LAS VEGAS (AP) — A day before Nevada’s eviction moratorium was set to expire, Gov. Steve Sisolak announced plans to extend it for 45 days to provide relief to an estimated 250,000 renters facing the prospect of losing their housing because of the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
In Las Vegas, a city known for its transient population, about 47% of households are rentals. The Guinn Center for Policy Priorities, a bipartisan research and policy analysis center, projects around 10% of the population could struggle to pay rent in September.
Fears of a widespread eviction crisis have been compounded by delays in state assistance and programs. About 38% of renters have been laid off since the start of the pandemic, according to the Guinn Center, and delays in unemployment insurance payouts have denied them money they may otherwise use to pay rent.
Nevada’s pandemic residential rental assistance program stopped accepting new applicants in mid-August after more than 25,000 tenants applied. And the alternative dispute resolution program passed by the state Legislature — which directed courts to grant 30-day delays on evictions to facilitate third-party mediation — has yet to be implemented.
Most evictions in Nevada were suspended on March 29, when Sisolak issued an emergency directive to prevent people from losing their housing during the pandemic. With the extension, the moratorium is now set to expire Oct. 16.
