Local Officials, Las Vegas Court Refine Systems For Eviction Notices During Moratorium
Courts and local officials are developing and refining systems for the statewide eviction moratorium that went into effect on Tuesday.
A Las Vegas Justice Court representative said on Wednesday that the court is drafting an administrative order laying out the process of addressing eviction notices during the state’s second eviction moratorium this year.
The representative said it is important at this time for tenants to be able to tell the difference between valid eviction notices and “fake” notices that are not authorized under the current moratorium. Tenants who are unsure whether an eviction notice is legitimate should contact the court to verify, the representative said.
Justice Suzan Baucum, who presides over eviction hearings, said that the governor’s statewide pause did not include language about evictions, so justice courts in Nevada were processing evictions from the end of the first moratorium on Oct. 15 until the second moratorium went into effect on Dec. 15.
“The action of the Las Vegas Justice Court with regards to evictions have been consistent with the law and formal orders from the Governor’s office,” said Baucum in a letter on Wednesday. “To my knowledge, no Justice Court in the State of Nevada attempted to halt evictions during the ‘Statewide Pause,’ as it was clear that the judiciary did not have the unilateral authority to do so.”
Baucum added that no justice court in Nevada processed evictions while the first eviction moratorium was in place from March 29 to Oct. 15, in accordance with laws and orders from the governor’s office.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Clark County Commissioners including Justin Jones and Tick Segerblom have spoken out about tenant’s rights. Commissioner Segerblom in an interview on Wednesday said that he believes the county wants to be “more assertive” in preventing evictions.
“The county has money to actually pay for back rents, and we pay that money directly to the landlords,” Segerblom said. “But it’s something where the justice courts been very neutral and I think the county commission wants to be more assertive as far as making sure people don’t get evicted in the middle of a winter and during the pandemic.”