Nebraska Lease Agreement

Templates | What to Include | Applicable Law

Grab your FREE Nebraska residential lease agreement and read further about required disclosures in Nebraska lease agreements, optional addendums and more.

The residential lease agreement template below has been vetted to make sure it aligns with Nebraska landlord-tenant law, including the state-specific disclosure for the landlord’s name and address. For units built prior to 1978, you’ll need to include a disclosure about lead-based paint

Click here to view/download the direct PDF file.

“Should I even use a free lease agreement template?”

If you are a tenant simply looking to formalize your renting relationship, the above options will suffice. If you are a landlord, we seriously caution the use of free “one size fits all” templates due to the opportunity cost of an incorrect or incomplete lease agreement (think: premature lease-breaking, fines for non-disclosures, etc.).

With that said, unless you’re renting out 100+ units, you probably don’t need to spend a few hundred dollars of an attorney’s time to get one drafted. A few different law startups have created step-by-step legal document wizards that take 5-10 minutes, and only run you ~$30 for a lease agreement (or a few bucks a month for access to all document templates you’d need).

Quick Facts for Nebraska

Max Term

N/A

Max Security Deposit

1 month’s rent

Who Needs to Sign

Landlord, all tenants, and all co-signers or guarantors

Required Disclosures

Landlord/Agent Address & Lead-Based Paint

Legal Early Termination

Beyond written mutual consent, a tenant can break their lease without penalty in Nebraska if they’re starting active military duty, the unit is considered uninhabitable, or the landlord violates their privacy rights. In these cases, the landlord must make reasonable effort to re-rent the unit. A landlord may break a lease in Nebraska for a number of reasons, including not paying rent, violating the lease or rental agreement, or committing an illegal act. Before breaking a lease, the landlord must first serve the tenant written notice.

Addendums to Consider

Pets, Utility Allocation, Mold, & Criminal Activity

What’s in a Nebraska Residential Lease Agreement

To start, let’s make sure we’re on the same page:

Let’s now go through what you need to include in a residential lease agreement template in Nebraska. This includes:

• Basic/universal elements – these are applicable to ALL states, not just Nebraska.
• Nebraska-specific required disclosures – there is 1, plus 1 other conditional federal disclosure.
• Applicable Law/sections – the legal stuff beyond lease agreements.

Basic Elements of Residential Lease Agreements in Nebraska

A lease introduction clearly states the full names of the tenant(s) and landlord(s), the date of the agreement and a detailed description of the rental property.  It is critical to be as specific as possible when creating a lease introduction. The necessary components of a lease introduction are listed here:

• Names of the tenant and landlord:  This is a small, yet crucial, piece of a residential lease agreement.  The residential lease should include the full legal names of all adults living in the rental property.  These names should be written or typed clearly. Shortened versions of names, abbreviations or nicknames should not be used.  This ensures that involved parties are held accountable in the event of legal action.  
•  Date of the agreement:  The date of the lease should be fully written, indicating the month, day and year.  Dashes, slashes or abbreviations should be avoided to maintain clarity.  
• Terms & Limits of Occupancy: This section defines the beginning and end date of the lease agreement, including provisions for any extensions. After any fixed periods, the contract can be week-to-week, month-to-month, quarter-to-quarter, or from year-to-year. The periods at which the rent is to be paid determine the tenancy.
•  Address and description of the rental property:  Here, the explicit address of the property should be stated. The landlord’s address should also be stated. This portion of the lease introduction makes it clear to both parties which features of the property are included in the lease.  It should list all fixed and non-fixed features that are a part of the property. This may encompass:
  • Interior boundaries
  • Specific rooms
  • Stove
  • Refrigerator
  • Dishwasher
  • Microwave
  • Washer
  • Dryer
  • Balcony/patio
  • Light fixtures
  • Ceiling fans
  • Air conditioning units
  • Fireplace
  • Yard or other outdoor space
  • Fence
  • Garage
  • Driveway
  • Parking area
  • Shed/additional storage
  • Basement
  • Exterior fixtures
  • Grills
  • Pool
  • Children’s play structure
  • Furnishings, such as tables, chairs, beds, patio furniture or other items
• Rent, Utilities & Security Deposits: The amount of the first month’s rent, security deposit, and the total amount of funds required need to be clearly outlined on the lease agreement. The method by which the funds are to be paid should also be included.

Indicating these features in the lease introduction provides tenants with a list of items that they have access to throughout the duration of the lease and informs tenants which features are expected to remain on-premises after the lease term is complete.  It also protects the landlord’s property upon the termination of the residential lease agreement

For landlords, this information should be used for verification purposes. Make sure to ask for current photo identification, such as a driver’s license, to verify each tenant’s identity. Once that’s verified, you’ll want to do background checks on all tenants 18 or older (see our guide here).

Required Disclosures in Nebraska

Landlord/Manager/Agent Identification

Any person authorized to enter the premises must be stated in the lease in addition to an address for notices by the tenant.

Lead-Based Paint Hazards

This isn’t Nebraska-specific, but if the unit being rented out was built before 1978, the landlord is required to do the following 3 things:

1. Provide the tenant with an EPA-approved pamphlet about the dangers of lead-based paint (see latest pamphlet PDFs here).
2. Disclose any known information concerning lead-based paint in the unit (i.e. its location, condition, etc.), and include any records or reports about the paint or its hazards. For multi-unit buildings with common areas, this includes information from building-wide evaluations.
3. Fill out and attach this disclosure form to the lease.

Pet Addendums in Nebraska

 The landlord must give written permission for a tenant to keep pets on the property. Pets are defined as dogs, cats, birds, fish, or other domestic animals of any kind.

The lease agreement shall specify how many animals the tenant can have and the type of animal.

Tenants are required to pay a pet deposit fee of an amount outlined in the lease, which is non-refundable. If provisions for maintaining a pet is not included in the lease, it shall be added as an addendum to the lease agreement.

Tenants are responsible for keeping their pets under control and not leaving them unattended for an unreasonable amount of time.

Tenants are responsible for their pets and any property damage caused by the pets.

It shall be the tenant’s responsibility to control any flea infestation because of their pets and to pay for the extermination of any and all affected areas.

The landlord is not liable for any injury that occurs from an attack or interaction with an animal, whether it occurs on or off the property. If an attack from an animal occurs and there is no fencing around the property, the landlord is not held liable because of the absence of a fence.

Although they are not required, the tenant is encouraged to obtain pet liability insurance if it is offered as a rider to their renter’s insurance policy.

After the lease has ended, the pet deposit will be used for cleaning the carpets or other areas damaged as a result of having pets on the premises.

Check out our sample of a pet addendum below.

This Addendum is made on [ DATE ] between [ LANDLORD’S NAME ] (Landlord) and [ TENANT’S NAME ] (Tenant), and is understood to modify the Residential Lease for [ PROPERTY ADDRESS ] originally dated [ DATE ].
1. PERMISSION

The landlord grants permission to the tenant to keep the domesticated pet(s) on the premises during the term of the lease agreement (INCLUDE LEASE START AND END DATE). The landlord may revoke permission at any time if the tenant fails to comply with any of the terms and conditions in the lease or following addendums.
2. SERVICE ANIMALS

Service, Guide, Signal, or Support animals are not “Pets” according to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as long as the animal is being used by the tenant to support a disability or handicap, or if the tenant is training the animal(s).

If the tenant’s pet actually a Certified Service Animal or in training to be a Certified Service Animal? : _______ Yes _______ No
3. ANIMAL PROFILE

Type of Animal(s): Dog, Cat, Bird, Rabbit, Pig, Reptile, Fish (circle all that apply)
Name of Animal(s): ________________________
Weight of Animal(s): ______________________ (lbs.)
Breed of Animals(s): ______________________
Age of Animal(s): ________________________
Spayed or Neutered?: __________ Yes _______ No
Current on Vaccinations?: _______ Yes _______ No
Valid Animal Licenses?: _________ Yes _______ No

______________________________________
Tenant Signature
______________________________________
Landlord Signature

Applicable Law

Beyond what’s stated in a residential lease agreement, there are numerous laws that govern a rental arrangement. We’ll go through the most important ones below.

Security Deposits in Nebraska

In the state of Nebraska, there are laws on the books that state that the security deposit charged by a landlord cannot exceed the value of a single month’s worth of rent. In addition to this, unlike other states, Nebraska also puts similar limits on pet deposits, which are something like pet-based security deposits meant as protection against damage to the rental unit. In this state, a pet deposit cannot exceed a quarter of a month’s rent. Nebraska doesn’t require that landlords place the security deposit in an interest-accruing account nor do they need to be stored in a separate bank account. The value of the security deposit can be used for repairing damage or unpaid rent or utilities. Also, unlike other states, tenants must request the return of the security deposit in writing, at which point, the deposit must be returned in 14 days.

Breaking a Lease in Nebraska

These agreements serve as contracts that are legally binding, so there can be significant disadvantages and penalties for breaking them early. In fact, breaking a lease may require a tenant to pay the remainder of the lease value – at least until a replacement lessee can be found. Additionally, there are exceptions where a constructive eviction can be made where the tenant will receive no penalties. For example, when a tenant is entering into military service, then he or she can break the lease to serve in the uniformed branches.

Eviction Process in Nebraska

Nebraska has three Notice to Quit documents to consider that can help begin the eviction process. The first is served seven days after the rent is due and is called a seven-day notice to quit. If the tenant pays within this period, then the landlord cannot proceed with future action against the renter. The second type, which is the 14/30-day Notice to Quit, is designed for those lessees that have violated the lease in some way. This includes activities like smoking in areas where smoking is prohibited and having pets in non-pet-friendly properties. With this type, the tenant has 14 days to remedy the situation before the landlord may further pursue the issue. This 30-day notice may also serve to indicate that a month-to-month lease is to be ended. In this case, no reason will have to be provided by the serving party.

Other Nebraska Templates and Forms

• Rental Application
• Month-to-Month Residential Lease Agreement
• Sublease Agreement
• Room Rental Agreement
• Lease Termination Notice
• Eviction Notice
• Commercial Lease Agreement

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