Latest news with #AssemblyBill280
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nevada Republican defends small landlords as Democrats push rent increase caps for seniors, fee disclosures
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Legislation that would cap rent increases at 5% for senior citizens sparked concern on Wednesday as the bill was discussed in the Nevada Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor. Assembly Bill 280 (AB280) passed the Assembly on a 27-15 vote on April 22, and is now being considered in the Senate. The bill, sponsored by Democratic Assembly Majority Leader Sandra Jauregui, is likely to be vetoed by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo if it gets that far. The 5% cap on rent increases is set up as a pilot program running from July 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. Republicans came to the defense of small business operators — landlords who rent out their homes — who face more regulation because of the abuses of corporations that game the system to overcharge renters any way they can think up. There's little argument between Democrats and Republicans about stopping the practices that have come to light. But Republicans are adamant that new regulations shouldn't burden Nevadans who operate as small landlords. A large part of AB280 takes aim at hidden fees in massive lease agreements crafted by corporate landlords. The bill would require concise disclosure of all fees so that renters can easily see what they will actually be paying. 'There are two ways we see consumers impacted by fees,' according to Jonathan Norman of the Nevada Coalition of Legal Service Providers. 'I would just lump them into 'bogus fees' and 'deceptive fees.' A bogus fee would be a fee for something a landlord is already obligated to provide or shouldn't be charging for. 'A deceptive fee is when a landlord spreads the fees out throughout the lease. A fee on page 1, a fee on page 10, a fee on page 45, a fee on page 62, a fee on addendum 1, and so on,' Norman said. Norman offered a laundry list of the fees 'bogus fees' that have been reported: Air filter fees Smoke detector battery change fees Valet trash fees Unspecified 'amenity' fees TV remote control fees Mandatory cable/internet fees Fees for paying rent through an online portal Some fees are a few dollars, but they add up. Cable/internet fees can be over $100 per month, whether the tenant wants them or not. Corporate landlords are reaping big profits, according to Norman. Invitation Homes, a company that operates in Nevada, was sued by the Federal Trade Commission over some of these practices. Last year, a $48 million settlement was reached. Invitation owns about 3,000 homes in Clark County. 'According to the FTC complaint, just one of their fees, called a 'Lease Easy' fee alone generated $60 million for Invitation Homes between 2021 and 2023,' Norman said. 'We believe in fairness, and businesses should be prohibited from fleecing Nevadans with bogus or hidden fees,' he said. But there are a lot of players under the broad 'landlord' umbrella. 'There's two sides to every story, and this isn't it,' Republican State Sen. John Ellison said. Renter abuses during the pandemic and policies that protected them cost some small landlords everything, he said. 'I'm worried about the old people that have rentals that are losing everything they've got. And they're not the bad guys,' Ellison said. He said the fees Norman listed don't occur in mom-and-pop operations. They're just a problem for the bigger apartment complexes, he said. Norman emphasized the bill doesn't say you can't charge fees, but they must be disclosed fairly on one sheet of paper. John Sande of the Nevada State Apartment Association spoke in opposition to the bill's rent cap, calling it rent control. He said such measures might be effective in the short term, but carry a lot of implications that are bad for housing in the long run. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Too busy fretting over you-know-who to follow the NV Legislature? The Current's got you covered.
(Photo: Jeniffer Solis/Nevada Current) The Nevada Current's small but mighty staff of five has so far covered dozens of bills introduced into the 2025 Legislative Session. If you've missed a story or two (or dozen) of them, we understand. (There. Is. A. Lot. Going. On.) Here's a look at the bills that caught our eye and where they are, complete with links to our prior coverage. The next major legislative deadline is Tuesday, April 22. By that date, non-exempt bills need to be voted on by either the full Senate or the full Assembly. * Notes: Bills exempt from legislative deadlines are marked with an asterisk. Lead sponsors are listed in parentheses. Bills with no lead sponsor listed are sponsored by interim committees. (State Sen. Dina Neal, D) would establish a corporate landlord registry and cap purchasing power for corporate owners. Status: Passed Senate Judiciary. Assembly Bill 121 (Assemblymember Venicia Considine, D) would require all non-optional fees, such as sewer and water, be listed in advertisements for rental properties. It would also require landlords to offer a free way for tenants to pay rent. Status: Passed Assembly Commerce and Labor. Assembly Bill 201 (Assemblymember Erica Roth, D) would expand efforts to automatically seal eviction records. Status: Passed Assembly Judiciary. (Assemblymember Venicia Considine, D) would allow a third party to take over the property until repairs are made and living conditions improved. Passed Assembly Commerce and Labor. Assembly Bill 223 (Assemblymember Venicia Considine, D) would give tenants more power to hold landlords accountable for failing to provide livable conditions. Status: Passed Assembly Commerce and Labor. Assembly Bill 280 (Assemblymember Sandra Jauregui, D) proposes rent stabilization for seniors. Status: Passed Assembly Commerce and Labor. (Assemblymember Max Carter, D) would restructure the eviction process. Status: Passed Assembly Judiciary. Assembly Bill 437 (Assemblymember Jill Dickman, R) would establish a Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) plan. Status: Passed Assembly Commerce and Labor. Assembly Bill 475* would provide funding for eviction diversion programs in Clark and Washoe counties. Status: Heard by Assembly Ways and Means, no action taken. * (Gov. Joe Lombardo, R) would allocate $250 million to build more housing and expand the definition of affordable housing to include people with higher incomes. Status: Heard by Assembly Commerce and Labor, no action taken. Senate Bill 218 (State Sen. James Ohrenschall, D) would adopt the Uniform Antitrust Pre-Merger Notification Act, requiring companies to submit to the state attorney general the same notices and information they are already required to provide federal agencies prior to mergers or acquisitions. Passed Senate Commerce and Labor. (State Sen. Rochelle Nguyen, D) would curb how much profit pharmacy benefit managers can make. Status: Passed Senate Commerce and Labor. mandates utilities report the number of disconnections due to non-payment. Status: Passed Senate Growth and Infrastructure. Assembly Bill 44 (Attorney General Aaron Ford, D) seeks to crack down on 'knowingly deceptive' price fixing. Status: Passed Assembly Commerce and Labor. Assembly Bill 204 (Assemblymember Max Carter, D) would prevent collection agencies from threatening to arrest people for debt, obtain a lien against a primary residence, seek to foreclose on home, or garnish wages. Status: Passed Assembly Commerce and Labor. Senate Bill 54 would require the state's Department of Health and Human Services to apply for a federal waiver and amend the state Medicaid plan to cover medical respite care for people experiencing homelessness. Passed Senate Health and Human Services. Senate Bill 244* (State Sen. Roberta Lange, D) would expand the types of obesity treatments covered by Nevada Medicaid, including approving weight-loss drugs like Ozempic for wider use. Status: Passed Senate Health and Human Services, referred to Senate Finance. Senate Bill 353* (State Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop, D) would increase Medicaid reimbursement for mental health providers. Passed Senate Commerce. * (State Sen. Nicole Cannizzaro, D) would establish the right to assisted reproduction treatment, including in vitro fertilization. Status: Passed Senate Health and Human Services. (Assemblymember Selena Torres-Fossett, D), known as the Right to Contraception Act, would strengthen protections against a state or local government burdening access to contraceptive measures. Status: Passed Assembly Health and Human Services. Assembly Bill 235 (Assemblymember Erica Roth, D) protects employees and volunteers of reproductive health care facilities, as well as their spouses, domestic partners or minor children, by allowing them to request a court order that keeps their personal information confidential on otherwise public records within the offices of county recorder, county assessor, county clerk, city clerk, Secretary of State, or Department of Motor Vehicles. Status: Passed Assembly Government Affairs. (Assemblymember Sandra Jauregui, D) would allow prescriptions for drugs used for medical abortions and miscarriage management to list the name of the prescribing health care practice, rather than the name of the specific individual providing the prescription. Status: Passed Assembly Health and Human Services. Initiative Petition 1, the Clark County Education Association-backed ballot measure that would give Nevada teachers the right to strike, passed the deadline for consideration by the Nevada State Legislature. That deadline was in mid-March but came and went with no fanfare because CCEA leadership has made it clear they are using it as a bargaining chip for their other legislative priorities. The 'A Teacher In Every Classroom' question is now slated to appear on next year's general election ballot unless the union voluntarily withdraws it. Senate Bill 172 (Senator Edgar Flores, D) seeks to bolster protections for farm workers and amend overtime pay laws to include agriculture workers. Status: Passed Senate Commerce and Labor. Assembly Bill 112 (Assemblymember Duy Nguyen, D) would allow workers covered by collective bargaining agreements to use their accrued leave to care for family members. Status: Passed Assembly Commerce and Labor. * (Assemblymember Natha Anderson, D) — give graduate assistants the right to collectively bargain for better pay and conditions. Status: Passed Assembly Government Affairs, referred to Assembly Ways and Means. Assembly Bill 388* (Assemblymember Selena La Rue Hatch, D) — requires private employers with more than 50 workers, as well as all public employers, to provide paid family and medical leave. Status: Passed Assembly Commerce and Labor, referred to Assembly Ways and Means. Assembly Joint Resolution 1* (Assemblymember Natha Anderson, D) would let voters in 2028 decide whether the taxable value of property should reset when a home is sold. Status: Passed Assembly Revenue. Assembly Joint Resolution 8 (Assemblymember Joe Dalia, D) would let voters in 2028 decide whether Nevada should establish a dedicated business court with the goal of enticing large companies to incorporate here. Status: Heard by Assembly Judiciary, then withdrawn and put on the Chief Clerk's desk. On Monday, taken off the Chief Clerk's desk and amended. Assembly Bill 256 (Assemblymember Selena La Rue Hatch, D) would create a Regional Rail Transit Advisory Working Group to assess the need for a regional rail system in the state's largest metro areas, as well as potential funding sources for such a system. Passed Assembly Legislative Operations and Elections. (Assemblymember Rich DeLong, D) would make the Net Proceeds of Minerals Bulletin public again. Status: Passed Assembly Revenue. would allow the Clark County Commission to extend fuel revenue indexing (FRI) an additional decade beyond its current sunset date. Status: Passed Assembly Growth and Infrastructure. (Storey County) would require companies seeking massive tax abatements to enter into agreements to defray the costs of the government-provided services they would require. Status: Passed Senate Revenue and Economic Development. (Assemblymember Natha Anderson) would bar most HOAs from prohibiting licensed home-based childcare operations within their communities. Status: Passed Assembly Government Affairs. Assembly Bill 238* (Assemblymember Sandra Jauregui, D) is known as the Nevada Studio Infrastructure Jobs and Workforce Training Act. It massively expands the state's film tax credit program to support a production studio in Summerlin in Las Vegas. Status: Heard by Assembly Revenue, referred to Assembly Ways and Means. Senate Bill 220* (State Sen. Roberta Lange, D) is known as the Nevada Film Infrastructure, Workforce Development, Education and Economic Diversification Act. It massively expands the state's film tax credit program to support a production studio in southwest Las Vegas. Status: Heard by Senate Revenue and Economic Development, referred to Senate Finance. Assembly Bill 376* (Assemblymember P.K. O'Neill, R) would create a 'regulatory sandbox' for the insurance industry. Passed Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee. * (Assemblymember Venicia Considine, D) seeks to close a potential loophole that can be used by corporate landlords to avoid paying the state's commerce tax. Status: Passed Assembly Revenue. Assembly Bill 487 would ban retail pet sales statewide. Status: Passed Assembly Natural Resources. Senate Bill 318 (State Sen. Skip Daly, D) would ban charter schools from contracting with for-profit education management organizations. Status: Passed Senate Education. * (Assemblymember Erica Mosca, D) would dedicate $100 million in state general obligation bonds for high-needs school construction projects in low-population counties that cannot fund them through typical means. Status: Passed Assembly Government Affairs, referred to Assembly Ways and Means. (Assemblymember Daniele Monroe-Moreno, D) would change how Opportunity Scholarships are administered. Status: Passed Assembly Revenue. Senate Bill 88* would discharge medical debt from those incarcerated once they leave prison. Status: Passed Senate Judiciary Committee, referred to Senate Finance. (Assemblymember Brian Hibbetts, R) would make driving the wrong way a misdemeanor crime. Status: Passed Assembly Judiciary. Assembly Bill 119 (Assemblymember Steve Yeager, D) seeks to crack down on paramilitary organizing and activities. Status: Passed Assembly Judiciary. Assembly Bill 320* (Assemblymember Jovan Jackson, D) seeks to stop judges from using dress codes to turn away defendants. Passed Assembly Judiciary. Senate Bill 457 (Gov. Joe Lombardo, R) is known as the Safe Streets and Neighborhoods Act. Status: Referred to Senate Judiciary, no hearing scheduled. Senate Bill 199* (State Sen. Dina Neal, D) — would establish guardrails around artificial intelligence. Status: Passed Senate Commerce and Labor. would mandate that cities and counties with populations exceeding 100,000 people include 'heat mitigation' as part of their master plans. Status: Passed Government Affairs.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lawmaker calls out Realtors Association for flip-flopping on senior rent stabilization bill
Assemblymember Sandra Jauregui called the Realtors's reversal this session 'deeply disappointing,' since the group helped craft provisions of effectively identical legislation two years ago. (Photo: Richard Bednarski/Nevada Current) The Nevada Realtors Association hopes to kill legislation that authorizes one year of rent stabilization for seniors and puts modest regulations on the collection of rental application fees, despite backing the same bill in the previous legislative session. Assembly Bill 280, which passed out of the Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee last week on a party line vote, revives a similar effort from 2023 to limit landlords from raising rents more than 5% on tenants 62 years or older or relies on Social Security payments through the end of 2026. This year's bill, sponsored by Democratic Assemblymember Sandra Jauregui, also requires landlords to refund application fees if they don't screen a tenant who applied for the unit. Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed the 2023 version of the bill saying the legislation was admirable but 'needlessly heavy-handed in its approach.' Nevada Realtors, who typically oppose expanded tenant protections, backed the bill during the 2023 session. Keith Lynam, president of the Nevada Realtors during that time, and Jonathan Norman, the statewide advocacy, outreach and policy director for the Nevada Coalition of Legal Service Providers, helped present alongside Jauregui that year. In 2023, Lyman called the bill 'common sense solutions to affordable housing for those who are leasing and renting homes,' Jauregui noted while describing the bill to the committee during last month's hearing. He gave his full-throated support of the bill, she added. The bill's intent stayed the same. The Nevada Realtors' position changed. Azim Jessa, a lobbyist for Nevada Realtors, told lawmakers the group changed its opinion because of 'market statistics' that showed 'the average rental price for a single family home dropped 5.9%.' Rent prices have soared drastically since 2020, with elected officials noting rents spiked between 20% and 30% within the first two years of the pandemic. Jauregui called the association's reversal this session 'deeply disappointing,' especially since it was the association, along with legal aid, who worked for months to craft the provisions of the 2023 bill. When AB 280 was first heard in March, it originally sought the same 2023 provision that limited landlords from increasing rents on seniors living on fixed incomes by more than 10%. Jauregui said during the March 26 bill hearing that while she thought a 10% cap was too high, the limit was included out of 'a consensus' and the language was agreed upon by both the Realtors Association and legal aid groups. Between that hearing and committee passing AB 280 last week, Jauregui amended the language to reduce the cap to 5% because 'there is a party who did not negotiate in good faith.' Jauregui said the bill is still a pilot program that would allow lawmakers to assess its effectiveness. 'The key is that we take action now rather than allow seniors and those on fixed incomes to continue suffering, face eviction or end up homeless,' she said. Though Lombardo vetoed the bill in 2023, his message didn't mention anything about the temporary rent stabilization it sought for seniors and those relying on federal assistance. At the time, he wrote that the bill 'is an unreasonable restraint on standard business activity' and the legislation would prevent landlords 'from collecting, and retaining, any fee related to the rental of a dwelling unit.' AB 280, like its 2023 version, seeks to prevent landlords from collecting application fees even when they don't use the money to screen tenants. 'If ten applications come in for one unit and the first application is taken, then the fees for the other nine would have to be returned,' Jauregui said. 'Any hard costs wouldn't have to be returned.' The legislation would also require landlords to include an appendix in the lease listing fees that can be charged. Ben Iness, the coalition coordinator for the Nevada Housing Justice Alliance, said the bill doesn't go far enough. The coalition testified in neutral. 'In terms of scope and applicability, we would love to see this applied to all Nevadans,' he said. 'A lot of the comments focus on supply and demand and ignore things like RealPage that interfere with the market.' RealPage, a rental pricing software firm, was accused of colluding with corporate landlords to use algorithms to collect lease transaction data in order to artificially inflate rents via price fixing. The company has denied wrongdoing. The allegation against the company, as well as other property management companies, has resulted in lawsuits across the country and legislative efforts to rein in the practice. In the absence of regulation to prevent rent price fixing, Iness said the market isn't fair for renters. 'Rent stabilization makes sure things stay attainable, accessible and affordable,' he said.
