VEGAS INC Magazine - Latest Las Vegas business news, features and commentaries about gaming, tourism, real estate and more
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/149203
In business courts state supreme court denies handicap-accommodating cabs By Cy Ryan staff writer CARSON CITY — The Nevada Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a taxicab company that wanted to operate 40 handicap-accommodating vehicles in Las Vegas. The court upheld the decision of the Nevada Taxicab Authority to deny the application of HandiCab LLC. Eight other cab companies protested the plan. HandiCab said the needs of the disabled were not being met in Las Vegas and wanted 40 medallions to be placed on its vehicles equipped specially to accommodate customers with handicaps. But the company conceded that only 10 to 30 percent of its riders would be handicapped. The Taxicab Authority denied the application partly because HandiCab failed to show that existing companies could not meet the needs of the disabled. The court said the Taxicab Authority "balanced the entry of a new market participant with the financial viability of current competitors and the needs of the public." It noted that 40 additional cabs were not needed due to the economic downturn. The court said the Taxicab Authority correctly interpreted the law and that HandiCab "failed to carry its evidentiary burden." HandiCab had previously appealed the decision without success to the Nevada Transportation Commission and to the Clark County District Court. real estate House flipping slows as bargains disappear By Eli Segall staff writer Flipping homes in Nevada is not as profitable or as common as it is nationally, a new report shows. Single-family homes were flipped 2,923 times in the first six months of the year in Nevada, meaning they were sold within six months of being purchased, and the flippers booked an average profit of $15,205 per deal, according to research firm RealtyTrac. Home flippers nationally earned 21 percent more — $18,391 on average, RealtyTrac reported. Nevada had a 34 percent decline in housing flips compared to the first six months of 2012, but nationally, volume rose 19 percent to 136,184 transactions. Although flipping remains profitable in most markets, it's "tapering off" in regions with fewer distressed bargains, RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist said in the report. "Out of the 100 markets we analyzed for the report, 32 had declining flipping numbers, including perennial flipping hot spots like Las Vegas, Phoenix, Southern California and Atlanta," he said. In Southern Nevada, foreclosure activity plunged the past few years after the state's "robosigning" law made it harder for banks to seize homes from delinquent borrowers. It's difficult to buy a home in Las Vegas, whether you want to live in it or flip it. Las Vegas has relatively few homes listed for sale, partly because investors have bought cheap houses in bulk throughout the valley to turn into rentals. | 12 AUGUST 2013 20130812_VI13_F.indd 13 | 13 8/8/13 2:17:23 PM