An unaffordable economy’s ‘culminating venue’: Eviction court

No place illustrates the affordability crisis quite like an eviction court, say advocates seeking reform of Nevada’s notoriously fast and landlord-friendly eviction laws.

“The eviction courts are the culminating venue of our state’s housing crisis and affordability crisis,” said Ben Iness, the coalition coordinator with the Nevada Housing Justice Alliance, said at a press conference last week attended by attorneys, elected officials, and other tenant advocacy organizations.

The Nevada Housing Justice Alliance has conducted eviction court-watching sessions over the past several years to monitor the process. The press conference Wednesday followed observation of eviction cases that morning.

Tens of thousands of evictions each year in Nevada reflect the increasingly unaffordable cost of living combined with a state that “lacks protections against rent hikes and rent gouging,” Iness said.

Last week’s press conference was a rare appearance for the eviction issue on the campaign trail this year. Advocates say it shouldn’t be.

“I would like to see what the agenda is for the working class and the poor,” said Jonathan Norman, the advocacy, outreach and policy director for the Nevada Coalition of Legal Service Providers.

Reforming the state’s lightning-fast eviction system is the baseline. 

There have been several failed efforts over the last few years to change Nevada’s quick summary eviction process, which in addition to being hasty, requires tenants rather than landlords to initiate a court proceeding — or be evicted summarily. 

“The idea that a tenant files the first pleading with a court is just contrary to every other civil process in the United States, not just evictions,” Norman said. 

Legislation to convert the process was initially sought in 2021, when Democrats controlled the governor’s office as well as both houses of the Legislature. But Democrats thwarted the opportunity for reform by turning the legislation into a mere study bill. 

State lawmakers were able to pass legislation that would have reformed the eviction system in the 2023 and 2025 Legislative sessions. 

Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed both bills along with a slew of other eviction reforms and tenant protections. 

Lombardo’s veto message on the summary eviction bill in 2023 said the legislation would “impose additional and unnecessary delays” and costs “make our summary eviction process more time-consuming” on property owners.

His office wouldn’t answer questions on whether he would re-evaluate his stance on summary evictions or tenant protections. 

But the governor’s office via email did point to legislation Lombardo signed in 2025 allocating $21 million in eviction diversion rental assistance to county governments as well as a bill he signed enabling modest transparency around rental prices in leases.

Lombardo had vetoed a nearly identical rental transparency bill in 2023.

In an email to Nevada Current Attorney General Aaron Ford, who is currently running against Lombardo, said he “would support efforts to bring Nevada’s summary eviction process in line with the rest of the nation and put the burden of eviction on the landlord instead of the renter.”

Norman said he expects Democratic Assemblymember Elaine Marzola, who is presumed to be the Speaker of the Assembly, to carry another summary eviction reform bill in the 2027 Legislative Session.

‘Money never sleeps’

There were 78,000 total eviction filings in Nevada in fiscal year 2025, according to a report from the Nevada Supreme Court. Roughly 54,000 of them were filed at the Las Vegas Justice Court.

The number of eviction filings skyrocketed in fiscal 2024 when the state had nearly 85,000 eviction filings. The growth in filings followed the expiration of eviction era protections and rental assistance funding. 

State lawmakers had passed a bill in 2021 that paused eviction proceedings while rental assistance applications were being processed. That legislation expired in 2023.

Legislation seeking to implement a scaled back version of that protection was vetoed by Lombardo the same year.

While the number of evictions in 2025 dropped from the 2024 spike, they are still wreaking havoc on people’s lives, organizers warned on Wednesday. 

“How many thousands of people have to be evicted for this to be considered a crisis,” Norman asked. “If there are 40,000 facing eviction this year, that’s enough people to fit in the A’s Stadium. That’s more people that fit in T-Mobile.” 

Democratic Assemblymember Erica Mosca and Democratic U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford joined Wednesday morning.

Iness suggested every Nevada elected official making decisions regarding housing policy and laws should witness eviction hearings. 

Seconding the sentiment, Norman said observing evictions is the only way to truly understand “the carnage and the speed.”

That was the case of a mother of three children – aged 9, 13, and 14 – who was behind $3,287 in rent from August. Her proceeding, which was conducted by hearing master Daniel Westmeyer, lasted roughly two minutes. 

A representative for the landlord, who appeared remotely, told Westmeyer that the failed rent payments resulted in financial distress for the landlord.

“Is there any reason why the court shouldn’t grant your landlord’s request for an eviction order,” Westmeyer asked the tenant.

She said she was starting to rebuild her life after experiencing homelessness. Then her daughter got sick, she missed work, and fell behind on rent. 

“I’m just starting to save money to be able to pay back,” she pleaded with Westmeyer. “I just need a little bit more time.”

The summary eviction was granted, but the judge stayed the eviction for 10 days, giving the tenant a little more time. 

Norman said many people who haven’t observed an eviction would assume if a tenant fails to pay rent it’s a moral failing, rather than acknowledging “they live in a society that has priced them out and pays wages that don’t allow them to live.”

“It’s easy just to say if you’re facing an eviction you did something wrong,” Norman said. “When you see it, you start to think in a more nuanced way.”

Lawyers at the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada filed a lawsuit last month arguing it is unconstitutional for a hearing master – not an elected judge – to make a ruling in summary eviction cases. 

“At the end of the day, justice shouldn’t depend on what ZIP code you’re in,” Norman said. “Every other justice court in the state of Nevada uses an elected justice of the peace to hear eviction cases,” he said, adding that it’s only at Las Vegas Justice Court where evictions are overseen by “unelected hearing officers.”

While he believes the courts are the best place to challenge the role of hearing masters in granting evictions, Norman is still advocating for tenant protections at the legislative level.

Ford’s campaign said he would support legislation that makes price-fixing on essential goods such as rent illegal and limiting rent increases for seniors.

Ford put forward a price-fixing bill in 2025 but it was vetoed. 

Lawmakers also passed legislation in 2023 and 2025 seeking to cap rent increases for seniors – first a 10% cap followed by a 5% limit. Both were vetoed by Lombardo.  

State lawmakers announced a plan to reintroduce a 10% rent cap for seniors in 2027 Legislation.  

Norman said there are also plans to bring back other failed bills seeking to reform the state’s habitability laws and enable automatic record sealing for evictions after a certain time.

“Right now, it can be on your record for up to seven years,” Norman said. “How do you live in our society with that?”

Both bills passed during the 2025 Legislative Session but were killed by Lombardo.

“We can’t expect to win in one or two sessions,” Norman said of enacting tenant protections. “Money never sleeps. The money interests are going to engage in every session all the time. We have to bring that same level of energy.”