LETTER: Getting to the bottom of high housing prices in Las Vegas

Gladys Rojas’ Tuesday letter to the Review-Journal on the housing crisis made many valid points. But she left out some of the reasons for the higher home costs and rents.

One of the biggest reasons for the lack of inventory is because many homes are rentals, and the laws make it very punitive to sell, even though some owners would love to sell. There could be a glut of single family homes on the market if the tax laws did not punish the sellers.

The other issue is the high cost of rents. Before the laws kept changing making it more difficult for landlords to evict non-paying or problem tenants, the rents were much lower and landlords would be more likely to give someone with iffy credit a second chance. The tougher it is for landlords, the tougher it is to keep rents low. Every single time Democrats talk about implementing any type of rent control, it can be assured that rents will increase.