Nebraska Mold Law: Tenant Rights, Disclosure & Insurance
Does Nebraska license mold work?
None identified. No Nebraska statute licensing or certifying mold assessors or remediators was located in the Nebraska Revised Statutes. Nebraska DHHS regulates asbestos and lead abatement occupations and radon measurement/mitigation, but no mold credential was found. NOTE: the Nebraska DHHS licensure and mold pages returned 404 during this session, so this is an inference from the absence of a statute rather than a direct agency confirmation — flagged in unverified_items.
Habitability: what landlords must provide
Statutory, under the Nebraska Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-1419 requires the landlord to '[s]ubstantially comply, after written or actual notice, with the requirements of the applicable minimum housing codes materially affecting health and safety'; to '[m]ake all repairs and do whatever is necessary, after written or actual notice, to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition'; to keep common areas clean and safe; and to '[m]aintain in good and safe working order and condition all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and other facilities and appliances.' Mold is NOT named. Note the express 'after written or actual notice' trigger — Nebraska conditions the landlord's repair duty on notice, which matters for mold claims where growth is concealed inside wall cavities. (Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-1419)
Notice and repair timeline
14 days / 30 days. Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-1425: tenant gives written notice specifying the breach; the landlord has 14 days to remedy, and if not remedied the rental agreement terminates on a date not less than 30 days after receipt of the notice. If substantially the same breach recurs within six months, the tenant may terminate on at least 14 days' written notice.
Tenant remedies
(1) Terminate + recover damages + injunctive relief, plus reasonable attorney's fees where the landlord's noncompliance is willful — Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-1425. (2) Essential-services remedy with a procure-and-deduct component — Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-1427: on the landlord's failure to supply heat, water, hot water or other essential services, after written notice the tenant may (a) procure the services and deduct the actual and reasonable cost from rent, (b) recover damages based on the diminution in fair rental value, or (c) procure reasonable substitute housing and be excused from paying rent, with recovery for a deliberate failure capped at 'an amount equal to the periodic rent.' Exceptions where the condition was caused by the tenant's deliberate or negligent act or is beyond the landlord's control. (3) Nebraska has NO general repair-and-deduct statute for ordinary habitability defects — 76-1427 is limited to essential services, so a mold problem that does not knock out heat/water is unlikely to support deduction. (4) Rent withholding is not an authorized statutory self-help remedy. (5) Constructive eviction — common-law theory; citation unverified.
Selling a home: mold disclosure
Yes, by statute, but mold is not named. Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-2,120 requires the seller of residential real property to furnish a written disclosure statement covering, among other things, the condition of appliances, electrical, heating/cooling, water and sewer systems; 'the condition of all improvements on the real property and any defects that materially affect the value'; and 'any hazardous conditions, including substances, materials, and products on the real property which may be an environmental hazard.' The Nebraska Real Estate Commission's Seller Property Condition Disclosure Statement, adopted under that section, asks whether there '[h]as ... been water intrusion in the basement or crawl space,' whether the roof leaks, and whether there are 'any flooding, drainage, or grading problems' — but contains no line item naming mold or mildew. Known mold would have to be disclosed, if at all, under the catch-all 'defects that materially affect the value' or 'environmental hazard' categories. (Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-2,120; Neb. Real Estate Comm'n Seller Property Condition Disclosure Statement (form adopted thereunder))
Deadlines to bring a claim
Four years for both. Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-207: 'The following actions can only be brought within four years: (1) An action for trespass upon real property; (2) an action for taking, detaining or injuring personal property ...; (3) an action for an injury to the rights of the plaintiff, not arising on contract, and not hereinafter enumerated; and (4) an action for relief on the ground of fraud, but the cause of action in such case shall not be deemed to have accrued until the discovery of the fraud ...' General negligence/personal injury falls under subsection (3) — 4 years. Property damage falls under (1) and (2) — 4 years. Fraud runs from discovery. Nebraska's product-liability period (25-224) and improvements-to-real-property repose (25-223) may also apply to mold claims against builders/manufacturers — those cites are UNVERIFIED.
Insurance treatment of mold
No mold-specific Nebraska insurance statute, regulation, or Department of Insurance bulletin was located; the DOI consumer homeowners page returned 404 during this session. Practical position: mold sublimits and 'fungi, wet or dry rot, or bacteria' exclusions operate through the ordinary property/casualty form-filing and approval process. Nebraska neither mandates mold coverage nor bars mold exclusions. The specific Nebraska form-filing statute cite is UNVERIFIED.