Homestead Declaration

Feb 28

If you own a home, you should consider filing a homestead declaration with the Clark County Recorder.

A creditor may file suit and can record a judgment lien against any real property you own.

A homestead declaration protects your home from being seized and sold in the event that a money judgment is entered against you by a court.

How will a homestead declaration protect my home?

When you record a Declaration of Homestead, Nevada law protects the equity in your home (principal residence) up to $605,000 from general creditor claims (unpaid medical bills, bankruptcy, charge card debts, business/personal loans, accidents)

For most money judgments against you, a homestead declaration protects the first $605,000 of equity you have in your home.

If you have less than $605,000 equity in your home and the judgment is not of the type listed below, your home will not be sold to satisfy a judgment.

If your equity exceeds $605,000, the property (or a portion of it, if a court determines it can be divided) may be sold, but you are entitled to keep the first $605,000.

What is not Protected

A homestead declaration will not prevent your home from being sold to pay a judgment for:

Payment of taxes.
IRS lien.
A mortgage, trust deed or other loan arrangement used to purchase or refinance your property or improvements to your property.
A mechanic’s lien or other obligation to pay because of improvements made to your property.
Any lien to which you agree by accepting the property subject to codes, covenants and restrictions, deed restrictions or equitable servitudes.
Child support or alimony payments.

What kinds of property may be declared as a homestead?

These types of property may be homesteaded:

Land with a dwelling house on it plus appurtenances (fixtures and buildings).
A mobile home, whether or not the mobile home owner owns the land on which it sits.
A condominium unit.

Who can decide to declare a homestead?

A single person or, in the case of a married couple, either or both spouses.

Homestead may be filed for property held by the type of title known as “tenancy in common” as well.

Each tenant in common may declare a homestead covering his or her interest in the property.

The homestead protection is subject to the rights of each co-tenant to enforce partition of the property.

How do I file a homestead declaration?

A state-approved Homestead Declaration Form can be found on the Clark County Homestead Webpage or Click Here to Download.

After the necessary information has been filled in, the person or persons who will sign the homestead declaration must sign it in the presence of a Notary Public, who will notarize the signature.

A Notary Public can be found in banks, law offices, real estate offices or title companies.

Finally, the notarized Declaration of Homestead must be filed with the County Recorder.

There are small fees for notarization of documents and for their recording with the County Recorder.

My recommendation is to have your form notarized at the County Recorder after a clerk has reviewed it for accuracy.

(Note: the Homestead Declaration Form asks for the property’s “Legal Description.” You can find the legal description on your property’s records. Click Here to search. Once you pull up the records, the description is labeled ASSESSOR DESCRIPTION.)