Nevada Tenants Left Holding The Bag When Leasing From Rent-Skimming Landlords; State Lawmakers To Take No Action

In Nevada, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports:

• State legislators learned [recently] that renters who paid for the first month, the last month of their lease and a security deposit can be evicted with three days notice and have no practical way of recovering money from a foreclosed landlord. Some states are enacting laws to provide renters more protection, but Nevada probably will do nothing to deal with the problems until 2009 when the next session of the Legislature meets, lawmakers say.

• "There is nothing we can do about (renter problems) in the short run," said Assemblyman Marcus Conklin, D-Las Vegas, chairman of the Legislative Subcommittee to Study Mortgage Lending. Gov. Jim Gibbons could call a special session to deal with the residential mortgage implosion, but observers know of no efforts to persuade the governor to do that.

• State Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, a subcommittee member, said Gibbons' administration is making efforts to educate homeowners, but he believes that should be the limit of state involvement. "I don't know even if we were in session that we would do anything (to address the mortgage problems)," Beers said. "This isn't really a government problem," Beers said. Historically, government intervention "just seems to delay the recovery" in the market, he said.

For more, see Officials told of renters' troubles (Little action foreseen; education suggested).

For posts involving rent / equity skimming landlords who pocket rent and allow homes to go into foreclosure, see Tenants Unwittingly Renting Homes In Foreclosure I , II , III , and IV. equity skimming unwittingly gamma