LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A push to stop corporations from buying up homes across the state failed Tuesday in the Nevada Senate along party lines.
FOX5 met with the bill’s sponsor before the session on her goal to make homes more affordable for Nevada families.
State Senator Dina Neal argues as corporations now own thousands of homes across the state, often buying for cash at or above asking price, Nevada families can’t compete and are being priced out of the American Dream.
“You would not even know it, but this street, this whole entire street, is owned by a corporate investor. They built the houses and then they rent them out,” explained Neal, a democrat who represents Clark County standing in a North Las Vegas neighborhood she represents back in January.
“The corporate owner is the only one reaping the benefit of the asset, not the family itself. Our Nevada citizens are actually being locked out,” Neal asserted.
To protect Nevadans from out-of-state corporations who price families out of the housing market, Neal’s bill, SB391, would have limited corporations to buying no more than 100 homes in the state in a calendar year.
“The largest homeowner in Nevada with 3,000 homes is an out of state corporation,” shared State Senator Julie Pazina, a democrat representing Clark County.
“Right now, in Clark County 15% of all the residential housing is owned by hedge funds. In northern Las Vegas it is 25%. They are purchasing right now an average of about 25 percent of all the houses that go on the market… If I was to and people of ordinary finances are bidding against Elon Musk, who is going to win that bidding war?,” questioned State Senator Ira Hansen, a republican representing counties across Northern Nevada.
To pass the Nevada Senate, the bill needed a two-thirds majority vote. The vote fell along party lines, eight republicans voting no leaving the bill one vote short.
Despite expressing his support for the idea of limiting corporate homeownership in Nevada, Senator Hansen still voted against it.
“For the first time this session, I have been asked by the executive branch to support a caucus “no” position which I have agreed to do,” Senator Hanson revealed.
Senator Neal brought a similar bill last legislative session, but it also failed. She says it was vetoed by the governor.
Last month, Governor Lombardo came out in support of Assembly Bill 540 which aims to make housing more affordable for Nevada families. It would allocate $200 million from the state’s general fund for an affordable housing fund and council.
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