Housing

Cracking Down on Price Gouging in the Housing Market

The Problem: Last year, large institutional investors purchased more homes in America’s top metropolitan areas than in the last twenty years.

On average, non-occupant investors bought nearly one in seven homes, and in specific housing markets that number rises to one in four.[1] As rental rates rise across the country, housing is becoming increasingly unaffordable for everyday Americans.

With at least a decade of disinvestment since the 2008 housing market crash, America’s supply of homes simply cannot meet rising demand. Large institutional investors raise billions of dollars in capital in order to make extravagant cash offers on homes, and these investments have been focused in older, middle-income neighborhoods with greater concentrations of Asian, Latinx, and Black residents.[2] Homes owned by institutional investors may never resurface on the housing market. By raising rental rates and decreasing the homes available for American families, non-occupant investors are putting the American dream of homeownership out of reach for too many.

The Solution: Institutional oversight in the housing market to ensure transparency and fair competition for Americans hoping to purchase or remain in their home.

The Housing Oversight and Mitigating Exploitation Act will ensure that consumers are protected from market manipulation by empowering the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Specifically, the Housing Oversight and Mitigating Exploitation Act does the following:

1. Makes it illegal for any person to rent or sell a dwelling unit during a period of a housing emergency at an unreasonable price.
   • The President shall be able to declare a housing emergency so no person can increase either rental rates or home prices to unreasonable levels or further exploit the circumstances.
2. Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to conduct an investigation to determine if prices are being manipulated by artificially reducing housing capacity or through other price gouging practices.
   • Requires a report to Congress no later than 270 days after the passage of this act including a long-term strategy to address manipulation in the housing market, and an analysis of how non-occupant investors in the housing market impact underserved and minority communities.
3. Empowers the Secretary of HUD to monitor home purchases within housing markets across the country to investigate:
   • Institutional investors that have individually purchased more than 5 percent of the single-family housing made available for sale in any market over 3 years.
   • If, in aggregate, institutional investors have purchased more than 25 percent of the single-family housing made available for sale in any market over a 1-year period.

Housing Resources in Nevada

• Nevada 211 - https://www.nevada211.org/shelter/
  • A program of the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, connects Nevadans with resources for emergency shelter, housing, and rental assistance.
• Clark County Social Service -https://www.clarkcountynv.gov/residents/assistance_programs/index.php
  • Provides Rent and Utility Assistance, Financial Assistance, Transportation Assistance, Homemaker Services, Long Term Care
• Family Promise of Las Vegas - https://familypromiselv.com/
  • Helps at-risk and homeless families with children in Clark County achieve sustainable housing and independence through a compassionate, community-based response through their Motel Shelter and Bridge programs.
• HopeLink of Southern Nevada - https://www.link2hope.org/
  • Provides rental, mortgage, and utility assistance for North Las Vegas and Henderson.
• Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada - https://www.lacsn.org/
  • Provides legal information and services related to foreclosure, eviction, and landlord-tenant disputes.
• Las Vegas Rescue Mission - https://vegasrescue.org
  • Provides 7-day emergency shelter for males, females, moms with children, dads with children, and any other combination of families. Depending on availability there are other programs within shelters that can provide case management and a longer stay.
  • The Intact Families program houses anyone who identifies themselves as a family unit together in one area. They are provided intensive case management and assistance with the needs that the clients identify. Length of stay can vary. It provides light case management and resources or referrals for the needs that the clients identify.
  • Do not serve unaccompanied youth. All minors must be with an adult. Cannot accommodate registered sex offenders.
• Nevada Affordable Housing Assistance Corporation - https://nahac.org/
  • Are you on the brink of losing your home? NAHAC was selected by the state of Nevada to oversee the free-to-qualify pilot program where there are no charges incurred by those who apply.
  • The Unemployment Mortgage Assistance Program will provide temporary financial assistance to eligible Nevada homeowners who wish to remain in their homes but have suffered a loss of income due to unemployment or underemployment.
  • The Mortgage Reinstatement Assistance Program will provide funds to help income-qualified homeowners cure their delinquent first mortgage loan arrearages, which may also include payments needed to reinstate their loans from foreclosure.
• Nevada Partners - https://nvpartners.org
  • Provides DPA programs, credit counseling, homebuyer workshops, rental assistance/counseling, mortgage assistance/counseling, financial literacy workshops, youth programs, career training, and employee support services.
• Nevada Rural Housing Authority - https://nvrural.org/
  • Provides and finances affordable housing opportunities for all rural Nevadans through homeownership programs, rental assistance programs, community development initiatives and the Weatherization program.
• Office of Field Policy and Management (FPM) - https://www.hud.gov/states/nevada
  • Provides customer service to the public by assisting them in finding the resources they need related to low income housing, eviction prevention, homeless assistance, and Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity complaints.
• Rebuilding Together Southern Nevada - https://www.rtsnv.org
  • Provides critical repairs for low-income homeowners.
  • Application Link: https://rebuildingtogether-southern-nevada.secure.force.com/HomeownerApplication/
• Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority - https://www.snvrha.org/
  • The Housing Choice Voucher Services (Section 8) is a federal program for assisting low and very low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing (that they choose) in the private market.

If you are part of an organization that provides housing or related assistance, please fill out our Google Form to be added to this page.

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