10/15/2020 Nevada eviction moratorium to lift Oct.

15 | Las Vegas Review-Journal

Sisolak con rms st at e evict ion morat orium lift s Thursday

(Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @rookie__rae

By Subrina Hudson Las Vegas Review-Journal  

October 14, 2020 - 2:35 pm

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Updated October 14, 2020 - 5:55 pm

State protections for residential tenants unable to pay their monthly rent will expire Thursday.

Gov. Steve Sisolak con rmed Wednesday afternoon he would not extend Nevada’s nonpayment of
rent eviction moratorium. Sisolak had previously extended the moratorium in a last-minute move
when it was initially supposed to end Sept. 1.

The temporary order was aimed at making sure Nevadans could stay home, minimizing their
exposure to the novel coronavirus, and kept landlords and property managers from evicting tenan
for nonpayment of rent. Tenants were still required to pay back missed rent payments, and if tena
could a ord to pay rent, they should have, according to state guidance.

Sisolak said because there is a federal eviction moratorium in place until the end of this year
  extending the state’s moratorium “would just be duplicative.”
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10/15/2020 Nevada eviction moratorium to lift Oct. 15 | Las Vegas Review-Journal
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The federal order was put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, except its
protection is not automatic.

Backup plan
The federal order, implemented last month by the CDC, serves as the nal safety net for the thousa
of Nevadans who have been unable to pay their rent.

The CDC order stops landlords and property managers from evicting an eligible tenant for
nonpayment of rent until Dec. 31, when the order expires.

If renters believe they are eligible, they must sign this CDC declaration form and give it to their
landlord or property manager. Landlords aren’t required to notify their tenant about the CDC orde

but “must comply with all requirements of the order,” according to CDC guidelines.

“The burden is now on the tenant,” said Guinn Center Director of Economic Policy Meredith Levin
“And that could create obstacles and may create some situations where tenants nd themselves in
sticky situations.”

Nevada State Apartment Association Executive Director Susy Vasquez said the organization’s goal
not to evict tenants.

“Our communities housing goal is to keep tenants in their apartments and we are not happy to see
anyone evicted,” she said in a statement. “The CDC order falls in line with other state’s eviction
moratoriums and continues to protect those impacted by the pandemic.”

The number of Nevadans facing an eviction by then end of this year is an estimated 418,523 people
181,966 households, according to a September report by the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project an
Aspen Institute. Clark County’s eviction risk is pegged at about 136,000 households by the end of
December.

Nancy Brune, Guinn Center’s executive director, said in a statement updated numbers have not be
released by the CEDP but it has suggested the number of households facing eviction in Nevada cou
be lower.

The CDC makes it clear tenants are still required to pay their monthly rent as it will accrue along w
any fees. Landlords can also still charge late fees, which in Nevada is no more than 5 percent of a
tenant’s monthly rent.

But that could be worrisome for many jobless workers.

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10/15/2020 Nevada eviction moratorium to lift Oct. 15 | Las Vegas Review-Journal

Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, which oversees the unemploym
o ce, has received a record 710,347 initial claims this year through the week ending Oct. 3 with ne
97 percent of those claims led after the week ending March 14.

Las Vegan Josuah Smith has been unable to pay his rent since September, after he was laid o from
job at inventory management rm RGIS LLC in August.

Smith said Sisolak’s order has eased some of his stress but he knows the CDC order still protects h
from being evicted.

“I do need to nd a new job (but) I’m not ducking and dodging (my landlord),” he said, adding tha
he’s made attempts to pay at least half of what he owes. “I want to be able to pay what I can pay.”

Contact Subrina Hudson at shudson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Follow @SubrinaH on

Twitter.

R e a d Mo r e
Southern Nevada Sisolak con rms state Nevada sees 17 COVID- Trop
colleges see COVID-19 eviction moratorium 19 deaths, biggest 1-day Vega
 uptick, but numbers still
low
lifts Thursday spike since Sept. 4 notic

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