Courts said to act too hastily
Some justice courts may be evicting tenants in foreclosed rental houses without providing the required three-day notice, a lawyer told a legislative subcommittee Monday.
The Legislative Commission subcommittee on mortgage lending and housing heard the testimony Monday in a session at the Sawyer building in Las Vegas.
Steve Kilgore, deputy director of the Henderson constable's office, told the panel that justice courts issue orders for him to evict renters immediately from houses that have been foreclosed.
Lawyer Jon Sasser of Washoe Legal Services in Reno said he was concerned that some justice courts may not be following existing law.
Sasser said tenants of foreclosed houses should be given three days to vacate homes after receiving notice of the foreclosure and even then should have the right to stay 20 additional days, pending court action.
Chief Judge Douglas Smith of the Las Vegas Justice Court testified to the subcommittee before Sasser, but neither he nor Kilgore were asked to comment on Sasser's legal interpretation. Smith later agreed with Sasser's interpretation of the law and said the justice courts for the Las Vegas township are following the law on evictions following foreclosure of rental homes. Chief Judge Rodney Burr of the Henderson justice courts wasn't immediately available for comment.
The subcommittee is considering bills that would give tenants longer notice before eviction because of foreclosures.
Kilgore told the subcommittee about a recent case in which his office served notice on an elderly-care center, requiring immediate eviction.
The center operators cared for several elder patients in the converted house in Henderson. The elder care operators had a lease with an option to purchase the house but the lender foreclosed on the house owner. In that case, the issue was resolved without any immediate displacement of the elderly patients, Kilgore said.
Often tenants are angry when told they must immediately leave a house even though they are current with their rent, Kilgore said.
"It's firing people up to a very, very dangerous level," Kilgore said. "I kind of refer to it as the Alamo mind-set," because the tenants sometimes refuse to leave, he said.
"We say you have to leave right here, right now," Kilgore said.
Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-North Las Vegas, said a schoolteacher in her district has been forced to move from rental homes four times over the last year after the landlords were foreclosed.
Assemblyman Marcus Conklin, D-Las Vegas, who is chairman of the subcommittee, said he wasn't surprised that Sasser and some justice courts apparently interpret the complicated law differently. Conklin said he was concerned that tenants may not be receiving required three-day notice before eviction when the landlord loses the property in foreclosure.
In addition to requiring earlier notification of foreclosure, the subcommittee is considering bills to extend the time that renters may stay after a foreclosure sale.
"We absolutely must deal with this renter issue," Conklin said.
In addition, he said the panel may submit bills to provide education to consumers and clarify legalities involved in the relationship between home loan applicants and mortgage brokers.
Contact reporter John G. Edwards at jedwards@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0420.
