New Nevada Eviction Bill Will Allow Landlords to Apply for Rental Assistance on Behalf of Tenants

LAS VEGAS, NV – According to reports, a recently passed eviction bill aims to address the many issues being faced by landlords throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, particularly when it comes to offering potential financial relief when it comes to tenants who may have access to federal rental assistance funds but for whatever reason have not applied for them.

Assembly Bill 486 will allow landlords suffering hardship due to non-payment of rent during the pandemic to apply for rental assistance on behalf of their tenant; many Nevada property owners have noted that renters not bothering to apply for rental assistance – be it out of ignorance, apathy, or outright malice – have been an ongoing thorn in their side for the past year.

However, Bill 486 also introduces some additional protections for tenants as well, including pausing eviction proceedings once they have applied for rental assistance until their application has been processed.

The bill will not be enforced until the end of the federal eviction moratorium – due to expire on July 31 – but despite finally giving landlords access to possible financial relief, many have nonetheless criticized the bill as actually doing more harm than good by drawing out the eviction process even longer due to the grace period it affords renters applying for assistance that they may or may not be approved for.

The typical eviction process in Nevada would see tenants behind on their rent receiving a notice from their landlord giving them seven days to quit or pay; the tenant would then have to file a response with the court, followed by a landlord filing an eviction. The two parties would then meet before a judge, who would present a final ruling on the matter.

However, legal experts have noted that AB486 alters that process by requiring all eviction hearings to be put on hold for a maximum of 30 days, after which it would go into mediation. The bill also protects tenants who have submitted an application for assistance from eviction until their application has been approved or denied by Clark County’s CARES Housing Assistance Program, a process which could take months.

As for the landlord, if they do receive rental assistance on behalf of a tenant, the eviction will be automatically dismissed and the landlord will not be able to file another case against the tenant for a minimum of 90 days.

Shelter Realty Property Management specializes in the areas of  Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – As of July 1, 2022, reports say, Clark County’s ban on short-term rentals comes to an end, as mandated by legislation passed by state lawmakers; from that point, all short-term rentals must be legalized and regulated, posing a difficult task for county officials. After all, despite the ban that is currently in-place, reports indicate that over 6,000 properties have been illegally renting regardless.

Assembly Bill 363 mandates that Clark County regulate its short-term rental industry, and with the end of the ban in sight, the possibility that these short-term rentals could start providing significant tax revenue is set to become very real. Rentals are incredibly popular in the Southern Nevada region, given that it is home to the famed Las Vegas Strip.

Assemblywoman Rochelle Nguyen, who sponsored Bill 363, noted that regulations need to be devised that will take into account the needs and concerns of both the residents who are renting their homes out for extra income, their neighbors who have often issued complaints regarding excessive noise and partying, as well as labor groups and local law enforcement.

One of the main reasons Nguyen said that she sponsored the bill – signed into law by Governor Steve Sisolak in early June – was because simply banning short-term rentals was not working at all, and lauded the potential tax revenue they could generate with proper oversight.

“I don’t think they work,” she said. “I think we are missing out on the potential revenue and it makes it difficult for our counties and cities to enforce what is being perpetrated in our communities with these investment properties.”

However, not everyone believes that the bill is perfect; neighbors of rentals who are furious with the noise have claimed that the bill is not strict enough in that regard, and on the opposite side, renters have complained that the new regulations limit them far too much. But the bill is not an end-all, be-all in terms of regulating the industry; it is meant to merely set the overall framework into which local municipalities can develop and implement their own regulations, which Clark County officials currently in the process of working out while maintaining the guidelines already set forth by the state.

Clark County officials have also expressed skepticism regarding their ability to enforce whatever mandates the bill establishes, given their own inability to enforce the county’s soon-to-end ban on short-term rentals. But the degree of flexibility that counties are afforded to create and enforce their own regulations may make that process easier for Clark officials, but at the same time may cause them to incur additional expenses setting up the infrastructure to do so.

Currently, the bill only applies to Clark County, Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas; all other counties and cities in Nevada are exempt.

Shelter Realty Property Management specializes in the areas of  Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – In the wake of the fourth – and allegedly final – extension of the federal eviction moratorium by the Biden Administration in an attempt to assist millions of tenants who have fallen behind on their rent gain access to last-minute monetary assistance, landlords have announced their displeasure, with the Nevada State Apartment Association (NSAA) issuing a statement decrying the move.

The eviction ban, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has been extended from June 30 to July 31 in order to buy more time to distribute federal rental assistance funding that so far has been trickling out to those who need it. Currently, the Nevada Housing Division is offering federal rental assistance funds to people in need via the CARES Housing Assistance Program.

According to reports, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, 6.4 million households have said that they are unable to pay their rent; in Nevada, the number of families facing eviction in the face of financial insolvency number at 81,000.

However, landlords and property owners have been hit just as hard by the pandemic, as both federal and local eviction moratoriums have essentially mandated they provide free room and board to tenants who claim to have been financially impacted by the pandemic. In the process, many landlords have encountered severe financial problems themselves.

The Nevada State Apartment Association has voiced the collective displeasure of landlords throughout the state who have been forced to shoulder the burden of their tenants’ finical woes, criticizing the Biden Administration for drawing out the difficult process even further, especially in light of the recovery of Nevada’s economy as of late.

“We are extremely disappointed that the federal moratorium yet again has been extended,” the NSAA said. “It is essential that the eviction moratorium sunsets to mitigate any additional damage to both renters and their housing providers and is appropriate given the trajectory of both the COVID-19 health crisis and Nevada’s economic recovery. The expiration will also allow housing providers to discuss and execute flexible payment plans, making payment plans, not eviction plans.”

Shelter Realty Property Management specializes in the areas of  Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – With only days remaining before it was slated to come to an end, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), under the direction of the Biden Administration, announced Thursday that they would be extending the national eviction memorandum for one more month – from June 30 to July 31 – to assist millions of tenants facing eviction due to nonpayment of rent during the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that “this is intended to be the final extension of the moratorium.”

The CDC first issued the eviction ban in September 2020 under former President Donald Trump, and it was originally supposed to last until the end of 2020. However, it has been extended three times; once in December 2020 by Congress, and twice more – in January and March 2021 – by the Biden Administration.

The remaining month, according to the Biden Administration, will be used to massively step up the distribution of nearly $47 billion in available emergency rental assistance funding; a process that, up until now, has been going far too slowly, reports say.

Currently, 6.4 million U.S. residents report being behind on their rent, and 3.2 million are facing eviction, many due to financial hardships incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.

However, the move to extend the moratorium at the last-minute was decried by landlords and property managers across the nation. Landlords – many being small mom-and-pop operations with limited means –  have been monetarily devastated for the last year by federal mandates that have compelled them to provide free room and board for their tenants, some of whom are financially viable but are actually taking advantage of the eviction ban and simply refusing to pay rent.

Some landlords have challenged the authority of the CDC eviction moratorium in court. Currently, there are at least six major lawsuits that are ongoing, with three judges ruling in favor of the eviction ban and three ruling against it; all six cases are currently in the appeals process.

Shelter Realty Property Management specializes in the areas of  Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – The MSG Sphere at the Venetian, the much talked-about high-tech Las Vegas event venue that is currently in the works, reached a major development milestone recently when the final 32 steel beams were bolted into place by the 650-strong construction crew, according to reports.

Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSG) Corporation is the construction manager of the MSG Sphere, and handles “strategic planning and the construction timeline, as well as management of all subcontractors,” according to a press release put out by the company. The previous construction manager, an engineering firm called AECOM, remains in a supporting role.

Madison Square Garden Company Vice President of Construction Nick Tomasino noted that there will be two “topping out” ceremonies for the project, with the first representing the completion of the steel beam bolting and the second slated for 2022, when the venue’s “exosphere” will be added.

The exosphere will consist of 580,000 square feet of LED light panels that will be able to be seen from several miles in the distance, and will increase the height of the current MSG Sphere itself by approximately 30 percent.

When completed, the MSG Sphere will be a 400,000-square-foot, 18,000-seat, 360-foot-tall globe-shaped arena slated to be constructed on 63 acres of property located behind the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. The exterior of the sphere will feature 36 miles of variable intensity LED lighting – the aforementioned exosphere – enabling the structure to allow outside spectators to peer through a transparent façade to watch the concert within; at higher lighting intensities, outside vision will be obscured.

The venue will typically not feature sporting events, but rather cater to musical performances and concerts; however, the occasional boxing or MMA contest could be held there if needed. Originally slated to be opened in 2020, the project has fallen behind scheduling estimates and is now eying a 2023 opening date.

Shelter Realty Property Management specializes in the areas of  Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – According to reports, the prices in the Las Vegas rental home marketplace continue to climb amid the recovering local post-COVID economy, and are now ranking among the fastest increasing in the United States.

May saw rental home prices soar as demand remains very high and supply still very low; those factors, combined with the rapidly-recovering Nevada economy, means that there’s people out there with money who want to rent properties, and prices are always set by demand.

The average rent of a Las Vegas home increased year-over-year in May a whopping 17.3 percent, with April showing an 11.3 rate gain over the year before as well, illustrating consistent month-to-month growth.

Las Vegas is now tied with Riverside, California for the second-fastest rising home rents, behind only Phoenix, Arizona, which experienced a rental rate increase of 17.7 percent in May.

Competition for what rental properties there are is fierce, and often realtors are noting that people are filling out multiple rental applications and are nonetheless having a difficult time actually closing a deal with landlords.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the rental market in Las Vegas initially suffered, but as vaccine distribution has stepped up and more and more of the country has been inoculated, the recovering economy has fueled increased demand for rental housing. However, landlords are also seeing increased competition from the home-buying market due to lower-than-average mortgage rates available driving sales to a higher level than usual.

But this home-buying frenzy has also helped the rental market as well, since many new homeowners may still need a place to live until their home is ready, and would turn to short-term rentals to satisfy that need.

Other factors driving the Las Vegas rental market are people who moved to the Southern Nevada region for its cheaper cost of living to work remotely during the pandemic.

Shelter Realty Property Management specializes in the areas of  Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – According to reports, when the federal eviction moratorium imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expires at the end of this month, at least 100,000 Nevada residents – and with some estimates placing that number as high as 140,000 – are facing being legally removed from their dwellings due to non-payment of rent.

Nevada’s eviction moratorium ended on May 31, at which time landlords and property managers throughout the state began filing paperwork for evictions that will begin to progress through the court system en masse when the CDC moratorium ceases as of July 1.

Clark County has confirmed that they have distributed approximately $110 million in rental assistance, and has noted that more money would have been sent out to renters except for the fact that many applications that the county received were submitted with errors that require correction before funds can be released.

Kimberly Ireland, a Las Vegas renter who has only recently returned to work at a resort on the Las Vegas Strip, significantly behind on her rent to a small, mom-and-pop landlord who she says has been “gracious and kind” throughout the COVID-19 pandemic when record-breaking unemployment was at its worst.

However, the landlord has reached the point where they want the property back so they can rent it to a party capable or paying rent, which Ireland said she understands at this point.

“It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “We’re forced into this. It’s not by choice.”

Assemblywoman Brittney Miller (D-Las Vegas) recently stated that she supported a bill that was recently signed into law that helps smaller landlords who might be left out of federal relief programs and pauses pending eviction proceedings once a person applies for rental assistance. However, if a renter receives an eviction notice and does nothing, the eviction will automatically go through by default.

“Maybe the United States didn’t hit depression numbers when it came to unemployment, but Nevada did,” Miller said.

Shelter Realty Property Management specializes in the areas of  Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Howard Hughes Corp. has announced that they have begun development on two different projects in Las Vegas that will comprise both office space and rental apartments, according to recent reports.

The first of these projects is an upscale office building located in the vicinity of the Las Vegas Ballpark; the second project is what is considered the second phase of construction on the luxury Tanager apartment complex, which seeks to add an additional 295 rental units to the existing structure.

Both of these projects are situated near the open-air downtown Summerlin mall at Sahara Avenue and the 215 Beltway.

Current estimates place completion of the office building near the end of 2022, and the completion of the apartment project in early 2023, according to the Texas-based developer.

The office marketplace in Las Vegas has come under scrutiny over the course of the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic which saw an increased number of workers telecommuting to work via the internet; this has resulted in a decreased need of physical office space. And despite nearing the end of the pandemic due to the rollout of vaccines, many workers have indicated a distinct preference for working from home due to the convenience and a reluctance to return to the confines of the office life they once took for granted.

Regardless, life in Las Vegas is slowly returning to normal, with tourism increasing and unemployment shrinking to levels below the pandemic’s high-points; experts are saying this is a boon for the local commercial real estate market, and that people will eventually be returning to their offices after the health scare has died down, necessitating the subsequent need for more commercial space sooner or later.

To that end, Hughes Corp. notes that they have spent hundreds of millions of dollars investing in the property in Summerlin, which it still is planning to develop for future commercial use.

Shelter Realty Property Management specializes in the areas of  Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – According to reports, prices of homes in Las Vegas are continuing to soar based on continuing demand, while the supply of homes to placate the need for housing options is still falling far behind, proving the truism of the age-old adage of “supply and demand.”

The current median price of existing single-family homes in the Southern Nevada region during the month of May 2021 was reportedly $385,000; this represents an increase over the same period of time in 2020, which was $315,000.

Meanwhile, the May 2021 median price of local condominiums and townhomes came in at $205,000, which is an increase of 10.8 percent from one year prior, at which time those residences were fetching just $185,000, reports say.

While this degree of growth is a boon for the Southern Nevada real estate scene, experts are saying that continued escalation in housing costs may have the detrimental effect of pricing some first-time and entry-level buyers out of the market.

In terms of housing trends in the near-future, experts are saying that since it seems unlikely that prices will be going down in the near-future – indeed, they are expected to continue on their upward trajectory – rentals will also take an increased role in the marketplace until prices begin to stabilize.

Indeed, a six-month supply of homes in any given housing market is considered “balanced,” but May sales figures suggest that Las Vegas merely has a supply of existing homes that is considered one-month or less; however, it must be said that it has been some time since the region has possessed a legit six-month housing supply.

Reports indicate that a total of 4,100 existing local homes, condos and town homes sold during May 2021 while currently this year, local home sales are on pace to exceed last year’s total, reports say.

Shelter Realty Property Management specializes in the areas of  Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – According to reports, Cadence – a recently-built master-planned community located within the city of Henderson – has been the center of a number of new building efforts recently, with several developers hard at work constructing apartment complexes and tracts of rental homes to satisfy Las Vegas’ ongoing need for housing amid the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Already one of the top-selling locations in Southern Nevada in terms of new single-family homes, rental developers are now making their presence felt in Cadence; Scottsdale, Arizona-based The Wolff Company are planning to build a 388-unit apartment building, and A.G. Spanos – headquartered in Stockton, California – has a 265-unit apartment complex in the works as well. Both projects are expected to break ground either this year or in early 2022.

In addition, a tract of single-family rental homes was recently opened in the community by American Homes 4 Rent, a real estate investment trust based in Calabasas, California; several tenants have already moved in, reports say.

With the COVID-19 pandemic seemingly on its last legs as vaccine rollout continues, the rental scene in Las Vegas and its surround communities is on a state of constant flux; the need for rental housing options is greater than it has been in years as the local economy continues to recover, but the impending end of the federal eviction moratorium looms at the end of the month, it us unknown how many residents may be facing eviction.

While developers may be working at a fever pitch at the moment in order to satisfy demand, it still remains to be seen how many pre-existing rental units may eventually be opening up after potentially thousands of eviction proceedings kick in come July 1.

Until that question is answered, one thing remains certain – currently, Las Vegas residents are renting apartments and houses at record paces, rents are increasing at some of the fastest rates in the United States due to demand, and more and more developers are working on rental projects.

Shelter Realty Property Management specializes in the areas of  Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Legendary tennis champions – and husband and wife since 2001 – Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf have recently put one of their several Las Vegas homes up on the market for $2.4 million, according to reports.

The athletic couple’s primary residence is a 9,000-square-foot mansion in the upscale community of Summerlin; in addition, they also own a number of other homes in the vicinity for members of their family, and one that Agassi – who grew up in Vegas – has owned for a number of decades, is also up for sale.

The home Agassi is selling may hold some special appeal to fans of his, or just fans of tennis in general; the two-story, 4,600 square-foot residence features a private tennis court that Agassi has previously used to train when he was a professional player. In addition, it also has four bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms and sits on a third-acre lot that boasts a backyard lawn, swimming pool, and spa.

4944 SPANISH HEIGHTS DRIVE, LAS VEGAS – $2,390,000.00

Originally constructed in 1993, the Mediterranean-style home has numerous amenities, including a glass, two-sided fireplace that divides the living room from the dining room, a beverage bar a second-floor balcony that overlooks the pool and tennis court, with views of distant mountains.

Now retired from tennis and pursuing other business and charitable ventures, Agassi, 51, is a former world No. 1 tennis player; in singles, he is an eight-time Grand Slam champion and a 1996 Olympic gold medalist, as well as a runner-up in seven other Grand Slam tournaments.

He is the founder of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, which has raised over $60 million for at-risk children in Southern Nevada. In 2001, the Foundation opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, a K-12 public charter school for at-risk children.

Shelter Realty Property Management specializes in the areas of  Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have. File photo: Everett Collection, Shutterstock.com, licensed.

LAS VEGAS, NV – A Native American tribe in North Dakota, flush with cash – $1.7 billion in tax revenues, to be exact – from lucrative oil-drilling operations they have carried out on their land for the past 15 years, have used some of those profits to purchase a multi-million dollar vacant lot adjacent to the famed Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, reports say.

However, what the tribe plans to do with their investment acquisition remains a mystery for the moment.

The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation – known collectively as the Three Affiliated Tribes – had discovered a bankruptcy auction in Southern Nevada that had divided a large, vacant plot of land just off of Vegas’ famed central casino-lined corridor, and purchased an 8.7-acre plot of land for $12 million; according to tribal Chairman Mark Fox, the land could be used for a variety of different purposes, including building a casino or a parking lot.

“We saw it as an opportunity to get land — prime real estate land — in Las Vegas for a good price, and that’s essentially why we went there,” he said.

The 95 E. Ali Baba Lane property is situated just off the south end of the Vegas strip near the 43-story Mandalay Bay casino and about one mile from Allegiant Stadium, home to the Las Vegas Raiders NFL team.

Originally, the property purchased by the Three Affiliated Tribes was part of a 38.5 acre lot that was divvied up into smaller parcels of land after a developer had failed to get a Ferris wheel venture going and declared bankruptcy. The lot was completely unused, except for a brief stint where obstacle course-based reality television show American Ninja Warrior filmed some episodes there.

“We’re still in that phase of trying to develop a concept of development for the acreage. Nothing beyond that right now,” Fox said, noting that his tribe is meeting with developers to discuss potential uses for the property.

Shelter Realty Property Management specializes in the areas of  Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.