§ 107.028 — Trustees: Qualifications; limitations on powers; appointment of new trustee; duties; immunity from liability for certain good faith errors; damages in certain civil actions

1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, the trustee under a deed of trust must be:
(a) An attorney licensed to practice law in this State;
(b) A title insurer or title agent authorized to do business in this State pursuant to chapter 692A of NRS;
(c) A person licensed pursuant to chapter 669 of NRS;
(d) A domestic or foreign entity which holds a current state business license issued by the Secretary of State pursuant to chapter 76 of NRS;
(e) A person who does business under the laws of this State, the United States or another state relating to banks, savings banks, savings and loan associations or thrift companies;
(f) A person who is appointed as a fiduciary pursuant to NRS 662.245 ;
(g) A person who acts as a registered agent for a domestic or foreign corporation, limited-liability company, limited partnership or limited-liability partnership;
(h) A person who acts as a trustee of a trust holding real property for the primary purpose of facilitating any transaction with respect to real estate if he or she is not regularly engaged in the business of acting as a trustee for such trusts;
(i) A person who engages in the business of a collection agency pursuant to chapter 649 of NRS; or
(j) A person who engages in the business of an escrow agency, escrow agent or escrow officer pursuant to the provisions of chapter 645A or 692A of NRS.
2. A trustee under a deed of trust must not be the beneficiary of the deed of trust for the purposes of exercising the power of sale pursuant to NRS 107.080 .
3. A trustee under a deed of trust must not:
(a) Lend its name or its corporate capacity to any person who is not qualified to be the trustee under a deed of trust pursuant to subsection 1.
(b) Act individually or in concert with any other person to circumvent the requirements of subsection 1.
4. A beneficiary of record may:
(a) Replace its trustee with another trustee; or
(b) Substitute as trustee only for the purposes of executing a substitution of trustee and a full or partial reconveyance of a deed of trust.
5. The appointment of a new trustee is not effective until the substitution of trustee is recorded in the office of the recorder of the county in which the real property is located.
6. The trustee does not have a fiduciary obligation to the grantor or any other person having an interest in the property which is subject to the deed of trust. The trustee shall act impartially and in good faith with respect to the deed of trust and shall act in accordance with the laws of this State. A rebuttable presumption that a trustee has acted impartially and in good faith exists if the trustee acts in compliance with the provisions of NRS 107.080 . In performing acts required by NRS 107.080 , the trustee incurs no liability for any good faith error resulting from reliance on information provided by the beneficiary regarding the nature and the amount of the default under the obligation secured by the deed of trust if the trustee corrects the good faith error not later than 20 days after discovering the error.
7. If, in an action brought by a grantor, a person who holds title of record or a beneficiary in the district court in and for the county in which the real property is located, the court finds that the trustee did not comply with this section, any other provision of this chapter or any applicable provision of chapter 106 or 205 of NRS, the court must award to the grantor, the person who holds title of record or the beneficiary:
(a) Damages of $5,000 or treble the amount of actual damages, whichever is greater;
(b) An injunction enjoining the exercise of the power of sale until the beneficiary, the successor in interest of the beneficiary or the trustee complies with the requirements of subsections 2, 3 and 4; and
(c) Reasonable attorney’s fees and costs,
Ê unless the court finds good cause for a different award.

Legislative History

(Added to NRS by 2011, 329 ; A 2011, 1746 , 1748 ; 2015, 1613 )