LA Council Watch

← All files

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

Council File 25-0006-S77

Introduced
2025-05-02
Last changed
2026-05-13
Status
open
Expires
2028-05-13
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

Brief

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez introduced a motion to examine price gouging complaints in the rental housing market during the statewide emergency declared for 2025 windstorm and wildfire recovery. The Council adopted the motion 13-0-2 in August 2025, directing investigation of rental price increases and enforcement mechanisms. The City Attorney has submitted multiple reports since December 2025, but the file remains active in the Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery and Housing and Homelessness Committee with no final council action since adoption.

Full summary

In May 2025, Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, seconded by Katy Yaroslavsky, introduced a motion to investigate complaints of price gouging in the rental housing market in the wake of the January 2025 wildfires. The motion directed the City Attorney to submit monthly reports on enforcement efforts against landlords and others alleged to be exploiting the disaster emergency by charging unlawfully inflated prices. After moving through the Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery and the Housing and Homelessness Committee — both of which approved it in June and July 2025 — the full Council adopted the motion on August 13, 2025, by a vote of 13-0-2, with Councilmembers Ysabel Jurado and Nithya Raman presenting the floor motion. The City Attorney, Hydee Feldstein Soto, has since filed monthly reports detailing an active enforcement campaign. On the civil side, the office has filed lawsuits against Airbnb alleging thousands of price-gouged listings, against furnished-rental provider Blueground US, against short-term housing provider 911 Housing Solutions for overcharging insurance policyholders, and against a group of individuals for violations tied to the City's Home-Sharing Ordinance. Criminal charges have been filed in several cases as well, covering rental properties, animal boarding services, and fire protection materials. In one investigated case, the City Attorney secured a $131,079.30 refund for a single tenant found to have been overcharged. The office expects the pending civil cases to yield restitution for hundreds or thousands of victims, substantial civil penalties, and injunctive relief. On the legislative front, the City Attorney's office drafted a proposal in October 2025 to amend California Penal Code Section 396, the state's anti-price-gouging statute, to clarify its provisions and strengthen enforcement tools. By April 2026, the bill had cleared both the state Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Public Safety Committee and was advancing further through the Legislature. Price gouging protections have remained continuously in effect, with the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors extending them in monthly increments through at least May 28, 2026, and also raising the fair market rent ceiling for HUD-standard housing from 160 to 200 percent. The City Attorney's most recent report, dated May 13, 2026, was referred to both the Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery and the Housing and Homelessness Committee, where the file remains active. The Los Feliz and Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Councils each submitted community impact statements during the initial committee phase. The file does not expire until May 2028.

Activity (24)

  • 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 (33)

View on CFMS →