Following the large-scale wildfires in Los Angeles (LA), cases of landlords significantly raising rents to capitalize on the housing demand of disaster victims are increasing, prompting California authorities to crack down.
According to the Associated Press on the 19th (local time), the U.S. real estate information site Zillow recently listed a three-bedroom apartment in downtown LA with a monthly rent of $8,500 (approximately 12.41 million KRW). This represents about a 55% increase compared to the $5,500 (approximately 8.03 million KRW) monthly rent posted three months ago in October last year.
A four-bedroom house near Hollywood in Encino was also listed last month at $12,000 (approximately 17.51 million KRW) per month, but recently the rent was raised by 17% to $14,000 (approximately 20.43 million KRW) per month. Additionally, the owner of a three-bedroom, four-bathroom house in downtown LA found tenants at $16,000 (approximately 23.35 million KRW) per month in September last year but recently increased the rent to nearly double at $29,000 (approximately 42.32 million KRW) per month.
In the wake of the LA wildfire crisis, California as a whole is facing housing shortages and an increase in homelessness. As landlords seeking to make exorbitant profits by sharply raising rents have emerged, authorities have declared such actions illegal and warned of strict enforcement. California Attorney General Rob Bonta stated in a statement yesterday that raising rents beyond the legal limit of 10% is illegal and emphasized, "Disaster victims must not be exploited for profit."
California state law classifies price gouging, such as excessive rent increases, as a misdemeanor. Violators can face up to one year in jail and fines of up to $10,000 per offense.
After the announcement of the authorities' active crackdown policy, listings on Zillow that raised rents beyond the 10% cap have been removed, according to the AP.
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