Category Archive : Property Management

LAS VEGAS, NV – Despite the fact that Clark County officials have recently stated they plan to make changes to some of the rules governing the short-term rental industry within their jurisdiction, that doesn’t appear to be enough for the Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association (GLVSTRA), which has announced they want the Nevada Supreme Court to rule on whether or not the short-term regulations county officials have laid in place are constitutional or not.

GLVSTRA has been engaging in a legal battle with Clark County regarding what they refer to as overly strict and intrusive ordinances put in place regarding homes rented through services such as Airbnb and Vrbo. In February, District Court Judge Jessica Peterson ruled that aspects of the ordinances are unconstitutional and issued a preliminary injunction to temporarily block them.

Sections of Clark County’s ordinances that Peterson declared unconstitutional included a clause that mandated that those seeking to establish a short-term rental must sign their application under penalty of perjury; in addition, random inspections of rental properties with no notice, vague definitions over what is considered a “party” or a “disturbance,” and the ability of the county to issue “discretionary fines and penalties” were also temporarily struck down by last month’s ruling.

Despite clearing that legal hurdle, GLVSTRA appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court this week because they say their full array of claims against Clark County were not addressed by the District Court Judge’s ruling, according to GLVSTRA President Jacqueline Flores.

Flores said that her organization takes particular exception to Clark County’s use of a lottery system to determine which short-term rental applicants will be granted licenses, in addition to requirements mandating specific minimum distances between rental properties and hotels.

Despite attempts to sit down and hash things out with Clark County officials, Flores said the two sides were unable to come to a fair and equitable arrangement, thus necessitating the organization’s move to appeal the case to the state’s highest court.

“We have been trying to work with the county commissioners in good faith and they have refused to do that so far,” Flores said. “We need a Nevada Supreme Court ruling. That way we’re able to address all those municipalities at the same time, and ultimately the entire state.”

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 – In an effort to crack down on potentially disruptive and loud partying during spring break season, Las Vegas police have been conducting unannounced and random spot checks on short term rental properties to ensure that occupants are adhering to local laws and ordinances and not creating a disturbance for their neighbors. 

Reports indicate that police have been showing up to properties rented out through services such as Airbnb and Vrbo throughout the city and unexpectedly knocking on doors, reminding the short-term renters within that holding loud parties or allowing underage drinking is illegal and will be enforced if encountered by authorities. 

Police noted that the large increase in spot checks is a common department policy during periods of time such as spring break where excessive partying is anticipated. 

However, the validity of the spot checks have been questioned by the Greater Las Vegas Short Term Rental Association (GLVSTRA), with the organization claiming they have not been receiving any complaints from neighbors of short-term rental properties in the city.  

At a time when Las Vegas faces a shortage of police officers, the county should be far more interested and concerned on using these officers to answer emergency calls from residents and reducing response time for far more serious issues in the Valley,” GLVSTRA said. 

Proposed rules and ordinances governing Airbnb and Vrbo rentals have been a regular bone of contention between Clark County officials and the short-term rental industry. In particular, Clark County has ordinances in place that ban holding large parties, weddings, and other events on short-term rental properties where the attendance would exceed the maximum occupancy limit of the dwelling in question. 

However, in February a Clark County District Judge ruled that the county’s definition of what constitutes a “party or wedding” was worded in a way as to make it “vague and ambiguous.” 

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 a lawsuit filed by the Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association (GLVSTRA), aspects of Clark County’s new regulations governing the local short-term rental industry have been ruled by a District Court judge as being unconstitutional.

GLVSTRA’s lawsuit sought to temporarily block a law set into place in the form of a Nevada legislature bill known as AB 363, which added new ordinances in June 2022 regulating short term rentals in the state. In turn, unincorporated Clark County was subsequently tasked with handling oversight of the industry within its borders and was mandated to create their own set of regulations.

However, GLVSTRA founder Jackie Flores said that the new regulations – both on a local and state level – clearly infringe upon the rights of property owners who wish to rent out their residences via services such as Airbnb and Vrbo.

Last week, Judge Jessica Peterson granted GLVSTRA a temporary injunction. The regulations that have been ruled unconstitutional include signing the business license application under penalty of perjury, inspections with little or no notice, vague definitions of what constitutes a “party” or a disturbance, and the issuance of “discretionary fines and penalties.”

“The Court specifically finds that certain provisions within the Ordinance are unconstitutionally vague and overbroad and fail to provide notice sufficient to enable a person of ordinary intelligence to understand what conduct is prohibited,” Judge Peterson wrote in her ruling. “Accordingly, the provisions of the Ordinance identified in this Order shall hereinafter be enjoined from enforcement and implementation.”

However, the injunction does not stop Clark County from issuing licenses, with the six-month application process concluding in March; over 500 individuals have applied for a short-term rental license so far.

Judge Peterson’s orders are separate from GLVSTRA’s lawsuit. The next steps in the organization’s lawsuit are currently not known.

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 months and months of skyrocketing rent increases that drove very real affordability concerns, the rental market in Las Vegas has finally begun to show signs of stabilizing in a positive manner.

While units are still being leased at a healthy rate in Vegas and landlords are still purchasing buildings and developers are constructing new projects, rent increases have been dialed back and tenants have even begun to negotiate rental rates once again, a tactic that was pretty much nonexistent for the past couple of years, experts say.

Whereas rent hikes of anywhere from $200 to $1,000 were the norm during the pandemic, increases as of late appear to be “on hold.” At the end of 2022, the average monthly rent for a Southern Nevada apartment was $1,422, a decrease of just one percent year-over-year; in contrast, rents in Vegas jumped a whopping 22 percent in 2021.

This echoes the real estate situation throughout the United States, which overall reported three months in a row where rents either held steady or even decreased, indicating that there is some degree of breathing room in the market these days.

In addition, with the national economy currently in rough shape – along with a looming recession – people have been leery about the idea of moving, resulting in more rental units sitting empty for longer periods of time. For example, in early 2022 Las Vegas rental properties would last on the market no more than 14 days; today, that average is closer to 30 to 45 days.

The rental market in Las Vegas exploded during the pandemic as tenants – including an influx of new residents to the city – looked for more space amid widespread work-from-home arrangements. Investors sat up and took notice, purchasing 199 apartment complexes in Southern Nevada in 2021, and twice the number in 2020.

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 – Clark County has begun to seriously ramp up enforcement of its rules that forbid illegal short-term rentals within its boundaries according to the Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association (GLVSTRA), issuing significant financial punitive measures against over 200 violators thus far.

GLVSTRA co-founder Luis Koorndyk noted that Clark County – between July 1 and November 23, 2022 – has so far issued 217 citations with fines and liens, with some reaching as high as $750,000.

“Everyday we’re hearing a story,” he said. “They’ve been fairly consistent, but in the last three- or four-months, enforcement seems to have really ramped up.”

Those looking to operate a short-term rental within the confines of Clark County have until March 13 to submit an application into a lottery that will ultimately issue 2,800 licenses, which means that only a limited number of applicants will be chosen.

Currently, the specific date that the licenses will be issued has not yet been revealed, but enforcement measures have been in effect for several months now. Individuals currently operating short-term rentals in Clark County – such as through services as Airbnb and Vrbo – without licenses are deemed to be doing so illegally and are subject to fines.

Koorndyk noted that the number of short-term rental landlords which have been fined so far only represents a small fraction of those who have been operating illegally.

“We’re looking at 98 percent of all operators, code enforcement doesn’t even know where they are, because they’re not being turned in,” he said. “They’re not being turned in because there are outstanding operators. That’s only 2 percent that they have a problem with.”

Currently, enforcement of illegal short-term rentals in Clark County consists of fines ranging from a minimum of $1,000 a day to a maximum of $10,000 a day.

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 owners of short-term rentals and members of the Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association (GLVSTRA) were granted a preliminary injunction last week against Clark County regulations governing the local industry they criticized as being “stricter than required by state law.”

Clark County commissioners had imposed numerous regulations upon short-term rental hosts including occupancy limits, minimum stays, distance separation, and their responsibilities as rental operators; some of the ordinances that hosts took exception to include the following: 

• Not more than one percent of housing in the county can operate as short-term rentals
• No more than one license per person
• Maximum occupancy of two people per bedroom or 10 people per unit
• Bookings must be a minimum of two nights
• Minimum two-night stay for every reservation
• Not within 1,000 feet of an existing short-term rental
• Hosts must allow the County to inspect the residential units without advance notice
• Misdemeanor citations for violations of this ordinance, thus opening the possibility of criminal liability for issues as minor as the placement of trash 

Hosts in Clark County – who have been applying for licenses rent out their homes through services such as Airbnb and VRBO – berated the regulations, saying that they interfered with their ability to run a successful business.

In November 2021 short-term rental owners and GLVSTRA sued Clark County, with GLVSTRA founder Jackie Flores saying that their property rights were violated by the regulations.

“Our position is that both the state law and the Clark County ordinance just goes too far where it’s actually violating people’s constitutional rights and freedoms,” Flores said at the time. “They have a provision in the ordinance that says any Count Official can come to your private home at any time whenever they feel like it and for whatever they want and you have to let them in your property. You have to let them in your house and we felt like that was like you’re going way too far.”

Last week a judge granted a preliminary injunction against Clark County, preventing the ordinances from being enforced pending a comprehensive review by the court to determine if indeed the rights of rental owners are being violated or not.

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 – Around the world, few cities have the reputation that Las Vegas does when it comes to serving as a destination for extravagant New Year’s Eve festivities, and apparently AirBnb realizes this, as the well-known online short-term rental business has decided to impose a very strict series of rules for those looking to party in Sin City to ring in 2023. 

In an attempt to curb noise complaints and other issues expressed by homeowners in neighborhoods where AirBnb rentals are located – which are popular venues for tourists to host New Year’s Eve parties – the company announced that they will be going all-out this year to ensure that guests are adhering to all rules and local ordinances, particularly as they pertain to the use of the properties by unauthorized individuals. 

AirBnb, as they have in recent years, will continue to enforce their policy of not allowing one-night rentals in Las Vegas for New Year’s Eve; this pertains to not just apartments, but especially homes as well, as private residences have been responsible for numerous complaints over the years from neighboring homes. 

In addition, AirBnb will also only allow renters this New Year’s who have engaged their services previously, and who have a history of positive reviews; those who have received negative reviews from hosts – or who have no history at all, good or bad – will be barred from renting an AirBnb in the vicinity of New Year’s Eve. 

This policy is not exclusive to Las Vegas; AirBnb will be enforcing it with all of their rental partners throughout the country as a means of ensuring the safety and well-being of both tenants and homeowners. 

“We continue to draw a hard line on disruptive parties and emphasize safe and responsible travel during a weekend where we know some may be more inclined to try to throw an unauthorized party,” the company said in a statement. 

Since introducing the policy, AirBnb has noted that the number of out-of-control shindigs at their rental properties have dropped by 56 percent, which should hopefully go a long way to appeasing neighboring homes in areas with AirBnb units as they celebrate the arrival of the new year. 

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 injunction hearing scheduled for this past Thursday regarding a lawsuit filed by a group of short-term rental owners that alleges that Clark County is violating their property rights has been delayed for December 19, further drawing out the legal process that had originally begun when the case was filed this past August.

The lawsuit, brought by the Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association (GLVSTRA), is seeking to temporarily block a law set into place in the form of a Nevada legislature bill known as AB 363, which added new ordinances in June regulating short term rentals in the state. In turn, unincorporated Clark County was subsequently tasked with handling oversight of the industry within its borders, and were mandated to create their own set of regulations.

GLVSTRA founder Jackie Flores said that the new ordinances – both on a local and state level – clearly infringe upon the rights of property owners who wish to rent out their residences via services such as Airbnb and Vrbo.

“Our position is that both the state law and the Clark County ordinance just goes too far where it’s actually violating people’s constitutional rights and freedoms,” Flores said. “AB 363 makes it hard for people to get a license and once you get a license, it makes it easy for people to get in trouble for minimal things.”

Some of the contested regulations created by Clark County officials include no more than 10 people in a property, minimum two-night stay reservations, rentals being no closer than 1,000 feet one another, and no-warning, on-the-spot county inspections, among others, Flores said.

“They have a provision in the ordinance that says any Count Official can come to your private home at any time whenever they feel like it and for whatever they want and you have to let them in your property,” she said. “You have to let them in your house and we felt like that was like you’re going way too far.”

Flores added that the cities of Henderson, Las Vegas, and North Las Vegas offered compliance periods right after their respective ordinances were passed, but that Clark County did not follow suit.

In addition, the application process being offered to get licensed – including an upcoming permit lottery –  is overly convoluted and cumbersome, Flores claimed, and will likely result in as many as 80 percent of the over 12,000 illegal short-term rentals in Clark County not being able to legitimize themselves.

“Right now they have a pre-application period of six months,” she said. “That period is just really you pre-applying but nothing really happening, and then after those six months then they’ll have at some point in time they still don’t know when a lottery then you move onto the next step which is application to the license.”

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 – As Las Vegas’ real estate market begins to cool down overall amid rising mortgage rates and record inflation nationwide, the massive rent increases tenants have been seeing have started being walked back recently.

While the average rent in Las Vegas in August was approximately $1,890 – representing an 8 percent jump from the same period of time in 2021 – it’s a far cry from the whopping 25 percent increase rents experienced from August 2020 to August 2021, reports say.

So, while rents are still going up in some instances, the degree of which – with the amounts being called “unsustainable” in the long run by experts – appear to be slowing down significantly, and in some cases going down slightly.

According to Susy Vasquez, interim executive director of the Nevada State Apartment Association (NVSAA), part of that reason is the overall change of the rental market in Las Vegas when compared to last year.

While still a popular destination for many transplants from elsewhere in the country, Vasquez notes that the overall the number of people moving to Southern Nevada is lowering and, due to high prices, more rental units are sitting on the market for longer periods of time. As a result, some landlords are offering various concessions to prospective tenants, such as lowered rent.

But despite these changes in the market, experts say that demand is still “very high” when compared to most other places in the country – due to the still-relatively low cost of living and booming job market – and the current high cost of homes is driving many to rentals until prices come down.

Renting in Southern Nevada is expected to further stabilize in light of a $500 million affordable housing plan launched by Governor Steve Sisolak in early 2022, which would provide funding for initiatives such as new multifamily development, rehabilitation and preservation of existing properties, land acquisition for new construction, and homeowner financial assistance.

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 – Clark County has courted controversy after releasing the pre-application process for procuring licenses for short-term rentals starting in spring of 2023, which include restrictions that have many applicants crying foul over their purportedly restrictive nature.

Once the license pre-application period was officially opened to the public – both via the Clark County website as well as in-person at the Business License Office – over 40 individuals and counting so far have engaged in the process, and almost immediately many complaints began rolling in.

One of the applicants, Winnie Yang, was attempting to obtain a license to rent out her Spring Valley home as an Airbnb unit in order to make extra money on the side; however, she claimed that the license she is hoping to acquire has far too many restrictions that will make it difficult for her to operate the property as she wants to.

Among the factors that she said were an issue include the total number of rentals cannot be greater than one percent of the housing inventory; once the 6-month pre-application process is completed, a random lottery will be utilized to determine who will receive a short-term rental license; and despite Clark County’s plan to issue approximately 2,800 licenses, individuals will be granted one and one only, and they will only be allowed to operate a single property with that license.

Jackie Flores of Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association has claimed that the short-term rental restrictions are infringing on the constitutional rights of homeowners, and filed a lawsuit in August against Clark County regarding the matter.

“It’s considered the most restrictive ordinance for short-term rentals in the U.S.,” she said. “A lot of those provisions and restrictions, we feel, violate the state constitution and US Constitution.

Previously, short-term rentals were not legal in Clark County; however, in 2021, Assembly Bill 363 was voted into law, and decreed that as of July 1, 2022, it would be legal for companies such as Airbnb and VRBO to operate within the county. Furthermore, the county was also tasked with regulating the new industry, and lawmakers have since crafted an ordinance for that purpose, according to Clark County spokesperson, Erik Pappa.

“We want to allow everyone to compete equally for this process regardless of how many properties you have. We’re balancing a lot of competing interests,” he said. “We want to make sure that there’s adequate public safety. We’re going to inspect the buildings. We’re going to make sure that they have business licenses. Make sure that there is fire protection. All the things you want if you were staying in a hotel.”

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 Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association (GLVSTRA) filed a lawsuit earlier this month against both Clark County and the state of Nevada on behalf of property owners looking to offer their homes for rent via services such as Airbnb and Vrbo, alleging that laws and ordinances passed to regulate the industry are “unconstitutional.”

While legal experts are expecting the GLVSTRA lawsuit to most likely be unsuccessful, the organization is nonetheless proceeding with their case, originally filed on August 2.

The main point of the lawsuit is that the 2021 passage of Assembly Bill 363 by the legislature allowing short-term rentals in the state – and subsequent required local ordinances governing the industry passed by Clark County when the bill went into effect in July – are violating the rights of property owners, according to GLVSTRA co-founder Jacqueline Flores.

“Clark County has the most restrictive STR ordinance in the nation,” she said. “The lawsuit we filed was our last alternative because state and local officials just went too far to the point where their regulations require these homeowners to give up some of their Nevada and U.S. Constitutional protections in order to be allowed to operate.”

“And the regulations include some of the highest fines and punishments, of up to $10,000 and jail time, for simply renting for less than 31 (consecutive) days,” Flores added, who claimed that approximately 80 percent of homeowners within Clark County would be unable to operate rentals under the current restrictive rules.

Currently, Clark County is setting up a lottery process to grant licenses to a limited number of prospective short-term renters within its jurisdiction; however, Flores insists that property owners should be allowed to rent their homes out whenever and however they want – especially in light of the current economic woes plaguing the country – unfettered by local regulations or limitations.

Flores also argues that a healthy rental market improves the local economy, as renters will need to hire maids, cleaning services, handymen, landscapers, plumbers, contractors, and other individuals and companies that assist in maintaining rental 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 – Due to a law that just recently came into effect making short-term rentals legal throughout state of Nevada, the Las Vegas City Council voted last Wednesday to adopt changes to their own already-existing rules governing the industry in their jurisdiction in order to properly conform to the new statewide guidelines.

Renting homes via services such as Airbnb and Vrbo have been legal and regulated in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson for the past ten years. However, they have only recently been legalized throughout Nevada as a whole due to Assembly Bill 363 – originally passed by the state legislature in 2021 – that was signed into law by Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak in June.

With the law legalizing short-term rentals statewide now officially in-force as of July 1, it was necessary for the Las Vegas City Council to essentially “clean-up” their current rule set to match the state’s additional new rules.

These changes include a mandate that current short-term rentals have a 2,500-foot buffer from businesses with non-restricted gaming licenses; a ban on rentals located within apartment buildings; a minimum duration for overnight stays being established for rentals; and a maximum cap on the number of occupants at any given rental.

This goes along with Las Vegas’ current rules, such as 660-foot distance from other rental homes, a maximum of three bedrooms, and a limit on the number of overall license applicants.

Currently, Las Vegas has almost 200 short-term rental properties; renters who were in business prior to the new state guidelines regarding distance from businesses will be grandfathered in and not be required to move.

Violation of the rules adopted last Wednesday by the Las Vegas City Council from the newly-established state guidelines carry fines anywhere from $500 and $1,000 to as high as $10,000, depending on the type and severity of the transgression. The new rules are officially in-force as of this week.

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.