Neopets changed ownership last year if I recall and a few months ago a lot of the staff was laid off.
The problems happening probably relate back to the problems caused by the new ownership.
You are correct. Neopets has changed hands several times over the years. The most recent company to buy it is Jumpstart, the failing company that makes educational games for preschoolers. They claimed they were "looking forward to handling a game with a more adult audience". They fired pretty much everyone and from what I've heard from friends that still play it the website has been near unusable since they took over. Massive lag, things not loading properly, the boards censored to preschool levels, Nexon-level customer support, etc. Aside from the gravitational pull of nostalgia I'm not sure why anyone still uses it.