LAS VEGAS (AP) - Lawmakers in the county surrounding Las Vegas have made it illegal for landlords to discriminate based on income as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
An emergency ordinance passed unanimously on Tuesday by the Clark County Commission also makes it unlawful to deny a tenant equal access because they have an eviction related to COVID-19.
Race, nationality, religion, sex, familial status, disability, source of income and eviction history related to coronavirus are all protected from housing discrimination. The law will expire Dec. 31, but it can be amended by county lawmakers.
Roughly 142,000 state households could struggle to pay rent by September, according to a report from the Guinn Center, a nonprofit bipartisan research center.
Clark County joins more than 80 jurisdictions in the U.S. that have adopted similar policies.
Lawmakers said they were concerned with struggling renters that may have had trouble finding housing as a part of a $30 million county rental assistance program.
“If we allow for discrimination against those with county housing assistance or other housing choice vouchers, people already in dire circumstances will be denied the opportunity to find stable housing or they may end up homeless,” said Commissioner Justin Jones, who introduced the ordinance.
The program also sets up protections for renters ahead of the lifting of a statewide freeze on evictions on Sept. 1.
The Nevada State Apartment Association opposed the measure, saying the ordinance’s source of income protection was unjust.
Health officials say Las Vegas and Clark County, the jurisdiction including the Las Vegas Strip, have 86% of the state’s 52,828 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 743 or 83% of Nevada’s 890 deaths.
The number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some - especially older adults and people with existing health problems - it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
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