Living Local — Furthering the Discussion on Nevada Landlord-Tenant Regulations

Last week Anthony Curtis and Tanya Maynard (LVA.com’s IT expert) showed me how to manage the comments section for this blog — and just in time, as my post “New Nevada State Laws Locals Should Be Aware of” received 24 comments.  I approved only 10, almost all regarding the recently passed tenant-rights bill extending the time frame for evictions and limiting late fees for unpaid rent.

The comments I decided not to post either contained profanity or didn’t further the discussion beyond name-calling. I also trashed two comments regarding gun control and abortion, neither of which brought anything new to a more national than local discussion.

However, I feel that we all benefit from hearing both sides of local tenant-landlord issues.

As a tenant in Nevada (who has also rented in New York City), I’m well aware that the landlord-tenant laws favor owners over renters more than in other states. A Nevada resident can be evicted quite quickly, or at least have to pay several hundred dollars in late fees. As many renters are discovering in the valley, there is no rent control, plus many of the larger apartment complexes charge for water, sewer, and common-area utilities, in addition to rising rent.

But there’s another side to this story. New York and Massachusetts have strong rental laws more in favor of the tenant. In New York, it takes a minimum of 39 days to evict someone and in Massachusetts it’s 53 days (as opposed to the revised minimum of 15 days in Nevada). Anyone good at gaming the system can get a much longer free-rent stay; I’ve heard stories of the process taking over a year, especially if children are involved. Several areas in both states (for example, New York City) don’t allow landlords to raise the rent on a current tenant past a certain percentage each year.

While this does protect current tenants, such laws make it more difficult for a new resident to rent an apartment in either state. For example, annual income requirements at my apartment (Monaco Park) are 36 times monthly rent. My rent is $1,350 a month, so my annual income has to be at least $48,600. Due to my decent credit, my security deposit was only $200, plus a $200 administrative fee. In New York City, which uses a 45x rent-to-income multiplier, my annual income would have to be $60,750 for the same rent (and finding a 1,100-square-foot apartment at that price is impossible). Security deposits are always at least one month’s rent and as most apartments use outside rental agencies, there is an additional non-refundable fee equal to one month’s rent on top of that. In short, I would have to pay $4,500 to walk over the threshold in New York, versus $1,750 in Nevada.

I’ve also read studies that in the long run, rent control does contribute to rent inflation. When a New York City apartment becomes vacant, landlords hike rents 20%-40% or more; they’re tied to that rent (with only a 2%-3% annual raise) for several years. I know New Yorkers who have lived in the same apartment for 20 years and pay a fraction of what new tenants are charged.

My point is that there are two sides to the renter-landlord discussion in Las Vegas and beyond. And I’m glad that the comments submitted showed both sides of that story.