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.
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