admin
Michael Storc and his family had just survived a devastating wildfire.
Now they have to face a daunting new challenge that he had hoped to never experience again – the Los Angeles housing market.
After losing the Altadena home that he owned in the Eaton fire, he was scouring for a new place to rent, and having little luck.
“What’s available is not nice at all and the rents have gone up a lot,” Mr Storc told the BBC. “I told my teenage daughter we had to accept we would live somewhere not very nice.”
The Los Angeles area already has one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country. And with thousands now displaced by the Palisades and Eaton fires, Angelenos are anxious that the sudden surge in demand could make rents and home prices soar even higher.
California has an anti-price gouging law that prevents landlords from raising rents more than 10% after the governor declares an emergency. It applies to both existing and tenants and new leases.
Many Los Angeles County buildings are also covered by rent stabilisation laws, which prevent landlords from raising the rent for existing tenants above a certain percentage even in normal circumstances.
“It is illegal. You cannot do it,” California attorney general Rob Bonta said at a Saturday press conference. “It is a crime punishable by up to a year in jail and fines.”
Not everyone was certain that the law would be completely enforceable, however.
“We’re aware of that but my question is, how is that being regulated? And who’s monitoring that?” said Jessica Heredia, a realtor based in the high-end Brentwood neighbourhood for the last 20 years.
