Amid the deadly Los Angeles County wildfires, some landlords have decided to raise the prices of housing due to the high demand.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned price gougers that they will be “held accountable” for their unlawful conduct and said he is taking these crimes seriously, during a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 16.
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Price gouging refers to sellers trying to take unfair advantage of consumers during an emergency or disaster by greatly increasing prices for essential consumer goods and services, according to the attorney general’s website.
“These predators are looking at the disaster with dollar signs in their eyes, instead of kindness in their hearts,” Bonta said. “That is unconscionable, despicable, and unacceptable, and most importantly, it is illegal.”
California law generally prohibits increasing rent or prices more than 10% after an emergency is declared, the attorney general said. For items a seller only began selling after an emergency declaration, the law generally prohibits charging a price that exceeds the seller’s cost of the item by more than 50%.
This applies to long- and short-term rental housing, hotel accommodations, transportation, emergency cleanup services, and repair or reconstruction services. It also applies to food, emergency supplies, medical supplies, building materials, and gasoline.
Violators of price gouging are subject to criminal prosecution that can result in a one year in jail and/or a fine of up to $10,000, the attorney general said. Violators are also subject to civil enforcement actions including civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation.
“You can’t exploit victims and break the law for the sake of turning a profit and get away with it,” Bonta said. “There will be consequences.”
Protections have been in effect since Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Jan. 7.
Since then, the California Department of Justice has already opened multiple active investigations into price gouging reports and will be prosecuting any crimes found, Bonta said.
“We have redistributed, deployed and moved our resources into L.A. to tackle the price gouging that we’re seeing,” he added. “We have boots on the ground, conducting investigations as we speak, building the criminal cases against price gougers. We will continue to pressure those cases and others and prosecute to the full extent of the law.”
Bonta also announced the creation of DOJ’s Disaster Relief Task Force – which will be responsible for uncovering, investigating and prosecuting price gouging and other crimes targeting disaster victims – as well as the launch of a website dedicated to its response at OAG.ca.gov/LAFires.
“There is increased demand because people have lost their homes and they’re looking for a place to stay,” Bonta said. “They’ve been suffering from perhaps the worst tragedy they’ll ever face in their lives and they deserve support, compassion, services and resources. They deserve their community to wrap their arms around them not predators to take advantage of them.”
Those who believe they have been the victim of price gouging are encouraged to report it to their local authorities or to the attorney general’s office at OAG.ca.gov/LAFires or by calling the hotline at 800-952-5225.
