Rent Gouging Is Happening En Masse. Warning Letters Aren't Enough.

Due to the surprising number of chronically empty or misused properties in Los Angeles, I have long suspected that many Angelenos were probably already overpaying at least a little for the privilege of being housed.

Now that thousands of homes have burned down, sustained serious damage, or become inaccessible or uninhabitable, some very greedy property owners have completely abandoned any shame they may have had.

Raising rent by more than 10 percent during a state of emergency is illegal. (In case you’re new here, I used to be an apartment manager, and my former boss - with whom I discussed this the other day - is just as disgusted as I am by the blatant gouging.) While there is a 30-day time frame, it can be extended (and given the situation, it should be!).

Do the aforementioned greedy property owners care? Of course not. While Los Angeles has some of the strongest pro-tenant laws on the books, they are VERY RARELY ENFORCED, which ultimately renders them meaningless. Bad landlords know this and use it to their advantage.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has stated his intention to hold rent gougers accountable.

I want to believe him. I really do. But so far, his office has…issued a few hundred warning letters. While that may work on SOME owners (and it’s better than nothing), it’s clearly not scaring enough of them. (I suspect this is because so many bad owners, at least in Los Angeles, have a history of ignoring the law and facing no consequences.) And since the gouging is happening on such a massive scale, it seems unlikely that Bonta, even with help from his new task force, truly has the resources to investigate every single complaint and charge every single offender. Add in the amount of time it takes to build cases and get them on a docket, and this is not going to be resolved anywhere close to as quickly as displaced people need it to be.

Some very rich people who don’t have a moral compass consider fines part of the cost of doing business (trust me, I’ve dealt with people like that). To them, fines are not a punishment - but jail time would be. Truly putting a stop to these selfish shenanigans means punishing offenders as swiftly and severely as the law allows. A warning will not put the fear of God into a monster - but an arrest warrant might.

I really do want to believe Attorney General Bonta. But like most Angelenos, I know that the authorities have a pathetic track record with handling bad landlords.

If and when someone finally gets arrested for rent gouging, I’ll believe Bonta. But you, dear reader, can - and should! - still report gouging and fight back.