In the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires that destroyed many homes throughout Pacific Palisades, Altadena and Malibu, families of some Pali students are pushing back against illegal price gouging while searching for new housing.
According to the County of Los Angeles, price gouging is the practice of raising the price of goods significantly following an emergency. In California, Penal Code 396 states that inflating prices more than 10 percent after government officials have declared a state of emergency is illegal and punishable by $10,000 and/or one year in jail.
Senior Eden Padawer recounted the shock she felt at the loss of her home in Pacific Palisades and attested to the added frustration that price gouging has had on already grieving families.
“The night before the fires, my dad and I were looking at houses online for fun and two days later we were searching for a place to live,” Padawer said. “With our own eyes we could see how crazy the prices were jumping.”
With her family planning to rebuild their home in the Palisades, Padawer described the raise in prices her family noticed in their search for a long-term rental home.
“Even to find a place with three bedrooms, the price raise is insane,” she said. “We were looking at a house in Beverly Hills and just overnight the rent tripled.”
Many areas throughout Los Angeles have experienced a significant spike in the price of rent. For example, despite the 10 percent legal limit, rent in Beverly Hills has increased by 76.5 percent and rent in Encino has ballooned by as much as 130 percent, according to the Washington Post.
Senior Jamie Sinaiko experienced similar issues with price gouging, as the smoke damage and contamination to her home has made it necessary for her and her family to seek out a temporary residence.
“We’ve been working with different real estate agents and everyone has warned us about the insane raise in prices that is happening basically everywhere,” she said. “Places that were already expensive now have doubled or tripled in rent.”
Sinaiko explained her concerns that prices remain higher than normal.
“Despite the fact that it’s been a month since the fires, rental prices are still extremely high, and many people are still without a home,” she said.
Although his house did not burn down, senior Jake Treibatch was also displaced due to the Palisades Fire, and shared his turbulent experience searching for a temporary residence, particularly in regions south of West LA.
“I noticed that when we looked at homes further away from the Palisades and West LA area, the prices seemed a lot more reasonable,” he explained. “I’m concerned that the astronomical raise in prices is going to force all of my friends and neighbors to move even further away.”
Senior Hazel Irving said that her family has also struggled to find a permanent residence amid the illegal price gouging.
“The landlords are taking advantage of a terrible situation,” Irving said. “I know some friends who have dedicated their time to finding the illegal activity on online realty sites and reporting it.”
Since a state of emergency was issued by California Governor Gavin Newsom on Jan. 7, the California Department of Justice has engaged in several open investigations into price gouging incidents and has encouraged the public to report any illegal activity they experience. The resulting legal cases have led civilians to take to online realty sites, such as Zillow.com, to report the raise in prices.
Treibatch has witnessed the changes on Zillow and expressed his disgust about the price raises.
“So many of my friends are really struggling because of the fires,” he said. “The price gouging is forcing families to pay an insane amount of rent when they just lost everything they’ve ever owned.”
