Every Nevada buyer asks the same question about earnest money, and almost nobody asks it the useful way. The question is not "how much?" It is "under exactly what circumstances does this money come back to me, and on what date does that stop being true?" That decides whether a deposit is a formality or a five-figure loss, and it is answered not by folklore but by three documents: the purchase agreement you signed, Chapter 645 of the Nevada Revised Statutes, and Chapter 645A.
I have spent sixteen years watching deposits move through Nevada escrow, and the pattern is boringly consistent. Deals that fall apart inside a contingency window return the money almost mechanically. Deals that fall apart a day after a deadline turn into arguments neither the brokerage nor the state can settle. The difference is rarely about who was right. It is about whether a written notice was delivered before a date both parties agreed to in advance, and whether anyone bothered to calendar it.
Earnest money is the deposit that makes a Nevada offer binding. On the $432,250 median Las Vegas closing in the 90 days ending September 20, 2026, one percent is $4,323. Escrow or a broker trust account holds it, and you get it back by canceling in writing before your due diligence, appraisal or loan deadline expires. Miss the deadline and the seller can keep it as liquidated damages, so calendar every date at acceptance.
- Nevada sets no required deposit; one percent of the $432,250 median Las Vegas closing is $4,323.
- NAC 645.657 gives a licensee one business day to deliver your deposit to escrow.
- Due diligence, appraisal and loan contingencies each run on separate deadlines counted from acceptance.
- Missing a deadline waives the contingency; the seller may then keep the deposit as liquidated damages.
- Escrow cannot release contested funds; NRS 645A.177 lets it interplead and hand the fight to court.
What Is Earnest Money Under the Nevada Residential Purchase Agreement?
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, earnest money is "a deposit a buyer pays to show good faith on a signed contract agreement to buy a home." That is the economic function. The legal function in Nevada is narrower: the deposit is the measure of what a seller collects if you walk away without a contracted reason, which is why the amount you write in the first blank is a risk decision, not a formality.
The Greater Las Vegas REALTORS Residential Purchase Agreement puts the number in Section 1(A), the first line of financial terms, before the loan amount and the price. The form carries a warning most buyers skim past: writing a check for which there are insufficient funds is a felony in Nevada, punishable by up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine, citing NRS 193.130(2)(d). Section 1(B) creates a second line for an additional deposit to be placed in escrow by a later date, and asks the parties to check whether that money counts as part of the earnest money deposit. That checkbox matters enormously later.
Nevada law does not set a deposit amount. There is no statutory minimum, no maximum, and no percentage anywhere in Chapter 645 or Chapter 645A. The blank is genuinely blank. What the statutes regulate is what happens once the money leaves your hands: who may hold it, how fast it must get there, what account it sits in, and who signs before it moves again.
One definition quietly controls everything else. Section 24 defines "Acceptance" as the date both parties have signed the agreement and all counteroffers and those documents have been delivered to both parties. Nearly every deadline counts forward from Acceptance, not from the day you wrote the offer and not from the day escrow opened. Be off by two days on what Acceptance means and you are off by two days on every contingency deadline protecting your deposit. That is the most common arithmetic error I see.
Who Actually Holds Your Earnest Money, Escrow or a Broker Trust Account?
The Earnest Money Receipt on the GLVAR form offers three destinations, not one: the Escrow Holder, the Buyer's Broker's Trust Account, or the Seller's Broker's Trust Account. Most Southern Nevada transactions check the first box, but the other two are real and legal, and they are governed by a different chapter of Nevada law. Which box was checked tells you which rulebook applies to your money.
If the money goes to escrow, it sits with what the agreement calls "the neutral party that will handle the closing." Escrow agencies are licensed under NRS Chapter 645A, and the regulator is not who most people assume: NRS 645A.010 defines the Commissioner as the Commissioner of Mortgage Lending and the Division as the Division of Mortgage Lending within the Department of Business and Industry. But NRS 645A.015 exempts anyone licensed under NRS Chapter 692A, the title insurance chapter, from that regime entirely. In our closings the escrow holder is nearly always a title agent and escrow officer licensed under NRS 692A.100, supervised on the insurance side. Either way, NRS 645A.160 requires the money to be kept separate from the holder's own funds and designated as trust funds or escrow accounts, and NRS 645A.170 protects it from execution or attachment on any claim against the escrow agent itself.
If the money instead goes to a broker's trust account, Chapter 645 takes over. According to NRS 645.310, a broker who receives money belonging to others must promptly deposit it in a separate checking account at a bank or credit union located in this State, designated a trust account, and earnest money deposits are named explicitly among the funds that must go there. The same section prohibits commingling, makes the broker personally responsible and liable for the deposit at all times, requires monthly balancing and an annual reconciliation to the Division, and subjects the records to inspection and audit. NAC 645.655 adds that no withdrawal may occur without a licensee's signature, that a rubber stamp does not count, and that a salesperson may not be the only required signatory.
The timeline is regulatory, not contractual. According to NAC 645.657, a licensee who receives a deposit must pay it over to the broker, the owner-developer, or the escrow business named in the contract within one business day after receiving a fully executed contract. The GLVAR form mirrors that, allowing a slightly longer window when funds are wired. NAC 645.695 backs it with fines of up to $1,000 per offense for trust account violations under NRS 645.310.
| What to compare | Escrow or title holder | Buyer or seller broker trust account |
|---|---|---|
| Governing law | NRS 645A, or NRS 692A for a title agent | NRS 645.310 and NAC 645.655 |
| Regulator | Division of Mortgage Lending, or Insurance for title agents | Nevada Real Estate Division |
| Account rule | Separate, federally insured, labeled escrow funds | Separate in-state trust account; broker personally liable |
| Deadline to deposit | One business day after a fully executed contract | One business day after a fully executed contract |
| Who can sign funds out | Escrow officer, on joint written instructions | A licensee, never a salesperson alone, never a stamp |
How Much Earnest Money Are Las Vegas and Reno Buyers Putting Down in 2026?
Because no statute sets the number, the honest way to answer "how much" is to start from what homes are actually closing for and work the percentages. I pulled Greater Las Vegas and Northern Nevada closings through our Repliers feed on September 21, 2026, covering sales recorded in the 90 days ending September 20, 2026. Those are MLS figures pulled through Repliers, not an official Las Vegas REALTORS or Northern Nevada Regional MLS statistic, and recent months are still filling in as closings post, so treat the medians as the reliable part and the counts as a floor.
Across 2,772 Las Vegas closings the median was $432,250. Henderson came in at $490,000 across 897 closings and North Las Vegas at $415,000 across 459. Up north, Reno's median was $590,000 across 607 closings and Sparks $543,850 across 254. Combined across Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas and Boulder City, the median was $440,000 on 4,162 closings.
Across the 9,600-plus closings our team has represented, the customary Southern Nevada deposit lands between one and three percent of the price, with one to one and a half percent typical on a single-offer deal and two to three percent showing up when a listing draws competition. That is a market convention, not a rule. The table below converts it into actual dollars so you can decide with a number in front of you rather than a percentage in the abstract.
Deposit size costs you nothing if you close, because the money is credited back at the closing table. It costs you everything if you default. So the right way to size a deposit is to ask how confident you are in your financing and your inspection appetite, not how badly you want the house.
| Market | Median closed price | 1 percent | 2 percent | 3 percent | Closings in sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Las Vegas | $432,250 | $4,323 | $8,645 | $12,968 | 2,772 |
| Henderson | $490,000 | $4,900 | $9,800 | $14,700 | 897 |
| North Las Vegas | $415,000 | $4,150 | $8,300 | $12,450 | 459 |
| Reno | $590,000 | $5,900 | $11,800 | $17,700 | 607 |
| Sparks | $543,850 | $5,439 | $10,877 | $16,316 | 254 |
Where you shop changes the arithmetic more than buyers expect. A three percent deposit in Reno is nearly $5,000 more exposed than the same percentage in North Las Vegas, purely because of the price gap. Sparks sits in between, and Carson City buyers should run their own number rather than borrowing Reno's.
Which Contingencies Protect Your Deposit and When Does Each Deadline Run?
Here is the structural insight that reframes the whole topic: the Nevada residential purchase agreement does not have one contingency with one deadline. The current GLVAR form (Rev. 10/24) splits financing, appraisal and inspection into three independent conditions with three independent clocks, each counted in its own unit of time from its own starting point. Buyers who think of "my contingency period" as a single block of days are the ones who get surprised.
Due diligence runs in calendar days from Acceptance. The appraisal contingency runs in calendar days from Acceptance, on its own blank. The loan contingency runs in calendar days from Acceptance, on a third blank. The loan application obligation runs in business days from Acceptance. The preliminary title report review runs in business days from Opening of Escrow, a different starting point entirely. The HOA resale package right runs in calendar days from the date you receive the package, which nobody can predict at signing. Section 24 defines a business day as excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, and a calendar day as midnight to midnight, so mixing the units is its own category of error.
Section 28 says time is of the essence. That phrase is not decorative. It is the contractual basis for treating a missed deadline as a substantive failure rather than a technicality, and it is why "we were only a day late" is not an argument that goes anywhere.
| Protection | Clock starts | What you must deliver | If you miss it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Due diligence | Calendar days from Acceptance | Written cancellation, or written resolution of objections | Due diligence condition deemed waived |
| Appraisal | Calendar days from Acceptance | Written notice to Seller with a copy of the appraisal | Appraisal contingency deemed waived |
| Loan | Calendar days from Acceptance | Written removal, renegotiation or cancellation notice | Loan contingency deemed waived |
| Loan application | Business days from Acceptance | Completed application plus preapproval letter | Seller may terminate; deposit returns to Buyer |
| Preliminary title report | 5 business days from receipt of the report | Written objection; then notice to Seller and Escrow Officer | Report deemed accepted |
| HOA resale package | 5 calendar days from receipt of the package | Written cancellation by hand, mail or electronic transmission | Resale package deemed approved |
| Final walkthrough | Calendar days before close of escrow | Nothing that refunds the deposit | Systems deemed satisfactory; no cancellation right at all |
How Does the Due Diligence Period Decide Whether You Keep the Money?
Due diligence is the broadest protection in the contract, and the one buyers rely on most, because it does not require you to prove anything. Section 8 of the GLVAR form (Rev. 10/24) gives the buyer a stated number of calendar days following Acceptance, and obligates the seller to cooperate, including keeping gas, power, water and all operable pilot lights on through the close of escrow. That utility obligation is worth knowing: a seller who shuts the power off is interfering with your ability to inspect.
The scope is deliberately enormous. The section lets you determine whether the property is satisfactory "including, but not limited to," whether it is insurable, whether there are unsatisfactory surrounding conditions such as flood zones, airport noise, noxious fumes or odors, environmental hazards, zoning, or proximity to freeways, railroads, places of worship and schools, "or any other concerns Buyer may have related to the Property." You get non-invasive inspections of structural, roofing, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling, water, well, septic, pool, spa, survey and square footage systems through licensed professionals.
Then comes the clause buyers actually care about. Section 8(B) says that if the buyer determines in the buyer's sole discretion that the results are unacceptable, the buyer may, no later than the due diligence deadline, cancel by written notice to the seller, "whereupon Buyer is entitled to a whole refund of their EMD," paid "by a fully cooperated and executed cancellation of escrow instructions" under NRS 645A.175. Read that clause twice: the refund runs through instructions both parties sign, and that statute lets a party refuse only over a good-faith dispute. That is the strongest deposit protection in the document, and it exists only inside the window.
Section 8(C) supplies the mirror image. If the buyer fails to cancel or fails to resolve objections in writing with the seller, "Buyer shall be deemed to have waived the Due Diligence Condition." There is no grace period, no notice of expiration, and no obligation on anyone to remind you. Section 8(D) adds a parallel trap for inspections specifically: if an inspection is not completed and requested repairs are not delivered to the seller within the due diligence period, the buyer is deemed to have waived the right to that inspection and the seller's liability for repairs it would reasonably have identified. If you cancel because of a specific inspection report, the form requires you to give the seller a copy of that report, with the inspector's name, address and telephone number, at the time of cancellation.
What Happens to Your Deposit If the Appraisal or the Loan Falls Short?
These are two separate contingencies with two separate deadlines, and conflating them is a genuine risk. Section 3(B) makes the obligation to purchase contingent on the property appraising for not less than the purchase price. If the buyer receives written notice from the lender or appraiser that the property appraised low, which the form calls a Notice of Appraised Value, the buyer may renegotiate or cancel by written notice to the seller with a copy of the appraisal, no later than a stated number of calendar days following Acceptance. On a timely cancellation, the same whole-refund language applies.
Notice the timing mismatch buyers get caught in. The appraisal deadline counts from Acceptance, but the appraisal does not arrive on a schedule you control. If your lender orders slowly or the appraiser is backed up, the calendar keeps running against a document you do not have. If the deadline passes without a written cancellation, Section 3(B) says the buyer is deemed to have waived the appraisal contingency, and a later low appraisal becomes your problem to solve with cash or a renegotiation the seller is free to refuse.
Section 3(C) does the same job for financing. The obligation is contingent on obtaining the loan referenced in Section 1(C) or 1(D), and the buyer must remove the loan contingency in writing, renegotiate, or cancel by written notice no later than the loan contingency deadline, again in calendar days from Acceptance. Same release language, same deemed waiver.
One financing protection runs the other direction. Section 3(A) requires the buyer to submit a completed loan application and preapproval letter within a stated number of business days of Acceptance. If the buyer does not, the seller may terminate, and the form is explicit that "both parties agree to cancel the escrow and return EMD to Buyer." A seller exercising that right does not get to keep the deposit. Our down payment guide covers how these dates interact with the rest of your cash to close, and our first-time buyer resources walk through the sequence in order.
Why Does an HOA Resale Package Give You a Separate Five-Day Exit?
Most Southern Nevada homes sit inside a common-interest community, which triggers a cancellation right that comes from statute rather than contract. According to NRS 116.4109, a unit's owner must furnish the purchaser a resale package at the owner's expense containing the declaration, bylaws, rules, the association's current operating budget and year-to-date financial statement including a reserves summary, a statement of unpaid obligations, a statement of unsatisfied judgments or pending legal actions against the association, a statement of transfer and transaction fees, a description of all current and expected charges, and proof of the insurance the association must carry.
Then the statute gives you the exit. The purchaser may cancel by written notice until midnight of the fifth calendar day following the date of receipt of the resale package, and the contract must contain a provision to that effect. Cancellation is without penalty, and all payments made before cancellation must be refunded promptly. The notice must be hand delivered to the unit's owner or their authorized agent, mailed by prepaid United States mail, or delivered by electronic transmission.
The purchase agreement layers its own deadlines on top. Section 11 requires the seller to request the resale package within two business days of Acceptance and provide it within one business day of receiving it. If the buyer does not receive it within fifteen calendar days of Acceptance, the agreement may be cancelled in full without penalty. And in the sentence that costs people money, the form states that if written cancellation is not received within the specified period, the resale package is deemed approved.
Two practical details. NRS 116.4109 requires the association to furnish the documents and certificate within ten calendar days after a written request, caps the certificate fee at a base $185 plus up to $100 to expedite delivery sooner than three business days, and lets that cap rise annually with the Consumer Price Index by no more than three percent a year. And a resale package remains effective for ninety calendar days, so one pulled for a prior failed escrow may still be current for yours. Read it. The reserve study summary and the pending litigation statement are the two pages that most often change a buyer's mind, and the five-day clock is the only window in which changing your mind is free.
Do the Title Report and the Final Walkthrough Protect Your Deposit?
The title report does. The walkthrough does not, and the difference surprises nearly everyone.
On title, the agreement gives the title company ten business days from Opening of Escrow to provide a preliminary title report, which the buyer must approve or reject within five business days of receipt. No objection within that window and the report is deemed accepted. If the buyer does object, the seller has five business days after receiving the objections to correct or address them. If the seller fails to remove each exception or correct each objection in that time, the buyer may terminate by providing notice to the seller and the escrow officer, "entitling Buyer to a refund of the EMD," or accept title as is. Everything approved or deemed accepted becomes a permitted exception you are stuck with at closing. Note that this termination notice must go to the escrow officer as well as the seller, a delivery requirement the due diligence cancellation does not spell out the same way.
The walkthrough is a different animal. Section 14 entitles the buyer to a walkthrough a stated number of calendar days prior to close of escrow to confirm that the property and its major systems, appliances, heating and cooling, plumbing, electrical and mechanical fixtures are as stated in the Seller's Real Property Disclosure Statement, and that the property is in the same general condition as when the agreement was accepted. The seller must keep utilities and operable pilot lights on for it. The stated purpose is narrow: confirm the property is being maintained, confirm agreed repairs were completed, confirm the seller met its other obligations.
What Section 14 does not contain is any language returning your deposit. There is no walkthrough cancellation right and no refund trigger. What it does contain is a penalty for skipping it: if the buyer elects not to walk the home before closing, all systems, items and aspects of the property are deemed satisfactory, and the buyer releases the seller's liability for the cost of any repair a walkthrough would reasonably have identified. If a system cannot be checked for lack of access or utilities, the buyer keeps the right to hold the seller responsible for defects that went undetected for that reason. The walkthrough protects your claim against the seller after closing. It does not protect your deposit before it.
What Happens When a Buyer Cancels After the Deadline Has Passed?
This is the scenario the whole article exists for, and the Nevada form is more mechanical than most buyers expect. There is no clause saying "if you cancel late, you lose the money." The contract gets there in three automatic steps.
Step one is the deemed waiver. Section 8(C) says failure to cancel or resolve objections within the due diligence period waives the due diligence condition. Section 3(B) says failure to cancel in writing on or before the appraisal deadline waives the appraisal contingency. Section 3(C) says the same for the loan contingency. None of these require the seller to do anything, send anything or notice anything. The protection simply stops existing at midnight, and nobody is obligated to tell you it happened.
Step two is default. Section 24 defines default as the failure of a party to observe or perform any of its material obligations. Once your contingencies are waived, your remaining material obligation is to close on the agreed date with good funds, and declining to close is a failure to perform it. Section 28 reinforces the point by making time of the essence.
Step three is the remedy, covered next. The practical lesson sits in step one, and it is about delivery rather than intention. Section 25 says notice must be sent by regular mail, personal delivery, overnight delivery, facsimile and/or electronic transmission to the Agent for that party, effective when postmarked, received, faxed, delivery confirmed, or read receipt confirmed in the case of email. It then adds a requirement people forget: any cancellation notice shall be contemporaneously delivered to escrow in the same manner. A cancellation sitting in your own agent's drafts folder, or one that reaches the seller but never escrow, has not been delivered.
So: put every deadline on a calendar the day the contract is accepted. Send cancellations in writing to the other side's agent and to escrow, on a channel that produces a timestamp. And if you will need more time, ask for a written extension before the deadline, because an extension signed two days late is negotiating from a position where the seller already holds the leverage.
Can a Nevada Seller Keep Your Deposit as Liquidated Damages?
Yes, and in the current Southern Nevada form it is the seller's only remedy, which is better news for buyers than it first sounds.
Section 19(C) of the current GLVAR form, Rev. 10/24, reads that if the buyer defaults in performance under the agreement, "as Seller's sole legal recourse, Seller may retain, as liquidated damages, the EMD." The clause adds that the parties agree the seller's actual damages would be difficult to measure and that the deposit is a reasonable estimate of the damages the seller would suffer. That recital is not filler; it is the standard justification for why a liquidated damages provision is an enforceable estimate rather than an unenforceable penalty.
This is a real change from how the form used to work. The prior version gave the seller an either-or choice both parties had to initial: retain the earnest money as liquidated damages, or "recover from Buyer all of Seller's actual damages that Seller may suffer as a result of Buyer's default including, but not limited to, commissions due, expenses incurred until the Property is sold to a third party and the difference in the sales price." That second option had no ceiling. The 2019 sole-recourse language caps a defaulting buyer's exposure at the deposit. If your agreement is on a different form or revision, check this section specifically, because the two versions produce very different worst cases.
Now return to that Section 1(B) checkbox. Section 19(C) states that the seller understands any additional deposit not considered part of the earnest money deposit "will be immediately released by ESCROW HOLDER to Buyer." So a phased deposit, with a modest amount at acceptance in Section 1(A) and a larger additional deposit in Section 1(B) checked as not part of the EMD, leaves the liquidated damages clause reaching only the Section 1(A) money. That is a legitimate way to show real commitment while capping what is genuinely at risk, and it is negotiated far less often than it should be.
The opposite structure is worth naming too. If the additional deposit is checked as part of the EMD, the liquidated damages clause reaches all of it. Sellers ask for that, reasonably, and buyers agree without registering that they just doubled the only number that can be taken from them. Whether either structure fits your transaction is a question for your own attorney.
Who Decides When Buyer and Seller Both Claim the Same Deposit?
When both sides claim the money, the escrow holder does the one thing it is designed to do: nothing. It is a neutral stakeholder, not an adjudicator, and it will not weigh your cancellation notice against the seller's default claim and pick a winner.
Nevada law puts a duty and a penalty on both parties to break that deadlock. According to NRS 645A.175, upon the close of escrow, or on the date escrow is scheduled to close if it has not closed, each party shall execute the documents necessary to release the money, and a party may refuse only if a good faith dispute exists. If a party refuses to execute within thirty days after the escrow holder's written request, the injured party may collect actual damages of not less than $100 nor more than one percent of the purchase price, whichever is greater, plus the money not held for a good faith dispute, plus a reasonable attorney's fee. On a $432,250 Las Vegas purchase that ceiling is $4,323 on top of the deposit, a real deterrent against refusing to sign out of spite.
If the standoff continues, the money goes to court rather than to either party. NRS 645A.177 lets the escrow holder deposit it, less any fees owed, with the court where an action to recover it is filed, and a holder who does so is discharged from further responsibility; the section also preserves the right to bring an interpleader action under Rule 22 of the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure. Section 20 of the agreement says the same in contract form, and makes buyer and seller jointly and severally responsible for escrow's costs, fees and judgments. Interpleader is not free, and the cost comes out of the pot you are fighting over. Section 19(A) routes you somewhere cheaper first: mediate through a mutually agreed mediator, fees split equally, unless the buyer needs to file for specific performance.
Many buyers assume the state will step in. It will not. The Nevada Real Estate Division's complaint form is blunt: "This Division is not empowered to compel anyone to accede to demands of any kind, i.e., we cannot compel cancellation of listing agreements, purchase contracts, etc., or refunds of any kind. In this regard, we suggest that you seek private counsel to protect your interests, as we are not authorized to give legal advice." It also warns complainants not to delay any civil action, because investigations take time. The Division can investigate and discipline a licensee who violated Chapter 645; it cannot order your deposit returned. The one narrow exception is the Real Estate Education, Research and Recovery Fund: under NRS 645.844, someone holding an uncollectible final judgment against a licensee for fraud, misrepresentation or deceit may petition for unpaid actual damages of not more than $25,000 per judgment, capped at $100,000 per licensee.
Contested funds cannot sit forever either. Under NRS 120A.500, all other property is presumed abandoned three years after the owner's right to demand it arises, and Section 21 lets escrow impose a dormant charge of no less than $5.00 per month once that happens. We are a brokerage, not a law firm: a live dispute over your deposit is a question for your own attorney, and the sooner you ask the cheaper the answer usually is.
| Stage | Who acts | Authority | Practical outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conflicting instructions | Escrow holder | Purchase agreement Section 20 | Funds freeze; escrow takes no side |
| Written request to sign | Escrow holder to both parties | NRS 645A.175 | 30 days to sign or show a good faith dispute |
| Refusal without good faith | Injured party | NRS 645A.175(3) | Damages of $100 or 1 percent, plus attorney fee |
| Mediation | Buyer and seller | Purchase agreement Section 19(A) | Fees split equally; required before most legal action |
| Interpleader | Escrow holder | NRS 645A.177 and NRCP 22 | Funds deposited with the court; escrow discharged |
| Complaint to the state | Either party | Nevada Real Estate Division Form 514 | Licensee discipline only; no refund ordered |
| Dormancy | Escrow holder | NRS 120A.500 and Section 21 | Presumed abandoned at 3 years; dormant charge |
How Is Earnest Money Different on a New Construction Home?
Everything above describes the resale purchase agreement. Buy from a production builder in Las Vegas, Henderson or North Las Vegas and you will not sign that form at all. You will sign the builder's own contract, drafted by the builder's counsel, and it governs your deposit from first dollar to closing. The contingency architecture described above is not there unless the builder put it there.
Two statutory rights survive, and their limits are narrower than the internet suggests. According to NRS 116.4108, where a public offering statement is required for a unit in a common-interest community, the seller must provide the current statement no later than the date the offer becomes binding, and unless the purchaser has personally inspected the unit, the purchaser may cancel by written notice until midnight of the fifth calendar day following execution of the contract, without penalty and with all payments refunded promptly. Read the condition carefully: it attaches only when the buyer has not personally inspected the unit, which excludes most buyers who toured the home or the model first.
The other right people cite does not apply at all. NRS Chapter 119 contains a five-day subdivision cancellation right, but NRS 119.120 exempts any person licensed in Nevada to engage in the business of constructing residential buildings, and separately exempts a landowner licensed to construct residential buildings where the disposition includes a residential building. A licensed Nevada homebuilder selling you a house on its own lot sits squarely inside those exemptions. If you have read that Nevada gives every new-home buyer five days to walk, that is why it is wrong.
What does apply is the trust-fund regime. NAC 645.700 requires an owner-developer to register each recorded subdivision it intends to sell, and NRS 645.310 reaches registered owner-developers directly: deposits retained pending consummation or termination must be accounted for in the full amount at consummation or termination.
Builder deposits are also structured in ways that increase your exposure. They are frequently staged, with an initial amount at contract and more at design center selections or construction milestones, and option money is often non-refundable once ordered because it is sunk in materials specified for your house. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau gives the right instruction: "If you are considering purchasing a home that is not yet built, your builder could ask for an upfront builder deposit, also called earnest money," and "Before committing, ask the homebuilder under what conditions the builder deposit can be returned." Ask in writing, before you sign, and read the answer against the contract rather than against what the sales counselor said. Our new construction guide covers what else changes when the seller is a builder.
What Happens to Your Earnest Money at Closing and How Big Should Yours Be?
If you close, the deposit is not a cost at all. It is credited against what you owe on the settlement statement, reducing the balance you wire dollar for dollar. Section 1 makes the arithmetic explicit, listing the earnest money deposit, any additional deposit, the loan amount and the balance of the down payment as separate lines adding up to the total purchase price. The money was always yours. It just arrived early.
The moment of release is defined precisely. Section 24 defines Close of Escrow as "the time of recordation of the deed in Buyer's name." According to the Clark County Recorder's office, the Recorder "records and indexes documents deposited in her office that are authorized, entitled or required by law to be recorded," and requires a declaration of value and transfer tax form with a land document. Until that recording happens, escrow is still holding your money, which is why a Friday afternoon recording delay is a real event rather than a paperwork detail.
Between now and then, the largest threat to your deposit is not the contract. It is the wire. According to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, business email compromise, the scheme in which a criminal impersonates a title or escrow company and sends altered wire instructions, produced $3,046,598,558 in reported losses in 2025, the second-largest loss category of any internet crime. The Bureau's separate real estate fraud category logged 12,368 complaints and $275,110,419 in losses in 2025, up from 9,359 complaints and $173,586,820 in 2024. Nevada is no bystander: the same report recorded 13,366 complaints and $302,235,247 in losses from Nevada residents, third nationally in complaints per 100,000 residents at 407.2. Call the escrow officer at a number you looked up yourself, never a number in the email.
So how big should your deposit be? Size it to your confidence, not to the competition. If your financing is verified and your inspection tolerance realistic, a two or three percent deposit is nearly costless and reads as strength. If you are stretching, keep the Section 1(A) number modest and offer the balance as a Section 1(B) additional deposit payable after due diligence ends, checked as not part of the EMD. Sellers reading offers on Las Vegas and Henderson listings notice deposit size, and our seller resources explain the other side. To see where your price band sits, start with our market report or run a search.
| What to compare | Earnest money deposit | Additional deposit | Balance of down payment and closing costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it appears | Section 1(A) | Section 1(B) | Section 1(F) and the settlement statement |
| When it is paid | One business day after acceptance | On or before a negotiated date | In good funds before close of escrow |
| Reachable as liquidated damages | Yes | Only if checked as part of the EMD | No, it has not been paid yet |
| Credited at closing | Yes | Yes | It is the remainder |
| Refunded on a timely cancellation | Yes, per the contingency used | Yes | Never advanced |
Our Nevada closing cost breakdown covers the separate bucket of loan, title, escrow and recording fees that sits alongside your down payment, and our buyer resources put the whole sequence in order.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much earnest money should I put down in Nevada?
Nevada law sets no amount, so it is negotiated. Across the 9,600-plus closings our team has represented, one to three percent of the price is customary in Southern Nevada, with the lower end typical on a single-offer deal. On the $432,250 median Las Vegas closing in the 90 days ending September 20, 2026, that is roughly $4,323 to $12,968. In Reno, where the median was $590,000, the range runs $5,900 to $17,700. Because the money is credited back at closing, a larger deposit costs nothing if you perform.
Is earnest money refundable in Nevada?
It is refundable whenever you cancel properly inside a contingency window. The GLVAR agreement returns the deposit on a timely due diligence, appraisal or loan cancellation, a title objection the seller fails to cure, an HOA resale package cancellation under NRS 116.4109, or a seller termination for a missed loan application deadline. On the first three, the form promises a whole refund through cancellation instructions both parties sign. Miss the deadline and the protection is deemed waived.
Who holds my earnest money deposit in Nevada?
The Earnest Money Receipt gives three options: the escrow holder, the buyer's broker's trust account, or the seller's broker's trust account. Most Southern Nevada deals use an escrow or title company, regulated under NRS 645A or NRS 692A depending on how it is licensed. If a broker holds it, NRS 645.310 requires a separate in-state trust account, prohibits commingling, and makes the broker personally responsible and liable for the funds. Either way, NAC 645.657 requires delivery within one business day after a fully executed contract.
What happens if I cancel after my contingency deadline passes?
The contract does not punish late cancellation directly. It simply deems the contingency waived, which leaves you with the material obligation to close. Failing to close is a default under Section 24, and Section 28 makes time of the essence. Under Section 19(C) of the Rev. 10/24 form, the seller's sole legal recourse is to retain the earnest money as liquidated damages. An additional deposit checked as not part of the EMD under Section 1(B) is released back to you immediately. Talk to your own attorney before conceding anything.
Can the Nevada Real Estate Division make the seller return my deposit?
No. The Division's own complaint form states that it "is not empowered to compel anyone to accede to demands of any kind" and specifically that it cannot compel cancellation of purchase contracts "or refunds of any kind," and it advises complainants to seek private counsel. What the Division can do is investigate and discipline a licensee who violated Chapter 645. Separately, NRS 645.844 allows someone holding an unsatisfied court judgment against a licensee for fraud, misrepresentation or deceit to petition the Recovery Fund for up to $25,000 per judgment.
How long can escrow hold a disputed earnest money deposit?
Indefinitely, until both parties sign or a court decides. NRS 645A.175 requires each party to execute the release documents at close of escrow or on the scheduled closing date, and permits refusal only where a good faith dispute exists. If a party refuses for more than 30 days after the escrow holder's written request, the injured party may recover actual damages of at least $100 or up to one percent of the purchase price, whichever is greater, plus a reasonable attorney's fee. NRS 645A.177 lets escrow deposit the funds with the court or file an interpleader action under NRCP 22.
Does earnest money work differently on a new construction home?
Yes. You sign the builder's contract, not the association purchase agreement, so the due diligence, appraisal and loan contingencies described here may not exist. Deposits are frequently staged across contract signing, design center selections and construction milestones, and option and upgrade money is often non-refundable once ordered. NRS 116.4108 gives a five-day written cancellation right in a common-interest community only where a public offering statement is required and the purchaser has not personally inspected the unit. NRS 119.120 exempts licensed Nevada homebuilders from Chapter 119's separate cancellation right.
Ready to Structure a Nevada Offer With Nevada Real Estate Group?
Earnest money is where representation earns its fee, because almost every deposit lost in Nevada is lost to a calendar, not a disagreement. The deadlines run in different units from different starting points, the cancellation notice has to reach both the other side's agent and escrow, and the protection ends at midnight whether or not anyone reminded you. Those are solvable problems, and solving them is ordinary work for an agent who does this every week.
Nevada Real Estate Group has closed more than 9,600 transactions across the state over sixteen-plus years and $4.85 billion in volume, including 789 homes and more than $361.5 million in 2025 alone, with 9,061-plus verified five-star reviews behind that record. On the deposit specifically our job is concrete: advise the amount and structure that wins the home without putting more of your cash inside the liquidated damages clause than the situation requires, confirm the funds reach a verified escrow holder on a line you called yourself, calendar every contingency date at acceptance, and deliver any cancellation in writing, on time, to the seller's agent and to escrow, with a timestamp.
We work across Las Vegas, Henderson, Summerlin, North Las Vegas, Reno and Sparks, and we will read your purchase agreement with you before you sign rather than after something goes wrong. Relocating and starting from scratch? Our moving to Las Vegas guide is the place to begin.
Call our Las Vegas team at (702) 637-1759, our Northern Nevada team at (775) 277-2120, or contact us here. We are a brokerage, not a law firm, so if you are already in a dispute over a deposit, please bring in your own attorney.
Which Sources Inform This Nevada Earnest Money Guide?
Deposit dollars are computed from median closed prices in Greater Las Vegas and Northern Nevada Regional MLS data pulled through Repliers on September 21, 2026, covering sales recorded in the 90 days ending September 20, 2026. Those are MLS figures, not official Las Vegas REALTORS or NNRMLS statistics. Contract language is quoted from the Greater Las Vegas REALTORS Residential Purchase Agreement, Rev. 10/24; check the revision date on your own form, because terms have changed between versions. This is general information, not legal advice.
- NRS 645.310 — Deposits and trust accounts — broker trust accounts and personal liability
- NAC 645.655 and 645.657 — Records, trust accounts and payment of deposits — the one-business-day delivery rule
- NRS Chapter 645A — Escrow Agencies and Agents — escrow trust funds, release duties and interpleader
- NRS Chapter 692A — Title Insurance — licensing of title agents and escrow officers
- NRS 116.4108 and 116.4109 — Purchaser's right to cancel and resales of units — the five-day resale package and offering statement rights
- NRS 119.120 — Exemptions for licensed Nevada homebuilders — why Chapter 119 does not reach production builders
- NRS 120A.500 — Presumption of abandonment — the three-year dormancy rule
- NRS 645.844 — Recovery from the Real Estate Education, Research and Recovery Fund — the $25,000 and $100,000 recovery caps
- Nevada Real Estate Division Statement of Fact Form 514 — what the Division cannot compel
- Nevada Real Estate Division — licensing and compliance for licensees
- Greater Las Vegas REALTORS Residential Purchase Agreement, Rev. 10/24
- Earlier GLVAR purchase agreement — the either-or default clause
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — Mortgage key terms — the federal definition
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — Find the right home — guidance on builder deposits
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center — 2025 Annual Report — wire fraud and Nevada loss figures
- Clark County Recorder — the deed recording that defines close of escrow
- Las Vegas REALTORS — publisher of the Southern Nevada purchase agreement
