Santa Monica:
Five days after an inferno leveled Pacific Palisades, Maya Lieberman is desperate for a place to live. But unscrupulous landlords who jack up prices are making things difficult.
“The price increases are going haywire, it's obscene,” the 50-year-old stylist told AFP. “I can't find anywhere we can go.”
Massive fires that have swept through Los Angeles since Tuesday have leveled entire neighborhoods, leaving parts of the city in ashes. More than 150,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes as authorities try to keep the death toll down, which already stands at 16.
One fire destroyed Pacific Palisades, an upscale enclave home to celebrities like Billy Crystal and Kate Beckinsale, which until this week was some of the most sought-after real estate in the United States.
Read: Los Angeles residents asked to stay indoors to avoid toxic wildfire smoke
With the area now under a mandatory evacuation order, even those whose homes survived the inferno will have to go elsewhere for the foreseeable future.
The higher-than-average incomes of people forced to leave their homes there appear to have enticed contenders, who see the opportunity to cash in on the misery of others.
“We applied for a house … that cost $17,000 a month, and they told us if we didn't pay $30,000 we wouldn't get it,” Lieberman said.
“They told me they have people willing to offer more and pay cash. It's absolutely insane.”
Illegal
Similar stories of apparent price gouging abound.
“I have friends who booked a hotel outside Los Angeles and when they got there they were asked for a higher price,” says TV producer Alex Smith, who has been forced to leave his home.
The sharp practice has drawn the ire of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who warned Saturday that there are laws against it.
“Price gouging is illegal. We will not accept this. We will hold you accountable. We will prosecute,” he told reporters, adding that those found guilty could face up to a year in prison.
Once a state of emergency is declared – as has been the case for the out-of-control fires – sellers cannot increase their prices by more than 10 percent.
Read: LA wildfires will become the costliest disaster in the US, causing $135 billion in losses
That applies to both small businesses and mega-corporations whose automated tools use supply and demand to determine the cost of everything from hotel stays to concert tickets.
“If these algorithms result in prices being higher after the state of emergency than before, by more than 10 percent, you are breaking the law,” he said.
“You have to figure out how to adjust your prices in accordance with the law. And if that means deviating from your algorithm, then deviating from your algorithm.”
For Brian, a retiree who has been sleeping in his car since the evacuation order was issued, the short-term rules that protect against price gouging are virtually irrelevant.
The 69-year-old, who did not want to give his full name, has lived in a rent-controlled studio apartment in Pacific Palisades for 20 years.
That has now disappeared, along with the guarantee that his rent cannot increase.
He fears his retirement won't stretch far in a city where rents have doubled in the past decade — a problem likely to be exacerbated by the sudden rush of people needing new places to live.
“I'm back in the market with tens of thousands of people,” he said.
“That doesn't bode well.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Our staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)