A look at new laws that will affect Nevada HOAs

Note: After each session of the Nevada Legislature I review new state laws that will affect our Las Vegas homeowners associations. I have prepared a two-part series for my column to look at each bill for this past legislative session. Today, I will talk about laws affecting dog insurance, construction hours, vehicle towing, fees and water use. Next Sunday, we will cover Senate Bill 186, which will increase HOA administration costs and add more regulations for HOA liens and foreclosures. We also will look at a law that created a task force to look at HOA concerns and board meeting requirements.

■ SB103 — Anti-Dog Discrimination in Insurance: Effective Jan. 1. This law should be good news for those owners who have dogs of specific or mixed breeds that have incurred issues in obtaining coverage with their insurance companies. It will be against the law to deny coverage on the sole basis of the dog’s breed unless the specific dog is known to be dangerous or vicious under the state’s health laws.

■ AB249 — County/City Construction Hours Supersede Association Restrictions May 1 through Sept. 30: Effective Oct. 1. Associations cannot restrict construction hours if your county or city has adopted an ordinance restricting construction hours during the period of May 1 through Sept. 30. Interesting to note, this law does not apply between Oct. 1 and April 30. Here are the ordinances for construction hours: Washoe County, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Reno, 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Las Vegas, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; North Las Vegas, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Henderson, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. I have been told that the push for this law came from the north because of the snow season.

■ AB301 — Towing: Effective Oct. 1. You know it would not have been an official legislative session without some new towing laws. This law applies to apartments, condominiums and town houses that have common parking areas. This law modifies NRS 706.4468 (6b) and NRS 706.4469. If a towing company connects your vehicle to their towing truck, the towing company cannot tow your vehicle if the owner shows proof the vehicle is properly registered either with the state of Nevada or in any other state. The towing operator is to immediately release the vehicle to the owner or his or her agent. The towing company cannot charge the owner or agent the established fee for releasing the vehicle. In addition, the towing operator no longer can charge any fee or cost for the storage of the vehicle until at least 48 hours after the vehicle arrives and is registered at the storage place. If the vehicle arrives after regular business hours, the 48-hour period will begin when the next regular business hours commence. This next section will require changes to most associations’ rules and regulations. A vehicle cannot be towed solely because the vehicle’s registration has expired. Finally, associations will not be held liable for excess unregistered vehicles within their community.

■ AB237 — Automatic Increase for the Account Set-up Fee Cap: Effective Jan. 1, which amends NRS 116.3102. This law is subject to the provisions of an association’s governing documents. The association may impose a reasonable fee for the opening and closing of any file for each unit, and the fee must be based on the actual cost the association incurs to open or to close any file. The fee may not exceed $350. This fee can be increased each year based upon the Consumer Price Index but cannot exceed an increase of more than 3 percent each year. It is important to note that this law prohibits any other fees than those specified for resale-related transactions under NRS 116.4109, paragraphs n or o under subsection 1. Also, there is a cap on the resale certificate expedite fee at $100, which amends NRS 116.4109 (4). This fee may increase on an annual basis per the CPI. There is now a process for complaints for violation of the fee caps. A complaint may be filed with the Nevada Real Estate Division. Failure to respond within 30 days after the receipt of the notice from the division shall be deemed to be an admission of the violation and is punishable by an administrative fine in the amount of $250.

* Other AB237 changes includes: Effective Jan. 1, the demand or intent to lien letter has been increased from $150 to $165. The other fees under NRS 116.3116 did not change, which includes $325 for a notice of delinquent assessment, $90 for an intent to record a notice of default letter, $400 for a notice of default and $400 for a trustee’s sale guaranty.

■ This next bill, AB356, received much media attention. It provides for no water for non-functional turf, which amended NRS 277. This law becomes effective on and after Jan, 1, 2027. Water from the Colorado River, which is distributed by the Southern Nevada Water Authority may not be used to irrigate nonfunctional turf on any property that is not zoned exclusively for a single-family residence. This law will impact office, retail and industrial properties. The law requires the SNWA board to define what is considered functional versus nonfunctional turf. The board is to develop and facilitate the removal of existing nonfunctional turf on property that is not zoned exclusively for single-family residence. The SNWA is to establish deadlines before Dec. 31, 2026. The board may approve extensions or waivers to this law. Also this law does not prohibit a person from complying with any requirements by the county or city to maintain open space or drought-tolerant landscaping on any property that is not zoned exclusively for single-family residence or using alternative sources of water. The law creates an advisory committee of nine voting members of which two members will represent associations with existing nonfunctional turf at the time the member was appointed. This committee will discuss issues related to the use and removal of nonfunctional turf by each water user sector. Any recommendation by this committee to the SNWA board must be approved by majority vote.

Barbara Holland is a certified property manager and holds the supervisory community manager certificate with the state of Nevada. She is an author and educator on real estate management. Questions may be sent to holland744o@gmail.com.