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Price Gouging Complaints / Rental Housing Market / Statewide Emergency / 2025 Windstorm and Wildfire Recovery

Council File 25-0006-S77

In progress — the City Attorney is investigating rental price gouging during wildfire recovery, filing monthly reports and pursuing civil and criminal cases while also pushing a state bill to strengthen emergency protections beyond current local rules.

Introduced
2025-05-02
Last changed
2026-08-28
Status
open
Expires
2028-08-28
Committee
Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery
Mover
HUGO SOTO­-MARTÍNEZ
Second
KATY YAROSLAVSKY
References
Related Council File: 25-0006-S22City Attorney Report: R25-0627; R26-0037; R26-0097; R26-0220; R26-0288; R26-0351; R26-0439; R26-0500

Brief

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez moved to direct the City Attorney to investigate and report on price gouging complaints in the rental housing market during the statewide emergency declared for the 2025 windstorm and wildfire recovery. The Housing and Homelessness Committee approved the motion as amended on July 30, 2025, and Council adopted it unanimously on August 13, 2025 (13-0-2). The file now remains active pending continued City Attorney reports being submitted to both the Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery and the Housing and Homelessness Committee.

Full summary

Introduced May 2, 2025, by Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez and seconded by Katy Yaroslavsky, this motion directs the City Attorney to investigate and issue monthly reports on price gouging in the rental housing market during the declared statewide emergency related to the 2025 windstorm and wildfire recovery. Price gouging — landlords raising rents excessively or imposing new fees on displaced or vulnerable tenants — is a particular concern during disaster recovery when housing supply tightens and demand from displaced residents surges. The motion moved through the Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery, which approved it on June 23, 2025, and transmitted it to the Housing and Homelessness Committee. That committee approved the motion as amended on July 30, 2025. On August 13, 2025, the full Council adopted it 13-0-2, with the motion presented by Councilmember Ysabel Jurado and seconded by Councilmember Nithya Raman. Community impact statements from the Los Feliz and Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Councils were submitted during the committee phase. The City Attorney's office has been filing monthly reports since adoption. The July 2026 report, the most recent, details several active fronts. On the litigation side, the office secured a judgment and five-year permanent injunction against Blueground US, Inc., a furnished-rental company, requiring $1.2 million in civil penalties — $1 million of which goes to the City — plus full restitution to overcharged customers. Separate civil suits against Airbnb, 911 Housing Solutions, and a group of individuals tied to the City's Home-Sharing Ordinance remain pending. Criminal filings are active against defendants charged with price gouging rental properties, animal boarding services, and fire protection materials, though courts granted judicial diversion in two of those cases over the City Attorney's objection. The office also recently recovered $131,079.30 in refunds for a single tenant in the 90094 zip code after a prompt investigation identified violations. On the policy front, the City Attorney's office drafted a state legislative proposal in October 2025 to amend California Penal Code Section 396, which governs price gouging during emergencies. As of July 2026, the bill had cleared both the Senate Judiciary and Senate Public Safety Committees and passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee, with a hearing before the Assembly Public Safety Committee still to come. Notably, LA County's own price-gouging protections expired on May 28, 2026, after the Board of Supervisors declined to extend them further, but the City of Los Angeles has maintained its local emergency declaration, keeping city-level protections in place. The file remains open and active through July 28, 2028.

Activity (31)

  • 2026-08-28 City Clerk rereferred item to Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery, pursuant to Council File No. 26-2000.
  • 2026-08-28 City Attorney document(s) referred to Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery; Housing and Homelessness Committee.
  • 2026-08-28 Document submitted by City Attorney, dated August 28, 2026.
  • 2026-07-28 City Attorney document(s) referred to Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery; Housing and Homelessness Committee.
  • 2026-07-28 Document submitted by City Attorney, dated July 28, 2026.
  • 2026-06-23 City Attorney document(s) referred to Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery; Housing and Homelessness Committee.
  • 2026-06-22 Document submitted by City Attorney, dated June 22, 2026.
  • 2026-05-13 City Attorney document(s) referred to Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery; Housing and Homelessness Committee.
  • 2026-05-13 Document submitted by City Attorney, dated May 13, 2026.
  • 2026-04-10 City Attorney document(s) referred to Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery; Housing and Homelessness Committee.
  • 2026-04-10 Document submitted by City Attorney, dated April 10, 2026.
  • 2026-03-13 City Attorney document(s) referred to Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery; Housing and Homelessness Committee.
  • 2026-03-12 Document submitted by City Attorney, dated March 12, 2026.
  • 2026-02-13 City Attorney document(s) referred to Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery; Housing and Homelessness Committee.
  • 2026-02-11 Document submitted by City Attorney, dated February 11, 2026.
  • 2026-01-20 City Attorney document(s) referred to Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery; Housing and Homelessness Committee.
  • 2026-01-20 Corrected Referral per City Clerk to include Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery; Housing and Homelessness Committee.
  • 2026-01-15 Document submitted by City Attorney, dated January 15, 2026.
  • 2025-12-10 City Attorney document(s) referred to Housing and Homelessness Committee.
  • 2025-12-10 Document submitted by City Attorney, dated December 10, 2025.
  • 2025-08-31 Community Impact Statement submitted by Los Feliz Neighborhood Council.
  • 2025-08-15 Council action final.
  • 2025-08-13 Council adopted Motion (Jurado - Raman) and Housing and Homelessness Committee Report, subject to reconsideration, pursuant to Council Rule 51.
  • 2025-08-08 City Clerk scheduled item for Council on August 13, 2025.
  • 2025-07-30 Housing and Homelessness Committee approved as amended .
  • 2025-07-25 Housing and Homelessness Committee scheduled item for committee meeting on July 30, 2025.
  • 2025-07-18 Community Impact Statement submitted by Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council.
  • 2025-06-23 Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery transmitted Council File to Housing and Homelessness Committee.
  • 2025-06-23 Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery approved item(s) .
  • 2025-06-20 Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery scheduled item for committee meeting on June 23, 2025.
  • 2025-05-02 Motion referred to Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery; Housing and Homelessness Committee.

Documents (37)

Council votes (1)

  • 2025-08-13 Vote — 13-0-2 · Regular

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