Housing
Lombardo kills tenant protections, eviction reforms despite warnings of homeless crisis
In a Friday night dump, Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed the overwhelming bulk of legislation that would have expanded tenant protections, made changes to eviction proceedings and authorized more tools to address the housing crisis. Lombardo killed a record-breaking 75 bills that, in addition to housing bills social service groups said would prevent an eviction […]
Nevada lands near bottom of list ranking child well-being
Nevada ranks 47th in child well-being among all states, only ahead of Mississippi, Louisiana, and New Mexico, according to the 2023 KIDS COUNT Data Book. The report released Wednesday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation analyzes household data from the previous four years to assess how children and families are faring across the nation. The […]
NLV, HUD facilitate home purchase in sinking neighborhood
The City of North Las Vegas has been using federal money for years to entice homeowners in Windsor Park to leave their sinking homes. Now, it’s using federal money to attract new buyers. More than half of the homes in Windsor Park, a predominantly Black neighborhood built in the 1960s on a depleting aquifer, have […]
Tenants waiting for rental assistance at risk of eviction after legislative protection expires
When Jada Kirkwood and her 56-year-old disabled mother logged on for a virtual eviction hearing on Tuesday morning, they figured the case wouldn’t proceed since an application for rental assistance was pending. Kirkwood had no idea that at midnight Monday an eviction protection lawmakers passed in 2021 that paused cases while applications were being processed […]
Lombardo veto of rent stabilization for seniors may not bode well for other housing measures
Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed legislation offering one year rent stabilization for seniors and modest regulations on application fees on Thursday night, possibly casting a shadow on the prospects of other housing-related legislation still under consideration. He hasn’t taken any action yet on a slew of other housing legislation that have passed that would bolster tenant […]
Local officials mostly mum on legislation granting them authority to address housing crisis
As rents skyrocketed in the aftermath of the pandemic and have continued squeezing Nevadans in the last year, local officials on numerous occasions stressed state law restricted them from taking action to address the housing crisis. Now given a chance to weigh in on legislation that would clarify their authority, local governments have been mostly […]
Lawmakers propose solution to address racist covenants in legal property documents
History researchers at UNR estimate Washoe County alone has at least 11,000 racist covenants, legal property documents that once restricted anyone not white from purchasing or living in the home. While the covenants, a relic of the Jim Crow era, are unconstitutional and unenforceable, Democratic state Sen. Dallas Harris is proposing a way to redact […]
Measure designed to increase stock of affordable rentals ignores low-income demand
Democratic Assembly Majority Leader Sandra Jauregui told lawmakers Monday her measure requiring local governments to track housing developments and expedite the application and zoning processes “will bring more homes online” in Nevada. “And with an increased supply and inventory, whether that’s affordable housing units, market rate units, apartment units or homes for people to buy, […]
Lawmakers look to fix, extend 2021 eviction prevention measure
Lawmakers are working to remedy 2021 legislation that pauses eviction proceedings when a rental application is pending after a Las Vegas judge told them the process has been “crippling.” Senate Bill 335 would prevent tenants waiting for rental assistance from being evicted for 60 days while applications are processed, and would extend some protections passed […]
Tenant protections addressing hidden fees, rental applications move forward at the legislature
Lawmakers have advanced several tenant protection bills seeking to rein in practices that nickel-and-dime tenants through hidden fees for paying rent, applying for apartments or requesting maintenance repairs. Amid skyrocketing rents, which have increased between 20% and 30% in parts of the state since 2020, legislators have been pressed to find solutions to address rampant […]
NLV mayor, state senator spar over sinking homes
When Gary and Cinthia Arnett bought their North Las Vegas home in 2020, they had no idea the ground beneath their Windsor Park neighborhood was literally shifting beneath their feet, and had been for decades. They didn’t know that in the last 30 years about half the Windsor Park houses had been condemned or purchased […]
NLV backs off plan to buy Texas Station land for mixed use development
The City of North Las Vegas says it’s not buying 73 acres of vacant land at the sites of the bulldozed Texas Station and Fiesta, despite a request to the state to pitch in $10 million in funds earmarked for affordable housing toward the $80 million price tag. In September of last year, city manager […]