Homeowners Growing Increasingly Frustrated with Clark County’s Short-Term Rental Licensing Woes

LAS VEGAS, NV – Las Vegas homeowners are growing increasingly frustrated with Clark County’s sluggish short-term rental licensing process, especially in light of the fact that the municipality admitted earlier this year that they were processing a mere six applications a week.

While many people are being forced to wait literally years for their licenses, they are finding themselves out thousands of dollars and being forced to deal with ever-growing amounts of stress and uncertainty along the way.

The situation has gotten so bad that a lawsuit was brought against the Clark County by the Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association (GLVSTRA) and Airbnb; recently, a judge granted an injunction blocking the rollout of the county’s rules governing Airbnb rentals while the case proceeds through the court system.

Assembly Bill 363 was signed into law by the Nevada legislature in 2021, requiring municipalities to draw up regulations governing the short -term rental industries within their borders.

After approving a short-term rental ordinance in June 2022, Clark County had started a pre-application process for short term rentals in September 2022, with the deadline for submission having been August 2023. 1,169 of the pre-applications they received were deemed eligible and the homeowners that submitted them were subsequently allowed to submit a short-term rental license application.

However, the process of approving these applications has been a slow and arduous one that has found itself ensnared in red tape; this was made worse by the county’s decision to implement a lottery instead of a first-come, first-served system, meaning that applications are processed in random order, and not when actually submitted. As a result, hundreds of applications are still pending years after having been submitted.

Meanwhile, homeowners who are mired in the process are being forced to wait and endure continued expenses; Michael Watson has been told that he was number 382 in the lottery process, and that by the county’s estimates he may still not experience any forward momentum for at least the next three months, if not longer.

Even if I get to that point, I’m not even certain what’s next,” he said. “They haven’t given us any indication that once your lottery number comes up, what might be the next steps after that and how long might that step take in addition. Waiting three years and having to keep this location, keep the insurances, it’s becoming more and more difficult to sustain and to see at what point might you see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

State law mandates that homeowners maintain expensive home insurance and pay annual business license fees, even if the residence in question has not yet gotten their license.

$6,000 or $7,000 in that process, kind of the mandatory elements, but also the other elements I spent money on: the design, getting the Airbnb completely remodeled,” Watson said. “There was a lot more than that invested and the idea that any business could establish a location, completely set up shop and then wait indefinitely, right now we’re at three years, to open its doors, it’s not possible.”

The random drawings for license approval are also breeding additional headaches, such as distance requirements; county ordinances decree a minimum distance between rentals, but a homeowner is not informed of what locations have been approved until they are already in the application process…at which point they may discover, too late, that there is a rental right next door.

During the initial lottery period, 1,306 applications were submitted, with 830 of those having been submitted during the application period. Since then, only 203 licenses have been approved and issued, along with 315 denied or withdrawn. 312 are still pending.

Clark County’s ordinance states that lotteries should take place annually, but they have not held one since 2023; they did not respond for comment as to why when asked by local media.

Shelter Realty Property Management specializes in the areas of  Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.