Los Angeles authorities are warning against scams and price gouging as thousands of displaced families seek new accommodations as a result of the wildfires that devastated whole neighborhoods and forced the evacuation of others.
In a press conference on Sunday, Los Angeles county sheriff Robert Luna warned against “anyone taking advantage of anyone who’s been victimized already, whether it is burglary looting, or any other crime, whether it’s a scam of some kind that you’re conjuring up to make money off of the poor people that have been involved in this”.
Luna said he would hold a press conference on Monday alongside the LA district attorney and probably federal prosecutors who, he said, “are very eager to prosecute anyone who thinks they’re going to take advantage of the people who have been through this tragedy”.
On Saturday, California attorney general Rob Bonta warned that if people engage in price gouging, looting and scamming amid the ongoing response to the wildfires, they are breaking the law and will be held accountable.
“We’ve seen businesses and landlords … jack up the price,” Bonta said at a press conference. “It’s called price gouging. It is illegal. You cannot do it. It is a crime punishable by up to a year in jail and fines.”
Prices should only be going up 10% or less from before the fire, Bonta added. “This is California law [and] it’s in place to protect those suffering from a tragedy,” he said.
Bonta added: “Some of our hotels and some of our landlords use algorithms based on demand and supply to set their prices.” If those prices lead to prices higher than before the emergency by 10%, that’s against the law. Ignorance, he added, “is not an excuse”.
The warnings come amid reports of landlords hiking rents for rental properties by thousands of dollars as demand for properties soars.
California governor Gavin Newsom previously announced that state price-gouging laws would be implemented on 7 January after he declared a state of emergency.
On Sunday, Newsom signed an executive order directing that laws “prohibiting price gouging in times of emergency, shall remain in effect until January 7, 2026, for Los Angeles County”.
But news outlet LAist found that one property in Bel Air listed on Zillow for $29,500 per month as of 11 January – almost double the $15,900 per month that the property was listed at in September.
The listing was later removed as a family had moved in, LAist reported.
The Los Angeles Times found a property in Encino that was previously listed at $9,000 a month on 3 January. After the blazes started, this was then on Zillow for $11,500. The price was then dropped to within the 10% mandated increase limit.
“My guess is there are some landlords who legitimately don’t know the law and are simply motivated to get as much as they can to take advantage of a terrible situation,” Anya Lawler, a policy advocate with the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, told the outlet. “Others are well aware and simply think they can skirt enforcement.”
