2024 Eviction Process in Nebraska: Laws for Landlords & Property Managers

Nebraska eviction laws vary from county to county, but they still follow the same general eviction process:

• Fill out the forms
• Serve the tenant
• Attend the trial
• Wait for judgment

Every eviction process is different and dependent on the lease/rental agreement signed by the tenant and the landlord.

This article details a summary for landlords to refer to when evicting a tenant. Confirm procedures with your justice court to make sure the entire process goes as smoothly as possible.

It may be necessary to seek legal advice from an attorney. The information provided may change depending on your county.

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Now, let’s dive in. 

Eviction Reasons

1. Failure to comply with rent deadlines

Rent is usually considered late a day past it is due. A grace period may be available if stated in the given lease/rental agreement.

Before a landlord can start the eviction process, the landlord must give the tenant an official written eviction notice called a 7-Day Notice to Pay.

Providing a notice is crucial to the eviction process.

If they pay rent due within those 7-day time limit, then the filing for eviction action does not continue. If they are unable to pay the rent that is due, the landlord reserves the right to continue filing for eviction.

2. Violation of the lease/rental agreement

The lease has to be upheld by both tenant and landlord for the entire duration of their stay. Agreements may vary from tenant to tenant.

If a tenant violates any terms from the lease agreement, the landlord must give the tenant a written notice called a 30-Day Notice to Comply. The tenant has 14 days to fix this issue, or else the eviction process does not continue.

Lease violations may include:

• Damage to the rental unit
• Smoking in non-smoking areas
• Keeping pets in pet-free properties, etc.
• A day or more of not throwing out the trash for long periods of time, inviting bugs and/or rodents.
• Damaging the electrical wiring of a unit
• Ruining the plumbing fixtures of a unit

If the violations are not resolved, or they remain on the property within the given 14 days, then the tenant has until the end of 1 month to move out of the property.

The 14 days grace period cannot be extended.

To download your own Nebraska lease agreement, visit DoorLoop's Forms Page to quickly download an example lease agreement.

3. Conducting illegal activity

Landlords have the right to evict a tenant for illegal activity.

If a tenant has engaged in illegal behavior within the property, the landlord must issue an official written eviction notice called a 5-Day Notice to Quit.

Examples of illegal activities are:

• Theft, violence, assault
• Possessing and/or firing of an illegal firearm
• Involvement in the creation, distribution, or consumption of a controlled substance

The above also applies if a guest or co-resident living with the tenant commits illegal acts. However, it does not apply if the tenant filed a restraining order against said guest or co-resident.

4. Non-renewal of the lease after the rental period ends

In Nebraska, landlords must not evict a tenant or force them to vacate the property without probable cause. As long as the tenant does not commit any violations, they can stay until their rental period ends.

But if they stay in the property even a day after their rental period ends and have not arranged for renewal, landlords must issue a written notice to move.

The notice to receive may vary depending on the type of tenancy and varies from a 7-Day Notice to Quit to a 30-Day Notice to Quit:

If they stay in the property even a day past their rental or lease agreement, the landlord may continue with the eviction process.

Filing a Complaint

1. How to File a Complaint

The process for eviction action can only begin after the issuance of the appropriate written notice. Enough notice time must have been allowed before filing for eviction.

The process for evictions is as follows:

1. Proceed to the justice court the rental unit belongs to
2. File a complaint
3. Pay the fees

Make sure you are in the right justice court. The landlord must file an official complaint before proceeding to the next step.

2. Timeline

It takes about 7 days to 30 days from the issuance of the Notice to Vacate/Quit.

<table style="width:100%"><tr><th>Lease Agreement / Type of Tenancy</th><th>Notice to Receive</th></tr><tr><td>Week-to-week</td><td>7-Day Notice to Quit</td></tr><tr><td>Month-to-month</td><td>30-Day Notice to Quit</td></tr><tr><td>Fixed Term </td><td>There is no obligation on the part of the landlord to remind the tenant unless stated in the lease </td></tr></table>

Notice to Comply

Before filing for an eviction with the court, you need to issue the tenant a notice to comply. You can either download the free PDF or Word template, or create your Nebraska eviction notice from here using a step-by-step wizard that guides you through the entire process to make sure you are submitting the legally correct notice.

Keep in mind, the step-by-step wizard will ask you to pay a small fee at the end - it's a small price to pay to ensure legal compliance and protection. The last thing you want is to go to court only to find out you did the first process incorrect.

Serving the Tenant

1. How to Serve a Tenant

This step involves serving a tenant with the documents.

An official from the court needs to deliver the summons for the hearing and the complaint to the tenant. The county sheriff's office is usually assigned this task or someone who is uninvolved in the case.

The documents have to be served within the three-day allowance. This countdown starts from its issuance from the court. Three days shouldn’t be extended.

There are several methods available:

• Personal Service: The county sheriff delivers the Summons and Complaint to the tenant in person
• Substituted Service: If the tenant is unavailable, someone living with the tenant who is an appropriate age may receive the documents
• Mailing: A copy of the Summons and Complaint is mailed via certified mail. A designated delivery service may perform the delivery for the landlord
• Posting and Mailing: The representative leaves a copy of the documents for the tenant. It is placed in a secure and visible position by the entrance of the tenant’s property. When using this method, the server also mails the documents via first-class mail

The landlord can serve the documents via delivery or certified mail.

2. After Serving the Summons and Complaint

The tenant has at least 7-11 days before the eviction hearing to prepare.

3. Timeline

The court order must be served to the tenant within 3 days of its issuance from the court.

Asking for Possession

1. Next procedure if the tenant disagreed and replied

In the state of Nebraska, a reply from the tenant is not needed for a court date to be scheduled. They only have to show up to the hearing on time.

The landlord must support the claim with evidence or information and show it during the hearing.

This could include, but is not limited to the following:

• Copy of the deed and lease
• Rent receipts and ledgers
• Bank statements
• Witnesses
• Photo and video documentation of the violations, correspondence, etc.

2. Filing a Motion to Obtain Judgement and get a Judgement for Possession

This step involves winning the case.

The landlord must provide a strong argument backed up by solid evidence against the tenant. If the tenant fails to show up to the hearing, the landlord wins by default.

3. Timeline

Eviction hearings are scheduled 10 to 14 days after the Summons and Complaint was issued.

Getting Possession

1. After the landlord wins the case

Provided that the tenant fails to appeal for reconsideration, a Writ of Restitution is issued a few hours to a few days.

The landlord must request for the issuance of the Writ of Restitution.

The Writ of Restitution gives the tenant a maximum of 10 days to evict themselves from the premises. Otherwise, they will be forcefully evicted by the county sheriff or the proper authorities.

2. Move out process

Once the Writ of Restitution is issued, the tenant has to move out from the premises within the given 10 days. They must move out before then.

Only the sheriff or the appropriate authorities are allowed to remove the tenant by force. Even if the landlord wins the case, they are not allowed to engage in illegal methods of eviction.

The state of Nebraska does not specify what to do with a tenant’s belongings. If any belongings are left behind, landlords are advised to contact the tenant and give them a reasonable timeframe to claim them.

After the date from the timeframe has passed, the property of the tenant may be sold or disposed of.

3. Timeline

The tenants have 10 days upon the issuance of the Writ to vacate the property. Time is of the essence.

Nebraska Eviction Timeline

Below is the average timeline for a complete eviction process. This timeline does not include special cases such as requests for an appeal or continuance.

On average, it may take anywhere between 4 to 8 weeks for a complete eviction process.

<table style="width:100%"><tr><th>Notice Received by Tenants</th><th>Average Timeline</th><th>Important Things to Remember</th></tr><tr><td>Issuing an Official Notice</td><td>7 days to 30 days </td><td>A written notice must be given prior to the eviction process. Proceed to the right court.</td></tr><tr><td>Issuing and Serving of Summons and Complaint</td><td>3 days</td><td>Make sure no mistakes were made in the filing process. </td></tr><tr><td>Court Hearing and Judgment + Issuance of Writ of Restitution</td><td>10-14 days</td><td>If you win the case, the judge will give you a Judgment of Possession. Then, a Writ of Restitution. </td></tr><tr><td>Return of Rental Property</td><td>10 days </td><td>You are not allowed to be the one to evict the tenant by force. Leave that job to the sheriff</td></tr></table>

Showing Evidence

1. How to keep good records

If the tenant disagrees with the eviction request and they reply to the court, it’s important that you keep extremely good records of everything so you can provide proof to the judge and win your case. This part can make or break your entire eviction process in the event of a dispute.

You can stay organized by:

• Keeping a physical paper trail - This gets VERY hard to search through, takes up a lot of storage space, and could get lost, damaged, stolen, or burnt in a fire.
• Scanning documents - Scan every document into your computer. A great scanner is the Brother ADS-1700W for under $200 or the Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1500 for $400.
• Backups - Store and backup every file using Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, or any other option that you can easily search.
• PMS - Use a property management software to save everything from lease agreements, signed documents, violations, emails, notes, invoices, payments, reminders, maintenance requests, pictures, videos, and anything you can imagine. This is used best when you also scan every document into your software.

2. Evidence to show for not paying rent

If the tenant doesn’t pay rent, and they dispute that claim, it’s important that you show the judge the following:

• Your lease agreement - Showing the terms of the agreement, when rent is due, and any penalties for late payment.
• All payments - Showing all previous payments, how they were normally made (check, credit card, ACH, etc…), and what date they were normally paid on.
• Any payment returns - If their check bounced, their bank account had insufficient funds, or they did a chargeback dispute on their credit card, show this to the Judge. You should also present any extra charges that you faced in order to include them in the case.
• All messages - If you sent your tenant automated or manual payment reminders by text, email, letter, or mail, it’s important to show this. While it’s usually not needed, it’s still good to show that they were aware of the situation and were given time to cure and make payment. This is why it’s always best to have everything in writing instead of any phone calls or face-to-face meetings.

3. Evidence to show for lease violations

If you are evicting the tenant for lease violations, for example, noise complaints, unauthorized pets, or property damages, it’s important to show proof from any of the following methods:

• Security Cameras - If you have a surveillance system that can show them committing the crime or lease violation, it’s safe to say you will normally win this dispute.
• Video - If you didn’t catch them in the act, a simple video caught with your phone could be sufficient.
• Pictures - They say a picture is worth a thousand words. In this case, a picture could be worth thousands of dollars! Even if you take a video, it’s important to show the Judge any pictures too as it’s usually easier to see by email or printed.
• Lease Terms - Once again, show the court which term they violated in their lease agreement. Don’t worry if you don’t have every single term spelled out in your rental agreement. If the violation is bad enough, it might not be needed to have it written. To be safe, you should point out these terms in any future agreements with other tenants.