LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended the temporary ban on evictions for three more months.
For people who can't pay rent due to COVID-19 financial setbacks, they can't be kicked out of their home until July 1, at the earliest.
This is welcome news for many of the struggling Nevada renters who have been worried about being evicted at the end of March when the eviction moratorium was set to end.
But, on the flip side, it's another big blow for landlords and property managers, some of whom haven't received a rent check for a full year.
13 Action News spoke with Susy Vasquez, the director of the Nevada State Apartment Association, which represents the owners of 140,000 rental units in Nevada. She's worried this latest extension of the eviction moratorium may mean some smaller landlords won't survive.
"It certainly is frustrating, since we continue to kick the can down the road. We are starting to struggle, mom-and-pops for sure. I know many of them are facing foreclosure and that will definitely impact the housing dynamic in Nevada. There’s certainly a high level of frustration right now, especially with my small owners who have exhausted their savings in order to keep their homes as part of their housing investment. We don’t necessarily want to evict everybody. But, there’s certainly a lot of people, especially now as the moratorium lags on, there’s more and more bad actors that are coming forward and people are just not willing to either enter into a payment arrangement or pay their rent," said Vasquez.
Vasquez says the Cares Housing Assistance Program, also known as C.H.A.P., could provide some much-needed rental assistance to tenants and landlords, but those payments have been delayed for months.
"I think, right now, the main concern is rent assistance and getting that out to people that need help to fill that void until they can start receiving a normal paycheck. I do know that they just set up a new portal that allows them to process applications quickly. So, we are holding our breath with our residents to find out how quickly they can start distributing the money they have. It certainly will keep many, many people in their homes. But, people need to understand that there are now income restrictions tied to that funding. So, just because you qualified in 2020, doesn’t mean you necessarily qualify in 2021," said Vasquez.
13 Action News reached out to Clark County, hoping to find out how soon those payments will be processed, but we still haven't heard back.
"Evictions are going to happen. I understand that we are trying to mitigate as many as we can and trying to save as many people as we can, but at some point, there has to be some form of release," said Vasquez.
Right now, in Nevada, there is also a state moratorium on evictions that's set to expire on Wednesday. Vasquez says the state eviction moratorium provides even more protections for renters and makes it even harder for landlords to evict tenants. There's no word yet on whether Gov. Steve Sisolak plans to extend the state moratorium on evictions.
