Environmental hazards and likelihood of mitigation in renter-occupied housing units in Clark County, Nevada

Abstract

ABSTRACT Limited research exists on the effectiveness of the NV state statutes on ensuring habitability and access to essential services, and the characteristics of environmental hazards found in Clark County, NV renter-occupied units (ROUs). We examined data from the Clark County Landlord and Tenant Hotline Study to determine which ROUs are most at-risk for hazards and what factors are associated with remediation, examining age of unit, hazard type, and tenant-initiated intervention data. Results suggest that the mean age of ROUs with essential service complaints is higher than ROUs with complaints categorized as mold or other hazards. Furthermore, a tenant’s probability of getting hazards remediated was not significantly increased if they pursued different levels of intervention (e.g., landlord letter, site inspection, legal advice). The data suggests that tenants were less likely to get their hazard remediated by landlords if they had multiple complaints, lived in an older home, or had a non-essential complaint. The results of this study can be used to enhance our ability to identify higher risk ROUs given factors related to their age, environmental hazards, and level of intervention sought by tenants in order to better understand the likelihood of remediation in Clark County, NV.