After 2 Lombardo vetoes, lawmakers plan to again send him a bill capping senior rent increases

The high cost of living, exacerbated by the lack of affordable housing in Nevada, has made it difficult for seniors living on fixed incomes to afford rent, putting them at risk of eviction and potentially experiencing homelessness. 

A number of older adults are seeing rent hikes they can no longer afford with their Social Security Income or retirement benefits, said Donna Clontz, a retired attorney and volunteer with AARP Nevada.

“They’re forced to choose between paying their rent and having medicine or having food,” she said. “We all see the information online and on television about the fact that about one out of five or one out of six of our kids are going hungry. The same number is true for our seniors. It is really a terrible situation for all of us.” 

The bill draft request approved Monday revives previously failed legislative efforts to offer some rent stabilization for seniors by capping rent from increasing more than 10% for a five year period.

Though the proposal was supported by members AARP and other seniors speaking during public comment, they warned lawmakers even if the cap is approved it could still put people at risk of unaffordable rents. 

Some seniors are “already paying $1,500 a month in rent or $2,000 a month in rent,” Marcy Cooper Smith told lawmakers Monday. “If you’re letting us get a 10% increase on that amount, that’s still a pretty good increase we’re getting hit with.” 

Democratic Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui first introduced legislation in 2023 seeking to place a one-year 10% rent increase cap rent for people older than 62 or who rely on disability insurance benefits. 

The legislation, which also required landlords to refund fees if they don’t screen a tenant who applied for the unit, was supported by the Nevada Association of Realtors at the time.

Lombardo vetoed the legislation. 

When Jauregui introduced the bill with identical language in 2025, it no longer had the support of the Nevada Association of Realtors. Jauregui later strengthened the legislation by amending the 10% cap down to 5%, saying the association “did not negotiate in good faith.”

Lombardo, once again, vetoed the bill. 

He wrote in his 2025 veto message the legislation could create “ripple effects that disrupt the rental market as a whole.” 

“By prohibiting landlords from increasing rent by more than 5% for certain tenants, the bill may inadvertently encourage preemptive rent hikes before the cap takes effect, making housing less attainable in the short term,” Lombardo wrote. “In the long run, potentially as soon as this biennium, the cap could discourage investment in rental properties, especially as owners struggle with rising costs while being unable to adjust rents to match.” 

At the committee meeting this week, state lawmakers also approved a bill draft to address the rise of cryptocurrency scams by banning the installation, placement, and operation of crypto kiosks and cashier-facilitated cryptocurrency exchange transactions. 

Often located in grocery stores and convenience stores – where ATMs are also typically found –  the kiosks allow people to convert cash into Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency.

The kiosks have become vehicles for scammers, who extort or con victims to deposit cash into a crypto kiosk and transfer it to the scammer’s digital wallet, never to be seen again by the victim, state lawmakers were told in March.

Clontz told lawmakers Monday this has led to people being defrauded out of thousands of dollars, with most of those victims being seniors.

Nevada has 447 bitcoin kiosks, 336 of which are in Southern Nevada, according to a public listing by Bitcoin Depot.

The committee also approved a request to allocate $330,000 to support and expand senior and veteran anti-hunger programs administered by the Three Square Food Bank and the Food Bank of Northern Nevada.

State lawmakers also asked legislative counsel to draft  a bill requiring the administrator of the Division of Human Resources Management to employ a veterans coordinator to oversee a new veteran hiring program and peer mentor program.

Another subject of a bill draft request would require the Nevada Health Authority to maintain a list of assisted living and senior living committees specializing in services for deaf or hard of hearing and require medical intake forms to include an option for individuals to indicate their preferred language to include American Sign Language.