A new report suggests that landlords in Southern California may have illegally engaged in "rent gouging" following January's Palisades and Eaton fires.
What is rent gouging?
The Rent Brigade, which conducted the analysis, defined rent gouging as the practice of raising rents higher than the 10% legal limit after declared emergencies, as was the case during the Los Angeles-area wildfires.
According to the study, the volunteer investigators found 1,343 cases of rent gouging between Jan. 7 and Jan. 18 from major brokers such as Compass and Zillow.
The team estimates that landlords and agents are illegally overcharging renters by $7.7 million each month, or $92.4 million annually.
Why is rent gouging important?
Chelsea Kirk, who started the crowd-sourced online spreadsheet for the study, is a policy director with the nonprofit Strategic Actions for a Just Economy. She told LAist that the data uncovered a disturbing problem: Traditionally lower-priced housing wasn't spared.
"One of the most surprising things was seeing how widespread this is, not just in affluent areas," she said, adding that members of the group are "really pissed off about what we're seeing in terms of rent gouging being rampant across the city."
When renters cannot find affordable housing, post-disaster recovery efforts can stall, leading to increased displacement, lost educational opportunities for children, and negative impacts on local economies as people are priced out of areas and labor forces shrink.
Extreme weather events such as wildfires are intensifying and becoming more common due to a warming climate.
While eco-friendly policymaking and lifestyle changes that reduce our reliance on dirty fuels can help restore balance to the planet, renters and their communities could be set back years without intervention, ultimately resulting in greater economic losses in the long term.
How raising awareness about rent gouging can make a difference
The Rent Brigade's study did have some limitations, as LAist notes. For instance, some Zillow listings required further investigation to determine whether they violated the law.
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Definitely 🙁 However, while Kirk believes more needs to be done to deter would-be rent gougers, community-driven efforts such as those from The Rent Brigade can provide valuable data to law enforcement agencies — if not keep pressure on companies to do the right thing.
After LAist reached out to Zillow about the analysis, representatives for the company told the publication that it had already removed many listings that may have had illegally inflated rents.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta also filed criminal charges against a real estate agent after allegedly discovering rent gouging for a La Cañada Flintridge home also spotted by The Rent Brigade, and he told LAist that more investigations are underway.
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