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‘What the landlord wants, the landlord gets,' effort to change Nevada state law for tenants

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Nevada state lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow tenants to take a property owner to court for failing to make timely repairs before the property owner may try to evict them. Assembly Bill 223, introduced Monday at the Committee on Commerce and Labor by Assembly Member Venicia Considine, would allow tenants to pay reduced rent and file a verified complaint for unhabitable conditions. Renters' rights and 13 more bills to watch at the 2025 Nevada Legislature Tenants can currently withhold rent in Nevada for unhabitable conditions, but they must deposit the money with the justice court. That rarely happens, according to supporters of the bill, and the end result is eviction. 'What you often see is how habitability presents itself as a tenant Is there on the eviction,' Jonathan Norman of Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada told legislators. 'They have their phone and they say, 'Judge, I have pictures,' and it can be, you know, sewage backing up in their bathtub. It can be, you know, really horrific stuff, and the judge looks at them and then asks if they escrowed the rent, and the answer is almost always no because people don't understand how they're supposed to do that, how they can take advantage of that and then the judicial officer orders the eviction.' Assembly Bill 223 would allow the tenant to turn to court first. Numerous groups and individuals testified in support of the bill. 'I have stared into the eyes of cockroaches. I have sweated in the broken air conditioner night. I have breathed the dangerous poles of mold. I have felt trapped. I have felt meaningless. I have felt like I did not matter,' Noah Cicero testified. 'I have felt like that I too have become a cockroach, a pest that doesn't matter to anyone. Cockroaches can be evicted just as quickly as I can in the state of Nevada. What the landlord wants, the landlord gets.' Opponents of the bill, including the Nevada Realtors Legislative Committee, testified laws are already in place to address landlord and tenant issues. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.