Report: Some Las Vegas Apartment Complex Owners Risk Defaulting as Pandemic-Era Loans Come Due

LAS VEGAS, NV – While multi-family complexes in Las Vegas continue to be bought and sold on a regular basis, some owners of these properties are beginning to sweat as commercial real estate analysts indicate approximately 20 percent of all apartment building loans in the nation are in danger of defaulting due to pricey pandemic-era loans soon coming due.

The situation could potentially cause a dramatic increase in the number of rental properties being foreclosed upon and being sold off, experts say.

The cause, experts say, is due to variable rate financing offered during COVID-19 that is – several years after their respective loans were taken out – having a detrimental effect upon apartment complex owners recently, both in Las Vegas and across the country; currently, as per Colliers International, there are approximately 232,751 multifamily units in the Las Vegas Valley alone.

In 2021, Vegas saw $4.8 billion in sales of 80 multifamily transactions of buildings with 100 or more units. According to Executive Vice President for Multifamily Investment Sales with Colliers International in Las Vegas, Jeffrey Swinger, the exceedingly low-interest rate financing offered during the height of the pandemic is causing potential major financial headaches for property owners in the here and now.

What this really boils down to is interest rates and COVID,” he said. “Particularly starting in 2021, a lot of the lenders (within the multifamily market) because interest rates were zero, were able to offer these short-term floating rate loans, and they were typically three years. If you fast forward to today, a lot of these loans are coming due at today’s interest rates and it’s crushing them.”

Reports indicate that the 176-unit Tides at Walnut Park complex in Las Vegas – owned by ides Equities, which has 23 properties in the Las Vegas Valley – was recently foreclosed upon due to this very same reason.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing 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 a new study released by the Eviction Lab at Princeton University, Clark County, Nevada is among the municipalities with the highest rates of tenant eviction in the nation.

However, Princeton’s study should not be considered 100 percent definitive, said Eviction Lab research specialist Grace Hartley, as its parameters are narrower than more comprehensive efforts would be, with researchers having only tracked 34 major metro areas throughout the country.

But regardless, Clark County ranked among the highest in the areas tracked, although that ranking is not per capita, Hartley noted.

The population of (Clark County) has the seventh-highest rate in terms of pure filing counts,” she said. “And that’s more than a lot of the states we track.”

There have been 190,133 eviction filings in Clark County since March 2020, which represents a 21 percent jump from the amount seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic; in 2024 alone, there have been 51,782 filings so far – an increase of 42 percent from pre-pandemic levels – and 4,041 filings in August, a 25 percent increase.

Currently, according to the Eviction Lab, there are approximately 370,204 households being rented in Clark County, with the average monthly rent coming in at about $1,325.

Among the circumstances that attribute to those higher degree of eviction numbers, according to Princeton, is the fact that the process of filing for evictions in Clark County tend to be cheaper and faster than it is in any of the other cities tracked in their study; tenants are only required to be given seven days’ notice by their landlord, and the filing fee with the court is only $71.

In addition, in June 2023, a bill that would have stopped evictions for up to 60 days for renters with pending applications for rental insistence – Senate Bill 335 – was vetoed by Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, which has also served to increase eviction levels in the state, Princeton says.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing 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 new history data released by industry group Las Vegas Realtors (LVR) illustrating how inflation has made home ownership more costly in recent years, in 1997 the median price of an existing single-family home in Southern Nevada was $124,000, which would be the equivalent of $246,829 in today’s current market.

However, clearly showing how times have changed, the actual median price of a single-family home in Las Vegas as of July 2024 was, in reality, $480,000, which represents a 6.7 percent jump from July 2023, when that amount was $450,000.

July 2024’s median home price also shows that home values in the Las Vegas Valley are slowly but surely creeping back up to potentially meet – and perhaps even exceed – the all-time record of $482,000, which was originally set in May 2022.

Other tidbits from the data released by LVR provide additional insight into how home values have appreciated with greater and greater speed in Southern Nevada over the years- the median price in July 2000 was $140,000, but by April 2004, it had increased to $252,500.

And despite the Great Recession in the mid-2000s essentially knocking home prices in Vegas back to levels not seen since before 2001, LVR’s historical data indicates that, since 2000, home prices in the region overall have more than tripled.

One of the main factors contributing to the rapidly rising value of homes in Vegas is the fact that there is a limit currently to how much public land there is for developers to construct upon.

In fact, research firm Applied Analysis notes that in as soon as eight years, the valley could exhaust its supply unless the Bureau of Land Management – a federal agency that controls much of the land in Nevada – speeds up the process of releasing more land for housing development, a process that they have been heavily criticized for due to their lack of urgency in doing so thus far.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing 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 presidential campaign of Kamala Harris released an ad this week detailing her plan to address the housing shortage and lower home costs in the United States, should she be successful in her bid to be elected to the White House in November.

The advertisement – targeting residents in swing states including Nevada, where the median home price as of July was $480,000 – first details the struggle of the family of the Democratic nominee for president to save and purchase their first home when she was a child.

From there, the advertisement then proceeds to recap the plan that Harris revealed last week in North Carolina that calls for a $40 billion housing initiative fund for local municipalities throughout the country, the construction of three million new homes, and tax incentives for residential developers that target first-time homebuyers.

In addition, Harris’ plan also aims to provide “first-generation” homebuyers – defied as “any individual whose parents or guardians never owned a home during the homebuyer’s lifetime and whose spouse has not owned a home in the last three years” – with down payment assistance in the amount of $25,000, as well as a $10,000 tax credit for first-time buyers.

The Research Director of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ Lied Center for Real Estate, Nicholas Irwin, noted that Harris’ proposal, if implemented properly, could be effective in addressing the housing crisis that the state is currently experiencing, which currently has the sixth-lowest homeownership rate and 11th-highest median rent in the country.

I’m a big, big proponent, like most people in the real estate space, of building more housing as best we can,” he said, while pointing out the fact that about 80 percent of the land in Nevada is federally-owned. “We don’t have the option to just go build. Federal agencies are not disposing of [it’s land] perhaps as quickly as we would like, especially when it comes to addressing our affordable housing needs.”

However, the Executive Director of the Nevada Housing Coalition, Maurice Page – while also acknowledging the potential in Harris’ plan – expressed worry that it could ultimately inflate housing costs down the line.

These will definitely create some amount of inflationary pressure, because you’re putting more money in a certain group’s hands, the first-time homeowners,” he said. “But if you pair a demand-side policy like that with supply-side, getting more houses online, hopefully it will dampen that effect.”

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing 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 a new report released by residential real estate brokerage and mortgage origination services company Redfin, the Las Vegas Valley has seen the number of homes purchased by investors increase year-over-year by the largest margin in the entire nation.

In the second quarter of 2024, purchases made by investors – in this case, defied by Redfin as a “company” – jumped a whopping 27 percent when compared to the same period of time one year prior, the most out of any area in the United States. These numbers tied the valley with only one other city in the country- San Jose, California, which saw the same exact percentage of homes gobbled up by investors.

About 14 percent of all residential single-family homes in the Las Vegas Valley are now owned by investors representing corporations, according to a study released by the Lied Center for Real Estate at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). These numbers go up even further when North Las Vegas is focused upon, with an astonishing 25 percent of all homes there currently in the hands of out-of-state – and typically Wall Street-backed – investors.

Chen Zhao, a lead Redfin Economics Research analyst, noted that the Las Vegas Valley has a wide variety of factors that make it uniquely attractive to companies seeking to sink their investment dollars into real estate, buying large numbers of homes to then rent out to both locals and tourists.

Investors could be attracted to Las Vegas because rents there are increasing more than the national median,” she said. “In addition, Las Vegas is a tourist destination so short-term rentals are another reason for investors to want to buy there.”

In addition, in Q2 2024 the city of Las Vegas itself has the largest number of homes bought by investors – 22.3 percent – with only Miami, Florida ranking higher in that regard, as 28.5 percent.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing 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 – Following the end of pandemic-era housing protections, the number of evictions soared nationally and many tenants who failed to pay their rent during COVID-19 – either because of financial issues brought about by the virus, or because they were simply taking advantage of the law for their own gain – found themselves out on the street.

In fact, in 2023, evictions in some U.S. cities increased to over 50 percent higher than they were prior to the pandemic, according to a recent study by the University of Michigan.

While this was a blessing for many cash-strapped landlords who suffered throughout the pandemic, it has led to a new series of issues that many are being forced to face: a growing number of states that are allowing tenants to seal their eviction records in some – and, at times, all – cases, making it difficult for the next individual they rent from to tell if they will be a reliable occupant or not.

The increasing number of states that are passing legislation in favor of allowing tenants to conceal their previous eviction status argue that – regardless of the reason – having an eviction on your record can have a negative impact on acquiring new housing and can contribute to homelessness.

However, many landlords – especially small mom-and-pop property owners with limited means – argue that it is unfair to conceal eviction records from them, given the fact that many were already forced to provide free shelter for an extended time during the pandemic, much to their financial detriment. Not knowing if a new tenant is reliable or not could potentially put them in additional jeopardy, they say.

That being said, can tenants have their eviction records sealed in the state of Nevada? To answer that question, we turn to Nevada Legal Services (NLS), which lays out the details.

Normally, evictions are considered public records, and in the case of Nevada, that is no different. However, there are instances where – due to the passage of Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) 40.2545 in 2022 – courts are allowed to seal a summary eviction case in certain circumstances; sometimes automatically, sometimes when petitioned by a tenant or landlord.

According to NLS, an eviction in the state of Nevada is sealed automatically:

• If the eviction is dismissed.
• 10 judicial days after eviction denied – tenant prevails at court hearing.
• The landlord seeks to rescind the eviction.
• 31 days after Tenant files the Tenant’s Affidavit if Landlord does not file.

In other instances, a tenant must take action to have an eviction sealed; a Stipulation to Seal can be filed if a landlord agrees to seal the eviction, and both parties must sign the form. But if the landlord does not agree to seal the eviction, the tenant must file a motion on their own, which may or may not be granted, depending on the circumstances of the eviction; essentially, they must prove to the court “the interest of justice in sealing the eviction is not outweighed by the public’s interest in access to court records.”

So, in closing, Nevada currently does not have a blanket seal on eviction records; they can be automatically sealed in certain instances, but otherwise tenants are required to petition the court to do so, and they must provide proof to back that petition up or it will not be granted.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing 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 – After an extended period of time that has left many Las Vegas landlords grumbling and downright angry over the prospects of missed income, unincorporated Clark County has finally begun to issue short-term rental licenses…well, three of them anyway, amid a massive backlog of applicants hundreds deep who have been waiting for over a year-and-a-half to begin legally renting their properties.

The road to this point in time began in 2021, when Nevada passed legislation mandating that cities and counties within the state create regulations and a process for granting licenses for short-term rentals; Clark County would create their own ordinance in Summer 2022, but from there, further progress has been slow.

Cities such as Las Vegas and Henderson have already been issuing licenses and regulating short-term rentals within their confines for some time now, but Clark County only truly got the ball rolling in March of 2023, at which time they held a lottery where the names of over 1,300 prospective applicants were drawn to be reviewed and, if they met the criteria, eventually granted licenses.

However, the process of reviewing and issuing said licenses has turned out to be a long and drawn-out affair, with Clark County officials extending deadlines several times while reviewing qualified applications and allowing them to move forward in the process.

Currently, the applications of over 700 homeowners are still mired somewhere in the licensing process, county officials say.

In the meantime, homeowners have expressed extreme frustration with what they view as the county dragging their feet in granting their licenses, and lament the missed profits they could have amassed if they were able to take advantage of recent large-scale sporting events, such as the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix that took place late last year, which attracted a great many tourists to the city.

One of the homeowners whose license was granted this week was originally drawn as “number 10” in the 2023 lottery, leaving those who drew hundreds higher wondering how much longer they may be forced to wait before they can begin legally renting out their properties.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing 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 – If the tenant of a rental property you own has a fire, it’s important to know what your responsibilities are as a landlord in the state of Nevada; what are you obligated to provide, and what falls upon the shoulders of your tenant? This article will break that down.

While the specific details may vary depending on the lease agreement that has been signed by both parties, according to Nevada state law if the tenant did not cause the fire and a significant amount of damage has occurred to the property – to the point of rendering it unlivable – either the landlord or tenant will have the option to terminate the lease if they so choose, either individually or jointly.

If the landlord decides to terminate the lease, they would only have to return the security deposit, along with any prepaid rent, the amount of which returned being based on the date that the property was vacated.

But if the tenant has decided to terminate the lease, they are required to immediately vacate the property and must inform the landlord of their intention to void their rental agreement within seven days.

If the property is damaged yet still habitable, the damaged portions of the unit must be vacated until repairs can be affected, and the rent paid by the tenant should be reduced in proportion to the fair rental value of the percentage of the remaining space available to live in until such time that the damaged areas are once again usable.

However, if the fire in question was, in fact, determined to have been caused by the tenant, a member of their household, or a guest – either by accident, negligence, or a deliberate act – none of the above factors are applicable.

In any case, Nevada landlords are not required by law to provide housing for tenants displaced by a fire, unless it is something that was previously agreed to in their lease.

For more information on this topic, NRS118A.400, Damage or destruction of dwelling unit by fire or casualty, please visit KTNV Channel 13: What happens after a rental fire? Legal expert breaks down what a landlord is obligated to provide which includes an interview with an attorney at the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada. Please note, this is not legal advice. For guidance, consult a licensed attorney.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing 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 – New rules governing the United States real estate industry are going into effect this week that could potentially make the process of buying and selling a house – both in Las Vegas and nationwide – more difficult and complicated than before.

Now, before a prospective buyer can even receive a tour of a home that they are interested in, they will need to have a written contract in place with a real estate agent.

Previously, individuals selling homes typically offered a blanket commission to the buyer’s real estate agent when listing their home for sale on a multiple listing service (MLS). However, going forward this will no longer be permitted due to new rules that are going into effect as a result of federal class-action lawsuits against the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

A buyer will still have the option of negotiating compensation offers directly from the seller, but if they are turned down, the buyer would be responsible for paying for the services of the seller’s agent.

These changes are a result of a settlement the NAR reached in their lawsuit – along with a $418 million payout – which alleged that artificially inflated real estate agent commissions were being forced upon sellers across the nation upon the sale of their homes.

Going forward, as mentioned earlier in this article, agents who are representing clients with homes advertised on a MLS and their prospective buyers will need to have a contract in place for even a tour of a listed home to take place, which some sellers say may add a layer of confusion and difficulty to the buying process.

However, real estate experts are saying that at the end of the day, it is not expected that the market will see significant slowdown due to the new rules being implemented, aside from adding more steps to the homebuying process.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing 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 – A group of frustrated homeowners in Las Vegas have filed a lawsuit in an attempt to stop the construction of a gigantic Mormon temple in their neighborhood, claiming that the Las Vegas City Council misinterpreted building restrictions when granting approval to the project; the angry residents are requesting that a judge overturn the council’s decision.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints temple is slated to take the form of a 216-foot tall, 87,000 square-foot structure that the plaintiffs are saying would disrupt the neighborhood’s character by “dwarfing” all the other buildings and homes in the area, as well as creating light pollution, traffic congestion, and overall disruption in an otherwise quiet area.

We’re talking about a three-story office building that’s going to be lit up 24/7,” resident Brinton Marsden said to local media. “It’s going to stick out like a sore thumb in the middle of a rural setting.”

We have no streetlights, no curbs, no gutters, and no sidewalks, and that’s what we like,” said fellow resident Erin DeLoe. “This structure will be as tall as the Durango Casino.”

The attorney representing the plaintiffs, Evan Schwab, said that the city council abused its authority when they granted approval to the temple project, and alleged that the church’s law firm had made monetary donations to specific council members prior to the vote, creating very real conflicts of interest.

Las Vegas City Council abused its discretion and the findings/rulings,” Schwab says in court documents. “The City of Las Vegas’ decision was not supported by substantial evidence.”

Local residents had conducted protests leading up to the council’s vote; at one of them, they flew a balloon at a height of 216 feet to give a visual representation of the staggering height of the temple once it is complete.

However, the project has its share of supporters as well; local resident Lindsay Nielson, herself a Mormon, said that the church will be a “positive addition to the community” and will “adhere to all regulations” once it is complete.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing 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 20-year effort to renovate and upgrade the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s (LVCVA) public convention center reached a significant milestone this week ahead of the much-anticipated completion of the project’s $620 million Phase 3 in 2025.

A white iron beam signed by construction workers, local officials and community leaders was raised and mounted at the Las Vegas Convention Center’s highest point on Tuesday, bringing its design in-line with the facility’s West Hall – a recent addition to the building that was completed in 2021 at the cost of nearly $1 billion – and establishing an arc over the Center’s newly-built lobby.

LVCVA President and CEO Steve Hill said that Tuesday’s milestone represented the culmination of two decades of hard work that will prove to be an immense boon to the city of Las Vegas and its residents and business community.

It’s really significant for Las Vegas and for our customers. This city, this organization, has been working for 20 years to make this happen,” Hill said. “Being here today is a testament to the importance of the meeting and convention industry to Las Vegas, the diligence of the board and this community over the years to make it happen. We’re excited. It’s a milestone for our city.”

The plan to renovate and expand the Convention Center was kicked around by the LVCVA board over 20 years ago, but the project was temporarily shelved during the mid-2000s recession. Once the local economy showed signs of improvement it began to move forward once again, but the plan was then sidetracked a second time by the COVID-19 pandemic.

After the West Hall was expansion was completed in 2021, the project then utilized its design aesthetic as a guide for the redesign of the “legacy campus,” referring to the original Convention Center’s structure; the renovation is currently considered to be 50 percent complete.

The South Hall’s east entrance was completed in January, as well as a new board meeting room and the LVCVA’s executive offices. Renovation on the North Hall is expected to be completed by the fall.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing 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 – An effort on the part of a local homeowner to contest a “way too steep” $55,000 fine after being accused of operating an illegal short-term rental was shot down by the Las Vegas City Council last Wednesday, who noted that the defendant had been warned multiple times that he was breaking the municipality’s short-term rental law.

Short-term rentals are permitted in Las Vegas, but they must be licensed and are mandated to follow city regulations.

The council had levied fines in the amount of $500 per day – for a total of 110 days – that X Management LLC owner Jonathon Foulks had allegedly been operating the short-term rental in question, which was located in the proximity of Oakey Boulevard and Arville Street.

Foulks argued that the penalties he was being charged with were unfair and would ultimately result in the loss of the house that was purportedly being rented out.

$55,000 on top of my mortgage is putting the place into, basically foreclosure. It’s way too steep of a fine for what I did,” Foulks reportedly said to the council. “It’s over the top. It’s basically gonna make me bankrupt.”

It’s a sad situation, but it is what it is, and that motion to appeal has been denied,” said Mayor Carolyn Goodman.

The complaint against Foulks began back in April 2023 when neighbors complained about the rental house to authorities; after a code enforcement officer investigated the allegations, he notified the homeowner that he was in violation of city ordinance for renting the property without a license.

However, the city claims that warning went unheeded, and sent Foulks a written notice after they discovered the very same house advertised for rent on Airbnb in July 2023. After the house continued to be advertised for rent, Foulks is alleged to have told a code enforcement officer in August 2023 that “he doesn’t see how the city can tell him what to do with the property.”

It was at this point that he was informed that the city would begin enforcing the ordinance; in an effort to remedy the situation, Foulks temporarily stopped renting the property until he was able to form an LLC – or Limited Liability Company – which he mistakenly thought would legitimize the rental property.

Later, the city fined Foulks a total of $55,000, saying that he operated the rental from August 2023 to February 11 – and continued renting it afterwards. However, the council noted that if Foulks had simply complied with previous warnings, he likely would have walked away without any penalty whatsoever.

Despite briefly considering lowering the amount of the fine, the council ultimately decided to keep it in full to serve as a deterrent, they said.