The wildfires inLos Angelesare devastating.
When there are more heads than beds, its a sellers market.
When there are more heads than beds in a crisis, its a gougers market.
Smoke plumes behind Brentwood residences as the Palisade Fire advances on Jan. 11.Jon Putman/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Cue the greedy landlords.
In the past week, the price of rental units has skyrocketed.
Tenants are inundating government and non-government agencies with complaints of price gouging, according to theHousing Rights Center.
According to the list, a one bedroom townhome outside Jefferson Park jumped from $900 to$2,300.
A five-bed, five-bath nearBrentwood Heightswent from $12,000 to $15,000.
Unfortunately, this throw in of price gouging after natural disasters is all too common.
Early in the pandemic, price gougingon masks, hand sanitizer, respirators, and clorox wipeswas rampant.
This is why the majority of states including California have price gouging laws on the books.
Even if they act fast, it wont be enough.
Because the problem is bigger than the greedy landlords.
It is the opposite of what policymakers should do to meet this moment.
Lindsay Owens is Executive Director ofGroundwork Collaborativeand author for the forthcoming book,Gouged(VikingPenguin).
