My husband and I reside in a Del Webb age-restricted community in Southern Nevada, where we rent out a unit to fellow seniors. Unlike many senior citizens who rely solely on retirement income, we are fortunate to have additional financial resources thanks to years of hard work and careful savings that afforded us the opportunity to purchase an investment property.

Not all seniors have the opportunities or financial means we’ve built for our family. According to the Nevada Coalition of Legal Service Providers, 40 percent of seniors nationally rely solely on Social Security to meet their monthly expenses. In Nevada, 31 percent of seniors are a part of extremely low-income renter households and a little more than 40,000 seniors older than 65 live in poverty. 

It’s no wonder policymakers are grappling with how to keep seniors from choosing between the cost of medication, groceries and paying rent that month.  

Nevada is unfortunately again considering rent control policies, this time limited to seniors and the disabled. If enacted, landlords will have strong incentives to avoid renting to seniors and the disabled, a detrimental blow to both groups. 

Rent control advocates are alarmingly off base and, despite what may be good intentions, this move would ultimately leave these two groups with fewer housing options and increased financial instability. 

Landlords are always concerned about tenant longevity. It is advantageous for landlords and tenants when tenants remain long term. And typically, seniors are more likely to remain in rental units for extended periods. 

A 2019 study by Freddie Mac found that seniors born after 1931 are staying in their homes longer and aging in place. Similarly, a 2021 AARP survey revealed that 77 percent of adults aged 50 and older wish to remain in their homes indefinitely. 

Under rent control, this would mean landlords renting to seniors would be locked into below-market rents for decades. Without the ability to adjust rent to keep up with inflation, property taxes, insurance, maintenance costs and those ever-increasing homeowners association fees, landlords will prioritize renting to younger tenants who are more likely to move out sooner, allowing for periodic rent increases between tenancies. 

This makes seniors a less attractive choice for landlords, even if they are otherwise responsible tenants. We would take a huge financial loss renting to seniors and would be at risk of losing our investment property that supplements our income.    

Additionally, rent control reduces the incentive for landlords to maintain or upgrade their properties. Since they are unable to charge market rates, landlords are forced to inadvertently devalue their own property at the risk of losing it, often cutting back on necessary repairs and upkeep. For seniors, who may have mobility issues or require specific accommodations, deteriorating conditions can pose significant health and safety risks.

In states that have implemented rent control policies, these units have higher presence of mold, rodents, cracks and holes in the ceilings, and equipment breakdowns in individual units and in the buildings themselves. 

How is a senior in a walker or a disabled person in a wheelchair going to get up stairs if their building’s elevator is broken down for an extended period of time? Or when Las Vegas summer temperatures soar, live with broken or malfunctioning air conditioning? 

Shame on the Nevada Legislature to consider forcing Nevada’s seniors to live in residences with outdated heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, broken elevators or inaccessible entrances — and force landlords to make improvements they are financially unable to afford.   

Furthermore, some landlords may resort to creative ways to avoid rent control restrictions altogether. They may convert rental units into short-term vacation rentals, sell properties as condominiums, or find legal loopholes to remove long-term tenants. 

After San Francisco enacted rent control in 1994, landlords began converting rental units into condos for sale or demolishing existing structures to build new ones and the number of available housing units dropped 6 percent. In every scenario, seniors, who rely on long-term housing stability, will be among the hardest hit.  

While the goal of rent control may be to protect seniors from rising rents, the actual result will be fewer housing opportunities and declining living conditions. If Nevada passes rent control measures focused on seniors and the disabled, landlords will rent to everyone except these two groups — leaving the state’s aging and disabled population more vulnerable than ever. 

Donna and Peter Wasilkoff moved to Henderson from Illinois in 2021 to escape the state’s policies. Peter is a retired dentist and Vietnam veteran, and Donna is a retired engineer turned stay-at-home mom. 

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