Page 4 - Nevada Cooperator Winter 2020

4 THE NEVADA COOPERATOR — WINTER 2020 NEVADACOOPERATOR.COM Thurs., February 27, 2020 IREM Northern Nevada/Tahoe Chapter 2020 Multi-Family Forecast Atlantis Hotel & Casino, 3800 South Virginia Street, Reno, NV 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. The highly anticipated Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) Annual Forecast will include two excellent guest speakers this year. Jessie Greer, Multi-Family/Investment profes- sional from Avison Young, will address the outlook for multi-family investments. Lucy McGuire, VP of Commercial Banking at First Independent Bank, will discuss lending trends and forecasted rates. This is the “must attend” event of the year! Be sure to reserve your seat today at www.iremnnv.com/meetinginfo. Wed., March 11, 2020 IREM Las Vegas Chapter March Luncheon Fogo De Chão, 360 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, NV 11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m. Join the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) Las Vegas Chapter for its monthly luncheon. Members are $40.00, guests are $50.00. Register for the event at www.lasvegasirem.org/meetinginfo. Mondays Nevada Department of Business and Industry Real Estate Division CICCH/HOA Board Member and Homeowner Training Program Nevada State Business Center, 3300 W. Sahara Ave, 4th floor, Nevada Room, Las Vegas, NV 1:30 p.m.–3:30 p.m. The state of Nevada Department of Business and Industry Real Estate Division Office of the Ombudsman for Owners in Common-Interest Communities and Condominium Hotels holds a CICCH/HOA board member and home- owner training program on Monday afternoons from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at their Nevada State Business Center. The classes address everything from running a meeting to fiduciary duty to budgeting. Check their training calen- dar for topics and dates: www.red.nv.gov. Friday, March 27, 2020 CAI Annual Conference Red Rock 11011 W. Charleston Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 5:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m. We are excited to celebrate all the 2019 nomi- nees and their achievements. Please be aware that there will not be a will call or a check in, you must have a ticket in hand in order to attend the 2019 Full Steam Ahead Gala. All tick- ets will be distributed prior to the event, we look forward to celebrating with you. Contact info@ cai-nevada.org for registration information. Wednesday, April 29, 2020 The Cooperator Expo Las Vegas Las Vegas Convention Center, 3150 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, NV 10:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m. Save the date for the must-attend event of the year for all community association board members, community managers, and community association decision makers. Learn about the latest in building services from more than 200 exhibitors. Attend edu- cational seminars, network with your peers, and get free advice from industry experts. For more information and to register, visit www.lv-expo.com. CAL EN D AR Industry Pulse Feb-Mar Law & Legislation Courts Rule in Favor of Las Vegas Homeowner against Adjacent HOA An ongoing legal battle between Las Vegas homeowner Jonathan Friedrich and the HOA of which he once thought he was a member is being reported on by several outlets including the Las Vegas Review Journal and KTNV News. The dispute involves two distinct units within a gated community called Rancho Bel Air. Unit 1, where Friedrich’s home is, was developed in 1970. Unit 2 was developed adjacent to Unit 1 several years later with the intent of merging both units into one private association. But the question of whether that intent was officially carried out has become a six-year legal battle in the guard-gated HOA, says KTNV. Rancho Bel Air Property Owners As- sociation, Unit 2, Inc. is the HOA that has been charging homeowners of both units a $200 monthly assessment, includ- ing Friedrich who bought his home in 2003. Its covenants, conditions, and re- strictions (CCRs) are recorded for Unit 2, but were distributed also to Unit 1 homeowners when they purchased their homes—although there is a “tiny, legal description” in the documentation that exempts Unit 1, according to the Las Ve- gas Review Journal. In 2011, the HOA board began inves- tigating the status of the two units after an association door tax statute was en- acted. Upon discovering that there was a distinction, the HOA informed Unit 1 homeowners and requested they annex into Unit 2. Reports the Journal, “More than two dozen of 33 homes in Unit 1 ei- ther annexed or agreed to voluntarily pay a new amenities assessment. But Fried- rich refused to join and stopped paying dues at the beginning of 2013.” This led the HOA to threaten fore- closure on Friedrich’s home, which he countered with a district court lawsuit. The jury in that 2014 trial found in fa- vor of one of Friedrich’s complaints: that the HOA negligently misrepresented that Friedrich belonged to the HOA, and therefore owed it dues. The HOA ap- pealed the decision to the state supreme court, which affirmed the decision of the lower court in November 2019 in a 5-2 decision. While the courts found in Friedrich’s favor, he is still fighting for legal and oth- er fees. The district court jury awarded him $21,000—roughly equal to the total assessments he had paid to the HOA to that date in 2017—but also found him “30 percent at fault” as the Journal reports, reducing his award to less than $15,000. Friedrich is trying to recover that money as well as the more than $320,000 he has spent to date in legal fees. Henderson Short-Term Rental Laws Go into Effect In its fall newsletter, the Common- Interest Communities & Condomini- um Hotels Program reports on the new short-term rental laws for the city of Henderson that went into effect October 14, 2019. Short-term rentals, defined as rentals between two and 30 days, must be registered annually with the city and pay a yearly fee of $850 for each property rented. Operators of short-term rentals must also attend and pass a certification course and pay a variety of monthly taxes based on the amount of rental income received. The newsletter specifies that prior to registering with the city, applicants must certify in writing that operation of a short-term vacation rental would not violate their association’s CC&Rs, by- laws, or other agreements governing the use of their property. Common-interest communities are therefore allowed to maintain any provisions that prohibit, restrict, or regulate short-term rent- ing on their premises. Where permitted by association governing documents, “\[T\]he unit must also be properly zoned for the use and any license required by the local government must be obtained. The association may additionally estab- lish requirements for such use of a unit, including the payment of additional fees related to any increase in services or other costs associated with the transient commercial use within the community.” Inspection and enforcement will be conducted by the city. Staff will be scan- ning short-term-rental advertising sites and will have a hotline in place for the public to report any violations or com- plaints. Violations of common-interest- community governing documents may also result in license and registration re- vocation. Trends/Product News Chong Miller Launches Mobile App for LV Valley Real Estate Justin Miller, a broker and Realtor for the Chong Miller Group, speaks to the Las Vegas Sun about his agency’s new app, as well as his predictions for the near future of the Las Vegas real estate market. Likening the app to a LV-focused Zil- low, Miller characterizes the new tech- nology as “important” and touts its abil- ity to “\[put\] unprecedented control in clients’ hands.” Although his one-year-old brokerage concentrates on sales rather than rentals, Miller is quick to point out that Chong Miller offers a full range of services for existing clients. These include marketing rentals as well as furnishing those rent- als with their ancillary staging business, Jusin + Jason by Design. In terms of the overall area market, Miller sees growth. There is plenty of available financing, he claims, at good rates with good lenders. Citing Las Ve- gas’ population growth of 50,000–60,000 people per year, Miller says, “There’s not enough new home construction, resulting in shortages, especially at the $350,000 price point and lower.” If con- struction in this sector can keep pace with demand, 2020 should be a strong year, he predicts. Las Vegas Market Holds Steady The housing market in Las Vegas and the surrounding areas is poised to con- tinue a slow but steady climb—at least in value if not volume, reports Vegas Inc. Existing single-family homes throughout southern Nevada traded at a median sales price of $313,000 in December 2019, just short of the all-time high for Las Vegas of $315,000 in pre-recession June 2006. This reflects a 6% increase between 2018 and 2019, as well as a nearly $6,000 me- dian rise from the previous month, says the outlet. Southern Nevada condos and town- homes also saw price growth, with a 9% year-over-year increase in December. The median sales price of such units was $178,000 that month in 2019. Sales volume for all of 2019 is down about 4% from 2018 with just under 41,300 local properties sold this past year, Vegas Inc notes. Tom Blanchard, president of the Greater Las Vegas As- sociation of Realtors, accounts for this decrease with a lagging construction schedule and stagnant inventory. He tells the outlet, “We sold fewer homes in 2019 than we did in past years. I think the tight local housing supply we’ve been dealing with had something to do with that. No, it wasn’t a stellar year, but we’ve had much worse.” “For those worrying about a pos- sible downturn in the market,” continues Blanchard, “it’s just not there right now.” n 2020 PULSE/CALENDAR Please submit Pulse items to Darcey Gerstein at darcey@Nevadacooperator.com