Those whose homes have been destroyed are now tasked with finding a place to live in LA’s already crowded housing market and face rising rent prices from landlords.
As of press time, the LA fires have burned at least 40,000 acres and destroyed more than 12,000 structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). In the midst of this, there have been several reports of landlords significantly raising the cost of rent as people who lost their homes desperately look for shelter.
Larry Gross – executive director for the Coalition for Economic Survival (CES), a nonprofit that advocates for tenants’ rights, rent control and preserving affordable housing – said he identified a 500-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment in North Hollywood that was asking for $5,500 a month. A January rent report by Apartment List found that the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in LA is $1,843.
Under state law, it is illegal for businesses and landlords to increase prices by more than 10% during a declared state of emergency. Violators can receive up to a year in county jail and/or a fine of up to $10,000. Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a proclamation of a state of emergency on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
Gross is fearful that LA will see even more rent gouging. He pointed to what happened in Hawaii a year after the 2023 Maui fires, where families were paying an average of 43% more on rent. In response, the local government enacted an eviction moratorium that ends on Feb. 4.
“That’s an example we need to look at, and our elected officials need to see that it’s going to happen here, and it’s already happening, and they need to take immediate action to prevent this,” Gross said.
“We need the prosecution of these profiteers to send the message that it’s going to be enforced and they’re taking a great risk if they think they can get away with trying to rent [gouge] because that’s just going to make the situation even much worse, especially for those who are low income, people of color and seniors on fixed incomes who have been displaced due to the fires and need new homes. They’re not going to be able to afford those rent gouges.”
The problem with prosecuting rent gougers, Gross explained, is that most people looking for housing won’t know what the rents were before the fires, making it difficult to know if they are being charged more.
“The Perfect Storm”
Mel Tillekeratne – co-founder and executive director of The Shower of Hope, a nonprofit that provides homeless people in LA County with hygiene services – said one of the biggest long-term effects of the fires will be increasing the homeless population in LA and straining the housing market.
When the fires are finally extinguished, the cost of rebuilding will be extremely high. The money will have to come from somewhere, and Tillekeratne said it will most likely be taken from homeless services, increasing the number of unhoused people looking for shelter.
“We have a homelessness problem because, more than anything else, we don’t have enough housing, which leads to housing being unaffordable,” Tillekeratne said. “So, one, there’s going to be less housing at a time where we’re trying to house 75,000 homeless people in the county and, two, because it’s less housing, it’s going to drive [up] the price of housing.”
To hopefully mitigate the issue, Tillekeratne proposed that the state or federal government step in and start issuing housing vouchers immediately. Even then, however, he said that many people don’t have the wealth necessary to rebuild their homes.
“The truth is, this is one of the most catastrophic things to happen to a city like LA … where we have a huge housing shortage,” Tillekeratne said. “Any other market, there might have been a way to survive, but for LA, this is a critical event. … When the federal and state governments try to issue vouchers, people start raising rent, knowing that they can get what they want with those vouchers. It’s like a perfect storm.”
There are resources for home and business owners affected by the fires, including grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and a one-time payment of $770 from the federal Critical Needs Assistance Program for immediate needs. There are also Small Business Administration (SBA) loans that can cover up to $100,000 of personal property loss and $500,000 of a homeowner’s real property loss.
The Showers of Hope also has locations around LA where homeless people can take a shower and get hygiene products.
However, Gross said that’s not enough, and more people are needed to handle this crisis. With the hardships and challenges people are facing, he said, it will take decades for LA to recover.
“To give some perspective to this, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was three square miles, and the San Francisco Fire in 1906 was four square miles. The Palisades Fire is [37] square miles at this point,” Gross said. “It’s going to take a lot of resources, funding and, unfortunately, time to rebuild that.”
For more about The Shower of Hope and its locations, visit https://www.theshowerofhope.org/about.
To apply for SBA assistance, go to https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/disaster-assistance/california-wildfires.
To report price or rent gouging, contact the state attorney general complaint line at https://oag.ca.gov/contact/consumer-complaint-against-business-or-company.