Nebraska § 76-1431 - Noncompliance; failure to pay rent; effect; violent criminal activity upon premises; landlord; powers; exceptions.

§ 76-1431. Noncompliance; failure to pay rent; effect; violent criminal activity upon premises; landlord; powers; exceptions.

(1) Except as provided in the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, if there is a noncompliance with section 76-1421 materially affecting health and safety or a material noncompliance by the tenant with the rental agreement or any separate agreement, the landlord may deliver a written notice to the tenant specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach and that the rental agreement will terminate upon a date not less than thirty days after receipt of the notice if the breach is not remedied in fourteen days, and the rental agreement shall terminate as provided in the notice subject to the following. If the breach is remediable by repairs or the payment of damages or otherwise and the tenant adequately remedies the breach prior to the date specified in the notice, the rental agreement will not terminate. If substantially the same act or omission which constituted a prior noncompliance of which notice was given recurs within six months, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement upon at least fourteen days' written notice specifying the breach and the date of termination of the rental agreement.

(2) If rent is unpaid when due and the tenant fails to pay rent within seven calendar days after written notice by the landlord of nonpayment and his or her intention to terminate the rental agreement if the rent is not paid within that period of time, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement.

(3) Except as provided in the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, the landlord may recover damages and obtain injunctive relief for any noncompliance by the tenant with the rental agreement or section 76-1421. If the tenant's noncompliance is willful, the landlord may recover reasonable attorney's fees.

(4) Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2) of this section or section 25-21,221, and except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, a landlord may, after five days' written notice of termination of the rental agreement and without the right of the tenant to cure the default, file suit and have judgment against any tenant or occupant for recovery of possession of the premises if the tenant, occupant, member of the tenant's household, guest, or other person who is under the tenant's control or who is present upon the premises with the tenant's consent, engages in any violent criminal activity on the premises, the illegal sale of any controlled substance on the premises, or any other activity that threatens the health or safety of other tenants, the landlord, or the landlord's employees or agents. Such activity shall include, but not be limited to, any of the following activities of the tenant, occupant, member of the tenant's household, guest, or other person who is under the tenant's control or who is present upon the premises with the tenant's consent: (a) Physical assault or the threat of physical assault; (b) illegal use of a firearm or other weapon or the threat of illegal use of a firearm or other weapon; (c) possession of a controlled substance if the tenant knew or should have known of the possession, unless such controlled substance was obtained directly from or pursuant to a medical order issued by a practitioner legally authorized to prescribe while acting in the course of his or her professional practice; or (d) any other activity or threatened activity which would otherwise threaten the health or safety of any person or involving threatened, imminent, or actual damage to the property.

(5)(a) A landlord shall not take action under subsection (4) of this section if the violent criminal activity, illegal sale of any controlled substance, or other activity that threatens the health or safety of other tenants, the landlord, or the landlord's employees or agents, as set forth in subsection (4) of this section, is conducted by a person on the premises other than the tenant or a household member and the tenant or household member takes at least one of the following measures:

(i) The tenant or household member seeks a protective order, restraining order, or other similar relief which would apply to the person conducting such activity;

(ii) The tenant or household member reports such activity to a law enforcement agency in an effort to initiate a criminal action against the person conducting the activity; or

(iii) If the activity is an act of domestic violence, the tenant or household member receives certification of the activity from a qualified third party as set forth in the housing protection provisions of the federal Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013.

(b) This subsection shall not apply to a tenant who is a perpetrator of an act of domestic violence. If both the victim who takes measures under this subsection and perpetrator of an act of domestic violence are parties to a rental agreement, a landlord shall only take action under subsection (4) of this section against the perpetrator.