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PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Organization looks to expose alleged rent gouging in LA County
According to a group of organizers, advocates, and researchers who call themselves the Rent Brigade, they identified more than 2800 cases where rents spiked significantly in January within days of the wildfires igniting. Tenant advocate and co-founder of Rent Brigade, Chelsea Kirk, spoke to FOX 11 about the problem of price gouging.
LOS ANGELES - A divided Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted down a proposal to extend post-wildfire price-gouging protections on local rental housing.
The decision means the temporary restrictions, which barred rent increases of 10% or more, will officially expire on May 28.
What we know:
The price-gouging protections were originally activated under a January 2025 emergency declaration following devastating windstorms and deadly wildfires in Pacific Palisades and Altadena.
While the initial protections were set through July 1, 2025, state law allowed the county to approve consecutive 30-day extensions, which the board had consistently approved each month since last summer.
On Tuesday, a heavily divided board blocked the latest 30-day extension.
Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who proposed the extension, only received support from Supervisor Hilda Solis. Supervisors Kathryn Barger, Janice Hahn, and Holly Mitchell abstained from the vote, effectively defeating the motion.
What they're saying:
Landlords and business organizations heavily lobbied against the extension, arguing that the limits have become an unfair financial burden on property owners facing rising operational costs.
In a letter to Supervisor Janice Hahn, Jeremy Harris, president/CEO of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, acknowledged that the protections initially "served an important purpose to assist people impacted by the fires," but added that "emergency market restrictions were never intended to function as economic controls in perpetuity."
Harris continued: "Now almost a year and a half since the emergency declaration, Los Angeles County must begin transitioning from emergency response towards long- term recovery and housing stabilization policies grounded in market realities, operational sustainability and increased housing availability."
A representative of the California Apartment Association also testified before the board, stating that the circumstances that originally justified the emergency protections and repeated extensions "no longer exist."
Meanwhile, Supervisor Horvath pleaded with the board to maintain the status quo for just one more week, noting that the county Department of Consumer and Business Affairs was already scheduled to deliver a report next week "with metrics and indicators of what an off-ramp would look like to discontinue the protections."
What's next:
With the extension defeated, the emergency price-gouging protections on rental housing will officially expire on May 28.
Even though the protections are ending, the Board of Supervisors is still expected to receive and review the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs' report next week regarding the metrics and indicators of a policy off-ramp.
The Source: This report is based on public testimony, official voting records, and items placed on the agenda for the Tuesday meeting of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. City News Service contributed.