Some Los Angeles-area renatl properties’ price tags are skyrocketing in the wake of the devastating wildfires that tore through Los Angeles County last week.
At least 24 people died in the blazes and Los Angeles County Fire Department Section Chief Ken Haskett estimated “that well over 5,000 homes have been destroyed just in the Palisades.”
Now, families desperate for a home are facing significant price increases on rentals in the area.
People online were quick to spot price increases on Zillow, with one property jacked up 86%.
The Bel Air home in question had been listed at $15,900 in October.
Its asking price now? $29,500.
LAist reporter David Wagner spoke to the property’s listing agent, Fiora Aston, with Compass, who said: “I’ve been in the business for 35 years. I’ve never seen anything like this. People are desperate. There’s so many families without a house.”
When asked about the massive price change, she said she was getting another call and hung up.
And it’s far from an isolated instance.
A separate Los Angeles Times report found a landlord who raised rent on an Encino home listing from $9,000 a month to $11,500. After the Times investigated, the landlord lowered rent to $9,800.
Other people online pointed out listings on Zillow with recent price increases as well.
“Opportunistic price gougers renting out non burned homes in West Los Angeles to fire victims with huge insurance policies in 3, 2, 1… go! Insane,” rebuked one person. “The first house has a $10k a month price INCREASE today. Tip of the icebergs. Everyone increasing rents because of desperation & $!”
“just a quick scan of zillow reveals a few egregious instances of price gouging by landlords and agents. this is illegal,” someone else noted, highlighting one listing that was originally priced at $7,500 per month in late October and as of Jan. 11, went up to $11,000.
The incidents of price gouging prompted calls to “name and shame” the landlords significantly raising prices.
A Google Sheet flagging community-reported instances of price gouging on rental housing is circulating on social media.
Currently, it includes 141 reviewed entries and 422 non-reviewed, though not every entry appears to be accurate.
One such instance is a property purporting to have gone from $1 to $25,000 per month. Zillow does not show any past rental listings for it. Another less-accurate listing compares the current price to rental prices during or before the pandemic.
But other entries do show recent—significant—increases, such as this three-bed, three-bath home that went from $6,600 on Jan. 3 to $15,000 six days later; or this Hollywood Hills home’s listing price jumping 38% since October.
In addition to spreading the sheet, other advocates called for such listings to be reported to authorities.
“Beware of price gouging, LosAngeles! The rental house next door to me (which has been on the market and sitting vacant since August) just tried to increase the asking rent by over 50% !” one person blasted.
“Report bad actors at http://oag.ca.gov/report,” she encouraged.
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