Silver State Times

City of Las Vegas recently issued the following announcement.

In honor of Fair Housing Month 2022,  join Silver State Fair Housing Council andLegal Aid Center of Southern Nevada fora discussion around housing challenges,housing rights during a pandemic, the evictionprocess, tenant rights and steps to take afterreceiving an eviction notice. Attendees will beable to ask questions live! RSVP’s encouragedbut not required. 

Thursday, April 21

5-7 p.m. 

 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89040855449 

On Aug. 27, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the temporary CDC eviction moratorium. You can read more about that here.

Rental Assistance Programs

Residents are encouraged to visit the CHAP website to apply for Clark County assistance: https://chap.clarkcountynv.gov

Residents can also send emails for assistance to CHAPinfo@ClarkCountyNV.gov and CHAPayuda@ClarkCountyNV.gov inSpanish or call the Help Line at 702.455.4071.

If you need help, Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada is available at 702-386-1070 or visit www.lacsn.org/evictionhelp. More resources are available at www.lacsn.org/covid-19. 

Landlords can register their account on the landlord portal by going to http://CHAP.ClarkCountyNV.gov & clicking on “Visit Portal” in the landlord portal section. Landlords can call the CHAP Help Line at 702.455.4071 for questions about the landlord portal.

Recently passed legislation (AB 486) creates a path for the end of the eviction moratorium. The law ensures that both landlords and tenants will receive the benefit of $360 million in federally funded rental assistance to keep tenants in their homes, pay landlords, and prevent avoidable evictions. This legislation helps ensure that qualified tenants who are awaiting rental assistance applications to be processed are protected from being evicted for nonpayment of rent.

If you are a renter, you MUST apply for this assistance. If rental assistance is available, a landlord can accept it and the tenant can remain housed and avoid a preventable eviction. If the tenant desires to move out, there can be an agreement on a move-out date with payment. The parties are free to work out any agreement as they see fit.

AB 486

AB 486 creates a path for the end of the eviction moratoriums. It seeks to ensure that both landlords and tenants receive the benefit of the $360,000,000+ in rental assistance dollars that are available through the federal government. Stakeholders in Clark County have created a process for implementation of the bill. Below is a description of that process:

Process begins with the Landlord Serving a Notice

The process begins when a landlord serves an eviction notice on tenants. Under the bill, all nonpayment of rent notices under NRS 40.253, 40.2512, or 118B.200 are included as are other eviction notices under NRS 40.254, excluding nuisance evictions, where rental deficiencies exist.

The tenant may then file an answer and all tenant/landlord information is sent to the CHAP program and to Home Means Nevada, the administrator of the Eviction Mediation Program

The tenant may then file an answer. The court sets the next available hearing date at least 30 days out. At the end of each day, the Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson Justice Courts  send a list of the cases filed that day to Home Means Nevada (HMN) for assignment of a mediator and a mediation date.  The Justice Court also sends a list of all tenants who filed an answer that day to the Clark County CHAP program. Included in that list is the landlord and the tenant contact information. The County then looks up that tenant in the rental assistance (CHAP) portal. If the tenant application is there and complete, the county will expedite the application for payment. If the tenant application is incomplete, the application will be assigned to one of three nonprofit organizations (LV J Ct: HELP of Southern Nevada; NLV J. Ct: Nevada Partners; Henderson: Hopelink). All three nonprofits organizations have received contracts to assist the tenants in uploading all necessary documents, ensuring the tenant is “document ready” for CHAP review and payment processing by the time of the mediation.

The mediation occurs:

By the time of the mediation, the mediator will be provided or will seek a decision on the rental assistance application so as to advise both the tenant and the landlord at the mediation. At the mediation, if rental assistance is approved and agreed upon, a resolution is then noted. If rental assistance is not available, the parties can consider other outcomes: a payment plan or voluntary move-out to prevent an eviction from being entered. The tenant may also be referred to the housing nonprofit so as to accept rehousing assistance (so that family is not rendered homeless).

The court process:

If the mediation is not successful, the case will proceed to a hearing. If the tenant raises a defense to the eviction, the court may dismiss the case. If the tenant raises no defense to the hearing, the Court will issue an eviction order. If the tenant is evicted, the court may direct the tenant to rehousing flyers at the Courthouse or at the Civil Law Self Help Center.

Apply for Rental Assistance 

We are offering rental assistance to households impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic through the Rental Assistance for Tenants (RAFT) program. Eligible households must reside within the city of Las Vegas jurisdiction and have incomes at or below 80 percent of the area median income. To apply, visit www.lasvegasnevada.gov/HousingAssistance. Assistance will be available until funds are exhausted. Residents can call 702-229-5935 if they are facing an eviction or need help applying for the RAFT program Monday-Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Clark County is administering the Emergency Rental Assistance for all of Clark County. And Clark County Social Services  is currently accepting CHAP applications for rent and utilities assistance. For support, call 702-455-4071 or email CHAPinfo@ClarkCountyNV.gov / CHAPayuda@ClarkCountyNV.gov. 

Resources

Tenant Rights

It is important for all residents to know their tenant rights:

• You have the right not to be locked out of your unit without an eviction order being issued by a judge.
• You have the right to live in your unit without being harassed by your landlord.
• You have the right to live in a habitable unit with essential services.
• You have the right to dispute a trespassing citation.
• You have the right to negotiate rental payments if you cannot afford to pay in full.
• You have the right to contest an eviction notice.
• You have the right to seek legal assistance.

If you are facing eviction, please be sure to document any communication between yourself and your landlord to show your efforts and discussion towards mediation due to COVID-19.

If you feel you are facing housing discrimination please contact:

• Silver State Fair Housing Council: 702-749-3288 or 888-585-8634 or Relay Nevada 711
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity: 1-800-347-3739 or 415-489-6524
• Nevada Equal Rights Commission: 702-486-7161

Original source can be found here.