Use Of Vegas Condo Development For Overnight Rentals Leaves Unit Owners Up The Creek

In Las Vegas, Nevada, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports:

• The Meridian, a luxury condominium property just east of the Strip, owes approximately $568,000 in [unremitted room] taxes for operating an illegal hotel, according to preliminary results of an audit by Clark County's business license department. [...] The unauthorized hotel operation -- which the county shut down in July -- led to [property management employee] Rebekah DeSmet's court appearance Tuesday on two misdemeanor charges for zoning and licensing infractions.

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• When the Meridian's hotel ceased, the well went dry for unit owners who were leasing out their units through a rental program affiliated with American Invsco. They have received no rent checks since June. Many unit owners counted on the rental income to cover the cost of their Meridian mortgages. About 80 of the 678 units at the upscale property are now in foreclosure, [former condo association president Michael] Mackenzie estimated Monday.

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• About 400 of the Meridian's estimated 450 owners are in some degree of financial distress "now or soon," according to Scott Oelke, a real estate agent who owns a unit at the Meridian.

For more, see Meridian said to have run illegal hotel (Audit suggests condo property owes taxes for illicitly offering overnight rentals).