Los Angeles County officials say a California hotel operator illegally increased room prices during the January 2025 wildfires, and the company has now agreed to pay $320,000 and refund affected guests, Pasadena Now reported.
For families fleeing smoke and flames, a hotel room can be a lifeline. Prosecutors say Langham Hotels Pacific Corporation instead treated that emergency as an opportunity for profit.
Here's what to know
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and the Los Angeles County Counsel's Office jointly filed the consumer protection case. They said Langham Hotels Pacific Corporation has agreed to resolve it by paying $300,000 in civil penalties and $20,000 in investigative expenses tied to alleged price gouging at its Pasadena hotel, according to Pasadena Now.
County officials said California's anti-price gouging rules took effect after Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an emergency proclamation on Jan. 7, 2025, the day wildfires broke out in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
Those protections under California Penal Code section 396 remained active through July 1, 2025, officials said. The lawsuit alleges guests at the Langham Huntington Pasadena were charged more than 10% above the hotel's usual rates.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman condemned the alleged conduct.
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"It is reprehensible to overcharge and take advantage of wildfire victims who were in desperate need of housing as they fled their homes from raging fires last year," Hochman said, as relayed by Pasadena Now.
County offices said the settlement requires Langham to make restitution to qualifying guests who stayed at the Pasadena hotel between Jan. 7, 2025, and March 29, 2026. Those guests are to be refunded for any amount paid above the legal maximum room rate.
More background
When something like an extreme weather event forces people to leave their homes, they often have little time to search for shelter. That can leave evacuees especially vulnerable to sudden spikes in hotel costs.
Prosecutors say the company's pricing violated California's anti-price gouging law and, by extension, the state's unfair competition law. County officials said the Langham Huntington Pasadena offered 379 hotel rooms, 26 suites, and eight cottages through its own website and third-party booking sites.
For the period from January through April 2025 alone, the county offices said eligible guest refunds came to $216,795.
What's being done?
Separate from the statewide protections activated by the governor's emergency proclamation, Pasadena Now reported that county officials said the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved extensions of price gouging protections for hotel guests from Jan. 7, 2025, through March 29, 2026.
Los Angeles County Counsel Dawyn R. Harrison emphasized that enforcement can directly return money to affected consumers.
"This settlement provides full refunds of the illegal overcharges to consumers who were price gouged during a horrifying wildfire emergency and sends a message to other businesses to comply with the law," Harrison said, according to Pasadena Now.
County officials said their disaster enforcement efforts have also focused on other alleged exploitation, including looting and unlicensed contracting in disaster zones.
"During a time when our community was meant to come together to help those in need, Langham Hotels Pacific Corporation profited from other people's tragedies," Hochman said.
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