LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Assembly Bill 340, which was proposed in the Nevada Legislature Wednesday, could change Nevada’s rental process by requiring landlords to file an affidavit in court before an eviction. 

“It’s frustrating,” a local renter told 8 News Now of his current situation. 

The Las Vegas man, who did not want to share his name, said he’s struggling to make ends meet. 

“I look at some of the people in my neighborhood who had apartments,” he said. “And now they are just living on the street.”

He said rent at his apartment, where he has lived for nearly 30 years, has risen from $500 per month to $800 per month. 

While his landlord gave him a 60-day notice of the increase, he told 8 News Now he has come close to being evicted. 

Assembly Bill 340, which was presented to the Nevada Legislature Assembly Judiciary Committee, is meant to help people in similar situations. 

Will Pregman with Battle Born Progress, a local organization backing the bill, told 8 News Now it would require a landlord to file a court order and serve a tenant, giving the person time to respond accordingly before moving forward with the eviction. 

“If a landlord needs to evict a tenant that can still happen,” Pregman explained. “But there needs to be an ability for the tenant to reasonably respond to it.”

However, some call AB 340 a bad idea. Derek Moellinger of Vice Realty Group, which manages this man’s apartment complex sent the following statement: 

“Landlords have been destroyed in the state because of AB 486. Now the state seeks to further damage landlords with this new bill. I am an investor and I manage almost 1000 properties and I will not put one dollar of my own money into Nevada. I counsel every one of my investors to move out of this state and move to a state that actually has fair eviction laws. Right now, in Nevada a tenant can claim to have applied for rental assistance and with that claim, whether true or not, the eviction process will take a minimum of six months and can go as long as a year. During that entire time, the landlord receives no money; and when the tenant finally moves out, the landlord has no recourse to regain any of that lost money. The tenant can then break back into the unit and it is not considered a crime. It’s a civil matter, and the landlord must go back to court and try to remove this person again. These are the kinds of laws that landlords have to deal with in Nevada right now and it’s insane to me that the state wants to further punitively damage landlords when housing is the scarcest resource Nevada has. You have Investors like me and my friends who have millions of dollars at their disposal and refuse to spend a dollar of it in Nevada anymore. We used to be the reasons blocks were repaired and we were the reason tenants were placed. We were the reason things improved for low-income people. Now it’s a disaster in this state and it’s only going to get worse because the state is chasing away the only people who are willing to actually make a difference, which are owners.”

Derek Moellinger, Vice Realty Group

“What I am paying,” the man who spoke with 8 News Now said. “It’s not worth it at all.”

He said he is one of many who hope to see something change.

Assembly Bill 486, which was referenced by Moellinger, stops eviction if there is a pending application for rental assistance. This is set to expire in June. 

Assembly Bill 340 would have to pass through the state assembly and senate before it could be signed into law. 

For more information on AB 340, click here.