Rosen offers bill to curb home price gouging

Sen. Jacky Rosen introduced a bill Tuesday in an effort to crack down on price gouging by corporate investors who are buying up housing stock and driving up home prices — a problem prevalent in Nevada.

The Housing Oversight and Mitigating Exploitation Act would direct the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to investigate price manipulation and price gouging by corporate investors, and it would make it illegal for anyone to rent or sell a unit at an unreasonable price during an affordable housing crisis, according to the Nevada Democrat’s office.

Rep. Steven Horsford, D-nev., introduced the same legislation on the House side last year.

The Las Vegas Review-journal previously reported how a Wall Streetbacked company bought more than 250 homes in a day in Clark County, and an estimated 15 percent of single-family homes in Las Vegas are owned by corporate investors.

Rosen and Horsford’s bill aims to crack down on those corporate investors by issuing fines, which would be collected and deposited into the National Housing Trust Fund to increase affordable housing units nationwide, according to Rosen’s office.

“Sky-high costs of housing and rent are hurting hardworking Nevadans and putting a strain on their budgets,” the Nevada senator said in a statement. “I’m committed to doing everything I can to lower costs and give Nevadans more breathing room.”

Maurice Page, executive director of the Nevada Housing Coalition, expressed support for the bill in a statement from Rosen’s office.

“The Nevada Housing Coalition believes that the HOME Act is critical legislation for our state,” Page said.

“It not only addresses the immediate needs of our housing crisis but also lays the groundwork for a more equitable and prosperous future for all Nevadans.”