Rental property prices in the greater Los Angeles area have surged amid to the ongoing California wildfires, leaving many residents who lost their homes in a desperate search for new accommodation. Reports from US media reveal that a review of Zillow listings shows rents on numerous properties in LA’s Westside have skyrocketed by 15 per cent to an astonishing 64 per cent since Tuesday when the fires began.
Michael Nourmand, a real estate broker, told the Los Angeles Times that he believes single-family properties are being listed at 20 per cent above their pre-fire value. State price gouging laws were activated as soon as Governor Newsom declared a state of emergency on January 7, restricting money-grabbing landlords from increasing prices by more than 10 per cent of the pre-emergency rent.
For example, a landlord who previously charged $4,000 a month before last week would only be allowed to increase the rent by $500. Samira Tapia, a Los Angeles real estate agent, told The New York Times that after reviewing listing data from Central Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley areas, she discovered that out of 400 listings, 100 had increased rent costs by more than 10 per cent since the fires broke out.
In Brentwood, a home that faced the wrath of the Palisades Fire is now up for grabs at an eye-watering $15,000 per month, which is a staggering 25 per cent more than its November listing last year, reports the Mirror US.
“This is absolutely unacceptable and illegal to do in the face of this horrible tragedy,” blasted state Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, representing parts of western Los Angeles, during a Sunday news briefing.
Governor Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta have come out swinging with severe cautions against landlords trying to exploit disaster situations by inflating rents.
“We should not be engaged in price gouging, whether it’s groceries or rent,” Bonta declared in a Saturday press conference. “We are very serious about this, and the governor’s office, on ensuring that there is no price gouging and that anyone engaged in it is held accountable.”
He further warned, “We’ve seen businesses and landlords … jack up the price. 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.”
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