On October 6th the Nevada supreme court finalized the mediation program legislated in the summer special sessions of 2020. The mediation process will definitely apply to pay or quit evictions but a local court could decide to also require mediation for other types of cases (30 Day, Nuisance, Lease Violation, etc.). During this period (doubt it will go away) evictions will take longer – adding weeks to the process experienced before the COVID pandemic.
Mediation would be mandatory if either party requests it.
Landlords would request mediation when they file their Affidavit of Complaint.
Tenants would request mediation when they file their answers.
If mediation is requested, the Court will provide the parties with an eviction court date which will be no less than one month after the eviction is filed.
The Mediation Administrator would contact the landlord with the mediation date which would be held before the eviction court date.
The Court and/or Administrator will likely not contact SNES with the mediation details. The Administrator will directly contact your office regarding the date and time of the mediation. This information is placed on the eviction filing and cannot be changed after that time. Consequently, it is CRITICAL that the person/phone number/address listed is someone who can receive information on the date/time of the mediation.
The landlord and tenant can participate in-person, telephonically or through video conferencing.
If the landlord fails to attend the mediation, the underlying eviction is dismissed. If the tenant fails to attend the mediation, the mediation is cancelled and the matter proceeds to a hearing based on the previously provided date.
As detailed above, if the landlord misses the call/letter regarding the mediation date and misses the mediation, the eviction will be denied. It is doubtful that we can ask the mediator to reschedule mediation!
You can hire SNES to accompany you to the mediation sessions but understand that someone from your company who has settlement authority must accompany me to the mediation.
If the mediation results in an agreement, the eviction hearing is cancelled and the parties must adhere to the agreement.
If the tenant violates the agreement, the landlord can file a motion to place the matter back on calendar. The Court would then schedule a hearing.
Mandatory mediation will continue until funding for the program is exhausted or May 2021.