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Las Vegas apartment complex raising rent by more than 50 percent, senior residents worried

Posted at 5:13 PM, Jun 06, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-06 22:02:17-04

Seniors at a Las Vegas apartment complex say their rent is being raised by more than 50 percent, forcing many of the residents out.

This small apartment near 10th Street and Bonneville Avenue has been Robert Fenner's home for the better part of the last decade. But he is not sure how much longer he will be here. He says management just raised the rent from $400 a month to $650.

"There's no reason why they have to do what they're doing except for pure, straight greed," said Fenner.

He said he cannot afford more than about a $100 increase, but also does not have the means or ability to move.

"I'm fighting," Fenner said. "This has been our home for nine years. We got nowhere to go."

13 Action News talked with a real estate agent about why the rent might be increasing for Fenner and for other around the valley.

"One of the biggest things is that the millennials are not coming into the housing market as quickly as other generations, so there's more of a demand on rentals," said Fafie Moore, who has been in Las Vegas real estate for almost 30 years.

She said more renters means landlords can charge higher rent. Moore also says the recession also played a part in why rents right now are on the rise.

"As a result with the recession we weren't building as many homes so now we don't have as many rentals as we would have had if we'd kept on the same building cycle," Moore said.

But Fenner's fight to stay in his home might be in vain. What his landlord is doing is totally legal. Because Fenner is on a month-to-month lease, the landlord can change the terms of the lease every month.