New Nevada Homeowner Protection Laws Take Effect

KOLO-TV Channel 8 in Reno, Nevada reports that "[n]early 200 new state laws, more than a third of all measures passed by Nevada lawmakers this year, take effect on Monday [October 1]. Among the new laws are two that protect homeowners:

• AB440 is intended to block bogus real estate deals and ensure that borrowers can afford a home loan. However, unclear wording in the law could make it tougher for some qualified Nevadans to get home loans. Among the real estate transactions the new statute regulates are foreclsoure rescue, sale leaseback transactions, where financially strapped homeowners are asked to sign over their homes and then lease them back as part of "rescuing" them from foreclosure, and it regulates the activities of foreclosure consultants.

• AB483 which, among other things, increases the amount of equity protected in homestead property from forced sale (except in certain circumstatnces) from $350,000 to $550,000. (Note: In this context, mortgage foreclosures are generally not considered "forced sales" since the homeowner voluntarily signed the mortgage or trust deed, agreeing to a foreclosure or trustee's sale in the event of default).

For the KOLO-TV Channel 8 report, see New Nevada Laws Take Effect on Monday.