Nevada Payday Loan Laws: The Ultimate Legislative Guide

Payday loans’ tendency to trap borrowers in perpetual debt has made them controversial in America, but the federal government hasn’t stepped in to forbid them. Instead, state governments can regulate them how they see fit, and each one has a different set of rules for the industry. These are the Nevada payday loan laws.

Payday lending status in Nevada: Legal

There are minimal legal restrictions on payday lending in Nevada. The only significant limitation in the state is that lenders can’t make a loan to a borrower that exceeds 25% of their gross monthly income.

Otherwise, there are no caps on the amount that payday lenders can loan to consumers or the interest rates they can charge for their services. As a result, the annual percentage rates (APRs) regularly reach the high triple digits.

READ MORE: States where payday loans are illegal

Loan terms, debt limits, and collection limits in Nevada

• Maximum loan amount: 25% of monthly gross income
• Maximum Interest Rate (APR): N/A
• Minimum loan term: N/A
• Maximum loan term: 35 days (the industry standard is 30 days)
• Number of rollovers allowed: N/A
• Number of outstanding loans allowed: One per lender
• Cooling-off period: N/A
• Installment option: Yes
• Finance charges: No limit
• Collection fees: Two instances of $25 non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees. Ninety days of interest at the prime rate plus 10% on balances after default.
• Criminal action: Prohibited

Payday lenders often trap people in debt by charging them extremely high interest rates and demanding payment after just a couple of weeks. Their borrowers struggle to save up the amounts necessary to pay their debts back in the time they have.

The lenders can then charge a fee to roll the loan over, refinance it into a new one, or otherwise extend the life of the loan. The Nevada payday loan laws include little to no protections for consumers against this predatory lending strategy.

You can find the full text of the Nevada legislation in Nevada Statute 604A.010 et seq. 2017 Chapter 274.

Nevada payday loan laws: How they stack up

Despite the evidence that payday loans do more harm than good, most states in America have yet to establish rules that effectively limit or prohibit them within their borders.

Around 30 states, including Nevada, give payday lenders enough legal wiggle room that they can continually take advantage of borrowers who don’t know the dangers of the industry or feel they have no other way to get financial support.

Las Vegas also ended up on the list of top 10 cities with the worst payday lending problems.

Here’s a more in-depth look at the specifics of the rules that Nevada has in place.

READ MORE: How to get out of a payday loan nightmare

Maximum loan amount in Nevada

While there isn’t a dollar amount restriction on payday loan amounts in Nevada, state law prevents lenders from loaning borrowers more than 25% of their monthly gross income.

For example, if a borrower with a monthly gross income of $3,000 applies for a payday loan, their lender couldn’t offer them a payday loan with a principal balance greater than $750.

Lenders must verify a borrower’s income by checking their paystubs or W-2 and have them sign a waiver that states the loan does not exceed the allowed amount before they can give them the loan.

READ MORE: Payday loan consolidation and relief that works

What is the statute of limitations on a payday loan in Nevada?

A statute of limitations outlines the period where a creditor can initiate legal proceedings to make a borrower pay their outstanding balances. If your payday loan has been delinquent for longer than the statute of limitations in your state, you can use the age of the debt to defend a lawsuit.

In Nevada, the statute of limitations on a written contract like a payday loan is six years.

Rates, fees, and other charge limits in Nevada

Unfortunately, the Nevada payday loan laws don’t include a limit on interest rates during the life of the loan. Theoretically, lenders can charge whatever borrowers are willing to pay for their payday loans.

There are some limitations on the fees and interest that lenders can charge a borrower for failing to pay their payday loans, as so many do. These include two $25 non-sufficient funds fees and no more than 90 days of 10% interest on the balance after default.

Maximum term for a payday loan in Nevada

Payday loans can have a maximum original loan term of 35 days in Nevada. Under no circumstances can lenders extend the repayment period more than 90 days from the original origination date through refinances, renewals, or consolidations.

How many payday loans can you have in Nevada?

Nevada residents are limited to one outstanding payday loan per lender. Though payday lenders don’t report loans to the three major credit bureaus, they have their own reporting system. So, if you already have a couple of outstanding payday loans — or have defaulted on a previous payday loan — the new lender will typically be aware.

There’s also no overall limit to the number of payday loans Nevada borrowers can have, so once you pay off your original loan, you’re immediately eligible for a new loan. However, this isn’t recommended.

READ MORE: Can you have multiple payday loans?

Are tribal loans legal in Nevada?

Native American tribes are sovereign nations in the United States. That means they’re generally immune to state regulations and it’s hard to sue them for breaching the laws of the states they reside in, though they usually follow applicable federal laws.

Tribal lenders are a type of short-term loan provider that partners with Native tribes to try and share in their tribal immunity. They use that as an excuse to sidestep the regulations meant to protect consumers, such as the rate restrictions on payday loans.

Tribal lenders are technically legal in Nevada. There are no prohibitions on offering lending services out of a Native American reservation.

However, all lenders must be licensed by the state’s department of Business & Industry Financial Institutions, and many tribal lenders do not hold the appropriate state licenses. Loans from unlicensed lenders may not be legally collectible. If you believe you’ve borrowed money from an unlicensed lender, don’t hesitate to contact a Legal Aid attorney for advice.

READ MORE: Is my payday loan lender licensed?

Consumer information

The Nevada Financial Institutions Division is responsible for licensing financial institutions in the state and enforcing regulations. Its mission is to protect consumers, defend the public interest, and promote economic development.

Payday lenders, which the Division refers to as deferred deposit service providers, fall under their jurisdiction. The Division is in charge of ensuring that payday lenders comply with the state’s loan amount limitations and may take steps to penalize or disband institutions that fail to do so.

Where to make a complaint

The Nevada Financial Institutions Division is also the best place for consumers to register their complaints about any payday lenders they have trouble with in the state. Here’s the contact information: 

• Regulator: Nevada Financial Institutions Division
• Address: 3300 W. Sahara Ave., Suite 250, Las Vegas, Nevada 89102
• Phone: (702) 486-4120
• Link to website: https://hal.nv.gov/form/FID_ADA_Forms/Complaint_Form

Consumers can also submit a complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB is a federal organization whose mission is to ensure that financial institutions treat consumers fairly, including payday lenders.

Number of Nevada consumer complaints by issue

These statistics are all according to the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database.

The most common reason that consumers in Nevada register complaints with the CFPB is that their lenders are charging them unexpected fees or interest. Close behind, in second place, is that they’re struggling to keep up with their loan payments.

These two are the most frequently cited issues by far. Out of the 292 complaints the CFPB has received since 2013, 112 have been for these reasons. That means just under 40% of the people who have issues with their loans complain because of the cost.

That clearly shows that lenders in the state are charging prices that borrowers consistently have trouble paying. Of course, in a state with such loose payday loan laws, that’s not surprising.

The most complained about lender in Nevada: CURO Group Holdings

Consumers have complained more about CURO Group Holdings than any other lender in the state. Once again, it takes the top spot by a significant margin. The second-place lender has only a little more than half the amount of complaints that CURO has.

That’s likely because CURO Group Holdings, also known as CURO Intermediate Holdings, is a parent company for multiple high-interest loan brands. That includes Speedy Cash, which is one of the biggest payday loan companies in the country.

Their loans are typical payday loans and take full advantage of the free reign they have in Nevada. For example, they offer loans with the following terms:

Speedy Cash offers payday loans from $100 to $500 in increments of $100. They charge $25 per $100 in principal, which always works out to a 651.79% APR on a two-week loan.

Most common complaints about CURO Group Holdings

The most common problem people have with CURO Group Holdings is the same one that they have with Nevada lenders in general. They charge fees or interest that are unexpected.

CURO Group Holdings and its subsidiaries seem to be forthcoming enough about loan prices online. That may suggest they’re reaching some customers through other means of communication where the fees are less transparent, such as a direct mail that tells recipients they’re pre-qualified.

Another explanation is that people don’t understand how expensive their payday loan rates actually are, even after seeing them.

Whatever the case, it’s likely that the only sure way to reduce the frequency of these issues is to make meaningful changes to the Nevada payday loan laws.

Top 10 most complained about payday lenders

CURO Group Holdings isn’t the only lender that consumers complain about in Nevada. There are many other problematic creditors in the state, and most of them take the same predatory strategy that CURO does.

Of the other nine lenders on the top ten list of most complained about lenders, at least seven offer payday loans or payday loan equivalents. Once again, the most common complaints borrowers have with their services almost exclusively have to do with struggling to pay their loan fees.

If you’re having financial difficulties because of the creditors on this list or any other predatory lender, DebtHammer can help you turn things around. Contact us today to get a free quote, and we can show you the way out of the payday loan trap once and for all.

The most complained about tribal lender in Nevada: Big Picture Loans, LLC

Payday lenders are an infamously stubborn and devious group. As legislation changes, they adapt and find new ways to take money from vulnerable consumers. One of their current strategies is to operate as a tribal lender offering installment loans.

Tribal lenders give a small portion of their profits to Native American tribes in exchange for their tribal immunity. Tribal immunity refers to the legal protection Native American tribes have as sovereign nations within the United States. It makes them difficult to sue for violations of state law.

READ MORE: How to get out of high-interest tribal loan debt

Big Picture Loans, LLC is one of these tribal lenders, operating as an extension of the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. They use their tribal status to ignore even the already paltry Nevada payday loan laws. As a result, their installment loans are just as, if not more, expensive than a typical payday loan in the state. 

They offer loans between $200 and $5,000 with APRs between 35% and 699%. For new customers, the lowest possible APR is 200%.

Most common complaints about Big Picture Loans, LLC

In keeping with the trend in Nevada, the most common complaint consumers have about Big Picture Loans is that they charge fees or interest that borrowers don’t expect. With the 200% minimum APR for new clients, that should come as no surprise to you.

Payday loan statistics in Nevada

• Nevada ranks as the 22nd state for the most overall payday loan complaints.
• Nevada ranks as the 2nd state for the most payday loan complaints per capita.
• There have been 18,281 payday loan-related complaints made to the CFPB since 2013―292 of these complaints originated from Nevada.
• The estimated total population in Nevada is 3,080,156 people.
• There are 9.48 payday loan complaints per 100,000 people in Nevada.
• The most popular reason for submitting a payday loan complaint is “Charged fees or interest you didn’t expect.”

READ MORE: Payday loan debt statistics

Historical timeline of payday loans in Nevada

The Nevada payday loan laws give lenders a lot of freedom in 2021, but they’ve gone through some changes over the years. Here’s an overview of their history in the state over the last few decades.

• Pre-1984: Nevada had a law in place that restricted all lenders to 18% APR. As a result, payday lending was effectively impossible in the state.
• 1984: In an attempt to convince the banking powerhouse now known as Citibank to open up a credit card processing center in Nevada, the governor lifted the 18% APR limit and opened the door to payday lenders.
• 2005: NRS Chapter 604A passed, which stopped lenders from giving out loans for more than 25% of a borrower’s gross monthly income.
• 2007: Legislators updated NRS Chapter 604A to include limitations on all “high-interest loans” with an interest rate above 40% APR. Previously, lenders could get around payday loan laws by tweaking repayment terms.
• 2017: Assembly Bill 163 passed, which requires lenders to check a borrower’s ability to repay their loan before offering them one.
• 2019: Senate Bill 201 passed, which created a central database to track payday loans. Lenders must check it to confirm that giving a borrower a loan would not exceed the 25% monthly gross income limit when in combination with their other loans.

While payday lenders can still operate freely in Nevada, the two recent bills may have built some momentum toward reining in the industry. If you live in Nevada, reaching out to legislators could help encourage further positive change.

Flashback: A Nevada payday loan story

The most common complaint borrowers make about lenders in Nevada is that they charge unexpected fees and interest. While payday lenders must disclose their rates, they often try to do so in ways that make it easy for borrowers to overlook them.

Even worse, they also target people who are more likely to misunderstand them. For example, consider the case of Don Miller, the seniors program manager for HopeLink.

Hopelink is a non-profit group that serves the less fortunate in Southern Nevada, helping them move out of poverty and become self-sufficient. In 2016, Miller reported that payday loans were unusually common among his clientele.

He found that payday lenders were setting up shop in lower-income communities, which often house senior citizens. That artificially inflated the chances of elderly locals turning to them for financial help.

Miller said that he was meeting with around 100 seniors each week and that at least half of them had taken out a payday loan at some point. With many of them living off $700 to $900 a month, they defaulted as much as the next payday borrower.

As if that weren’t bad enough, the payday loan companies would then call up his 80-year old clients to threaten them with legal action and scare them into paying.

The bottom line: Should you take out a payday loan in Nevada?

Payday loans are dangerously expensive in the best of circumstances. They’re even worse in states where lenders can charge whatever they want. The Nevada payday loan laws are among the least restrictive in the country, so it’s highly inadvisable to take out a payday loan in the state.

If you need short-term financing but don’t have the credit score to qualify for bank financing, consider using a cash advance app like Dave. It lets you take an advance on your earnings up to $200 with no interest and only a $1 monthly fee.

Of course, you’ll eventually need to fix the underlying problems that are pushing you toward debt. If you’re a Nevada resident looking to consolidate payday loan debt, DebtHammer can help you address your problems and leave payday lenders behind. Contact us today for a free quote to get started!