
The formal process starts when the lender or trustee records a notice of breach and election to sell with the county recorder (NRS 107.080(2)(b)) and mails a copy by registered or certified mail (NRS 107.080(3)). For an owner-occupied home it must be recorded with a notarized affidavit of authority, which lists who holds the loan and what it takes to cure (NRS 107.0805).
For owner-occupied housing, the mailing must also include contact details for someone with authority to negotiate a loan modification and for a HUD-approved housing counseling agency, a mediation notice from Home Means Nevada, Inc., and a form to waive mediation (NRS 107.086(2)). A copy of the notice of default must be posted on the home no later than 100 days before the sale (NRS 107.087).
Stage 3: You have 35 days, or longer, to reinstate
Reinstating means paying what is past due plus allowed costs, not the whole balance. Under NRS 107.080, the sale cannot go ahead until the owner has failed to make good the deficiency for 35 days. That period starts the day after the notice is recorded and mailed, and applies to deeds of trust made on or after July 1, 1957.
For owner-occupied housing, NRS 107.0805(1)(a) extends the window to 5 days before the date of sale. Get the reinstatement amount from your servicer in writing. The affidavit recorded with the notice of default must show you were sent that figure.
Stage 4: Request mediation within 30 days
According to Home Means Nevada, Inc., the state’s mediation program puts you in a room with a representative of your lender and a state-approved mediator to discuss alternatives to foreclosure.
The program covers deeds of trust on your primary residence. Home Means Nevada says vacation homes, second homes and rentals are not eligible. Under NRS 107.086 it also does not apply if you have surrendered the property. Nor does it apply while a Chapter 7, 11, 12 or 13 bankruptcy petition is open and the court has not closed or dismissed the case or granted relief from the stay.
To request it, petition the district court no later than 30 days after service of the notice of default (NRS 107.086(3)). The statute sets the filing fee at $25, and you also owe your share of the mediation fee. Then serve a copy of the petition by certified mail, return receipt requested, on the beneficiary of the deed of trust, Home Means Nevada, Inc. and the trustee.
In Las Vegas, the Civil Law Self-Help Center directs filers to the District Court Clerk’s Office, third floor of the Regional Justice Center at 200 Lewis Avenue. It lists the mediation fee as $250, which cannot be waived. The filing fee can be waived through an application to proceed in forma pauperis. Miss the deadline, the Center warns, and the foreclosure can move forward without mediation.
The trustee cannot sell an owner-occupied home until it records a Home Means Nevada certificate saying no mediation is required or mediation is complete (NRS 107.086(2)(e)). Mediation does not start on its own.
Stage 5: The 3-month wait, then the notice of sale
The trustee cannot give notice of sale until at least 3 months after the notice of default is recorded (NRS 107.080(2)(d)). When it does, NRS 107.080(4) requires it to:
- Record the notice of sale.
- Serve it on each trustor personally, by certified or registered mail to the last known address, or electronically if the parties authorized that.
- Post a similar notice in a public place in the county for 20 days in a row.
- Publish it once a week for 3 consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county.
For a residential foreclosure, the notice of sale must also be posted on the home no later than 15 days before the sale. Any tenant living there must get a separate notice by the same date (NRS 107.087). For owner-occupied housing, a separate notice headed “You are in danger of losing your home” must be served no later than 60 days before the sale (NRS 107.085).
Stage 6: The trustee sale ends redemption rights
The house is sold at auction. The trustee can postpone by oral proclamation, but after three oral postponements, any new sale date needs fresh notice under NRS 107.080 (NRS 107.082).
A completed trustee sale vests title in the buyer “without equity or right of redemption” (NRS 107.080(5)). A court can void the sale only in limited cases, where the trustee failed to substantially comply with the statute. The action generally must be filed within 30 days after the trustee’s deed is recorded, or 90 days after the sale if the owner never received proper notice (NRS 107.080(5)-(6)).
After the sale: deed, eviction and deficiency
The trustee must record its deed within 30 days of the sale, or deliver it to the buyer within 20 days for the buyer to record within 10. A copy must be posted on the property within 5 days after recording (NRS 107.080(10)-(11)).
Once title is perfected, a former owner who stays can be removed through Nevada’s summary eviction process after a 3-day written notice to surrender (NRS 40.255(1)(c)). Tenants who are not on the loan get more time. A monthly tenant generally gets at least 60 days after notice of the change of ownership (NRS 40.255(2)).
If the sale brings in less than the loan balance, the lender may apply for a deficiency judgment within 6 months after the sale (NRS 40.455). The statute has exceptions, so ask an attorney whether one applies to you.
HOA foreclosures under NRS 116
Your homeowners’ association can also foreclose, over unpaid assessments. Before collecting, NRS 116.31162(4) requires it to mail you a fee schedule, a proposed repayment plan and notice of your right to a hearing. It cannot send these earlier than 60 days after the payment became past due, and you then have 30 days to respond.
Next it must mail a notice of delinquent assessment. At least 30 days later, it may record a notice of default and election to sell. It can sell only after you fail to pay for 90 days after that recording, and you can still pay until 5 days before the sale (NRS 116.31162(1)).
An association generally cannot foreclose over a fine or penalty alone, apart from narrow health-and-safety and construction-schedule exceptions (NRS 116.31162(6)). It also cannot foreclose while your home is in the NRS 107.086 mediation program. The exceptions are when the mediation certificate has been recorded or you have fallen behind on assessments that came due during mediation (NRS 116.31162(7)). Part of the HOA lien, generally up to 9 months of regular assessments plus certain costs, takes priority over the first mortgage (NRS 116.3116(3)).
An HOA sale, unlike a deed of trust sale, is subject to redemption. The former owner can redeem within 60 days after the sale by paying the purchase price plus interest and certain costs (NRS 116.31166(3)).
Your options at each stage
Before the notice of default. Apply for loss mitigation, such as a loan modification, forbearance or repayment plan. A complete application triggers the federal protections above. A HUD-approved housing counselor can help you prepare it at no cost.
In the first 30 days after the notice of default. Decide on mediation. If the house is your primary residence, this deadline comes first.
Up to 5 days before the sale (owner-occupied). Reinstate by paying the past-due amount and allowed costs.
Any time before the sale:
- Sell with equity. If the house is worth more than you owe, a sale pays off the loan at closing and ends the foreclosure. With enough time and a house that shows well, a traditional listing will usually net more than a cash sale. When time or condition rules out a listing, a cash sale can close faster.
- Short sale. If you owe more than the house is worth, the CFPB describes a short sale as a sale for less than you owe, made with your lender’s or servicer’s agreement. The CFPB suggests asking the lender to waive any deficiency before you go through with it.
- Deed in lieu of foreclosure. You voluntarily turn the home over to the lender to avoid foreclosure. The CFPB suggests asking the lender to waive any deficiency, and notes you may still face a tax liability.
How we can help
We are a property solutions company based in Henderson, working across the Las Vegas Valley and Boulder City. When we meet someone facing foreclosure, we buy the house, tell you a listing will serve you better, or give you the advice you came for. If reinstatement, mediation or a modification is the better path, we will say so.
When a sale to us fits, we buy as-is, cover standard closing costs, and tell you honestly whether there is time to close before your sale date. You can ask for a free, no-obligation cash offer. If we send you to a listing agent, a counselor or an attorney instead, we take no referral fee for it.
For your specific notices and deadlines, talk to a Nevada attorney or a HUD-approved housing counselor. Our foreclosure page has a shorter overview.