Nebraska Landlord Retaliation Law: 3 Months’ Rent in Damages

Short answer: Nebraska landlord retaliation law, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1439, protects you after you report a housing code violation to a government agency or join a tenants’ union. If the landlord retaliates by raising rent, cutting services, or bringing or threatening an eviction, you can recover three months’ rent as liquidated damages plus a reasonable attorney’s fee under § 76-1430, and you have a defense to the eviction. Nebraska sets no time-based presumption, so you must prove the link yourself.

Two features set Nebraska apart. Its liquidated-damages remedy is a fixed amount you do not have to prove, and its retaliation statute is silent about complaints made only to the landlord. Knowing both shapes how you should report a problem.

Which Tenant Actions Nebraska Protects

Section 76-1439(1) lists two triggers. The first is a complaint to a government agency charged with enforcing a minimum building or housing code, about a violation at your home that materially affects health and safety. The second is organizing or becoming a member of a tenants’ union or similar organization.

That is the full list for apartments and houses. The statute does not name a repair request sent only to the landlord, unlike many states’ versions. If your landlord ignores a written request and you fear pushback, a report to your city or county code enforcement office is the step that clearly brings § 76-1439 into play.

Mobile home park residents get a broader list. Under § 76-14,106, protected acts include a good-faith code complaint, a complaint to the landlord about violations of § 76-1492, union activity, and exercising any right under the Mobile Home Landlord and Tenant Act or other law. Failing to renew a rental agreement is also listed as a retaliatory act there.

What Counts as Retaliation, and What Doesn’t

For most renters, the forbidden responses are increasing rent, decreasing services, and bringing or threatening to bring an action for possession. A written threat to file for eviction is enough, even if the landlord never files.

Nebraska adds a limit that landlords often rely on. Section 76-1439(2) says nothing in the section prohibits reasonable rent increases or changes in services, even after you complained. The fight in many Nebraska cases is over whether an increase was reasonable, for example in line with what the landlord charged other units, or a punishment aimed at you.

Proving Nebraska Landlord Retaliation Without a Presumption

Many states shift the burden to the landlord when an adverse act follows a complaint within a set period. Nebraska’s statute contains no such window, and the state dataset reflects that. In practice you carry the burden of showing the landlord acted because of your complaint or union activity.

Evidence that tends to help:

• A short gap between the code inspection and the landlord’s notice.
• Messages in which the landlord mentions the inspector, the complaint, or the union.
• Proof that other tenants who did not complain got smaller increases or none.
• Records showing your rent is current, which removes the landlord’s most common justification.

The landlord retaliation checker can help you organize the timeline before you talk to a lawyer.

When a Landlord May Still Evict

Section 76-1439(3) allows a possession action even after a protected complaint if the code violation was caused mainly by a lack of reasonable care by you or someone in your household or on the premises with your consent; if you are in default in rent; or if complying with the code requires alteration, remodeling, or demolition that would effectively deprive you of the unit. Filing under these exceptions does not release the landlord from liability under § 76-1425(2), which lets a tenant recover damages and obtain injunctive relief for the landlord’s noncompliance.

Remedies: A Fixed Three Months’ Rent

When retaliation is proven, § 76-1439(2) sends you to § 76-1430. You may recover possession or terminate the rental agreement, and in either case recover an amount equal to three months’ periodic rent as liquidated damages, plus a reasonable attorney’s fee. If you terminate, the landlord must return all prepaid rent and the security deposit recoverable under § 76-1416.

Because the amount is liquidated, you do not need receipts showing what the retaliation cost you. You still have to prove the retaliation itself. You also keep a defense in any possession action the landlord brings in violation of the statute.

If the eviction case is for nonpayment, § 76-1428 lets you counterclaim for amounts you can recover under the act, and the court may order you to pay accrued rent into court while it sorts out who owes what.

A Worked Example

Dominic rents a two-bedroom in Lincoln for $950 a month. After weeks without a working smoke detector or reliable heat, he calls the city’s housing code office on October 8, 2026, and an inspector cites the building on October 15. On November 1, the landlord tells him he will file for possession unless Dominic moves out by December 1. Dominic’s rent is paid through November.

There is no statutory presumption, so Dominic gathers the inspection notice, the landlord’s text, and a neighbor’s statement that no one else got a move-out demand. If the court finds retaliation, § 76-1430 sets his recovery at three months’ rent, or $2,850, plus a reasonable attorney’s fee, and he can choose to stay or end the lease.

Lockouts, Utility Cutoffs and Harassing Entry

A landlord may not take possession “by action or otherwise,” including by willfully interrupting electric, gas, water, or other essential service, except for abandonment, surrender, or as the act allows, under § 76-1436. A lockout or shutoff triggers the same three-months’-rent remedy in § 76-1430, with no need to show a retaliatory motive.

Entry used as pressure has its own remedy. Under § 76-1438(2), if the landlord makes an unlawful entry, enters in an unreasonable manner, or makes repeated demands for entry that unreasonably harass you, you may seek an injunction or terminate the agreement, and recover actual damages of not less than one month’s rent plus reasonable attorney’s fees.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a repair request to my Nebraska landlord protected from retaliation?

Section 76-1439 lists only a complaint to a government code agency and tenants’ union activity, so a request made only to the landlord is not among its named triggers. Reporting the problem to your local code enforcement office brings the statute clearly into play. Mobile home park tenants are different: § 76-14,106 does protect complaints to the landlord.

How long after my complaint am I protected?

Nebraska’s statute sets no fixed period and no presumption. Retaliation can be proven months later, but the longer the gap, the more other evidence you will need.

Can my landlord still raise the rent after I called the inspector?

Yes, if the increase is reasonable. Section 76-1439(2) expressly allows reasonable rent increases or changes in services despite a complaint. An increase that singles you out or far exceeds what similar units pay can still be evidence of retaliation.

Do I have to prove my actual losses to get damages?

No. The § 76-1430 remedy is three months’ periodic rent as liquidated damages, plus a reasonable attorney’s fee. You still need to prove that the landlord’s act was retaliatory.

Does Nebraska have a rent escrow program I can use instead?

The Nebraska act has no general rent withholding or escrow section. In a nonpayment case, though, § 76-1428 lets the court order rent paid into court while it decides your counterclaim.

Where to Go From Here

Before you respond to a notice, file a code complaint if you haven’t, save the inspection record, and keep paying rent. Compare Nebraska with other states in the tenant protection laws by state hub, read the landlord retaliation overview, and review Nebraska security deposit law if you may end the lease. This page shares general information and is not legal advice; to find a legal aid office in Nebraska, use LSC’s get legal help tool.

Sources

• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1439, Retaliatory conduct prohibited
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1430, Remedies for unlawful ouster or diminution of service
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1436, Recovery of possession limited
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1438, Remedies for abuse of access
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1425, Noncompliance by landlord
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1428, Landlord’s noncompliance as defense
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-14,106, Mobile home park retaliation
• Legal Services Corporation, Get Legal Help