Housing
Paid leave, prison reform, health measures among dozens of state laws taking effect with new year
Housing for people experiencing homelessness, paid family leave for state employees, and “human composting” are among issues addressed in new Nevada laws that took effect January 1. Eighty-five bills enacted during the 2023 Legislative Session went into effect with the new year, including several measures designed to address barriers to building more affordable and low […]
Looking back (and a little forward): 2023 selections & reflections from the Nevada Current staff
Note: As we do near the end of every year, each writer on the Nevada Current staff took a little time to highlight some of their work from the year, and say whatever they wanted to say about it. An embarrassment of riches. That’s how I’d sum up 2023 for its news value. In case […]
Housing should be seen as a community builder, not a wealth builder
Too many of us have to depend on sheer good luck to make it — especially when it comes to putting a roof over our heads. We grow up hearing that hard work alone will lift us above the hardships we’re born into. But many of us also watched as our parents worked two and […]
For a while, a series of measures protected renters from NV’s harsh eviction laws. Not anymore.
Around the same time Kathleen Dominguez filed a response with a court to the eviction notice she received in June, she also applied for rental assistance through Clark County in hopes of getting help paying $1,035 of back-owed rent. The 7-day pay-or-quit notice came the day a statewide eviction protection expired, meaning there was no […]
As homelessness rises, annual resource fair offers one-stop connection to housing, social services
Only a few hours before beginning her shift working as a security guard, Lakera Minner is sitting down with a housing coordinator trying to begin the process of finding a home for her and her three children. Minner and her children, 12, 8 and 7, were evicted in July. Since then, she has struggled to […]
How much is that doggie in the window costing in pet rent?
Nevada renters are shelling out thousands of dollars a year in some cases in pet deposits, fees, and rent, while others are secretly harboring their pets in an effort to avoid paying, a situation that leaves dogs and cats in peril if they’re discovered, according to animal advocates. A survey conducted by a real estate […]
HOA regulators captive to deep pockets of developers, property management industry, say critics
The state agency charged with regulating homeowners’ associations is a smokescreen, designed to do the bidding of the multi-million dollar industry it oversees, at the expense of homeowners subject to HOA control, according to critics. More than half a million Nevadans live in properties subject to homeowners’ associations. Wielding powers generally reserved for government tribunals, […]
Systemic racism and poverty are hurting Nevadans’ health, state report finds
Systemic racism, lack of affordable housing, limited access to healthy food, and hard-to-get medical services are some of the biggest barriers for Nevadans to be healthy, according to a report released this month by the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health (DPBH). The State Health Assessment notes that as Nevada’s population becomes increasingly diverse […]
Homebuyers find alternatives to high-interest mortgages
The frenzy may be gone from the real estate market, thanks to mortgage interest rates that have more than doubled in the last two years, but experts say Southern Nevada is still a seller’s market. Homeowners, some with mortgage rates as low as 3%, have been in a self-imposed lockdown of late, soured by the […]
Domestic abuse takes many forms, even in the absence of physical violence
Alison stopped for gas in Carson City before driving to a medical appointment for her adenomyosis, a reproductive health condition that causes fatigue, fainting, and anemia when she realized she couldn’t pay because her card was rejected. She went into Nevada State Bank, where she discovered the more than $20,000 in the joint account that […]
Housing justice groups launch eviction watch program to observe hearings, provide oversight
While observing eviction proceedings Tuesday at Las Vegas Justice Court, Ben Iness of the Nevada Housing Justice Alliance was struck by the final words from the judge following the majority of cases where a summary eviction was granted: “Good luck.” “In that courtroom, tenants have no solutions and no recourse to navigate such a life […]
Las Vegas, Henderson join cities asking U.S. Supreme Court for power to clear homeless camps
Even though the cities of Las Vegas and Henderson have passed ordinances restricting camping and sleeping in public, some as recently as this summer, they joined other cities this week in asking the United States Supreme Court to make it even easier to enforce laws that crack down on homelessness encampments. Several Western cities filed […]