LA County Price-Gouging Update: What Landlords & Homeowners Need to Know
Ask ten Westside landlords whether they're still capped at a 10% rent increase because of the wildfires, and most will say yes even though they're not.
The rule that made national headlines in January 2025, the one that turned a 13-month lease into a workaround and a badly worded Zillow listing into a criminal case, quietly expired in Los Angeles County months ago. And almost nobody noticed, because the state's default assumption is still "the cap is on" until someone tells you otherwise.
Here's where things actually stand, and where they're headed next.
Did LA County's Rent Cap Really Expire?
Yes. On May 19, 2026, the Board of Supervisors tried to extend the county's wildfire-tied price-gouging protections for another 30 days. The motion failed. Supervisor Lindsey Horvath brought it forward; only Supervisor Hilda Solis backed her, while Barger, Hahn, and Mitchell abstained, which killed it outright. The 10% cap on rent increases tied to the Palisades and Eaton fires lapsed at midnight on May 28, 2026.
Landlord groups had spent months arguing the rule had drifted way past its original purpose. Tenant advocates argued displaced families were still financially underwater. The board split the difference by simply not voting, and the cap fell away on its own.
For context on what that cap covered while it was active: by late February, the County's Department of Consumer and Business Affairs had opened nearly 1,900 price-gouging investigations, issued more than 2,000 cease-and-desist orders, and recovered $335,000 in tenant restitution (LA County Board of Supervisors). This wasn't a paper rule. It got enforced.
So Is Price Gouging Legal in LA County Right Now?
Not exactly, and this is the part that trips people up. California's price-gouging law, Penal Code 396, isn't a standing rule. It's a trigger. It switches on automatically the moment any federal, state, or local emergency is declared, and switches back off 30 days later (180 days for repair and construction services) unless that emergency gets extended.
Check the state's own live tracker right now and Los Angeles County isn't on it. The only active proclamations statewide are tied to a fire in Calaveras County and a chemical incident in Orange County, nothing in LA. So as of today, there's no emergency declaration keeping the cap switched on countywide.
Two things still apply everywhere in LA County, emergency or not:
AB 1482 caps annual rent increases on most covered units statewide, capped at 10% or CPI-plus-5%, whichever is lower. For LA and Orange County, that figure sits at 8.7% for increases taken between August 1, 2026 and July 31, 2027.
The county's own Rent Stabilization ordinance sets a far tighter ceiling for covered units in unincorporated LA County, 2.919% for the same 2026–2027 period.
And the price-gouging switch can flip back on overnight. Any new fire, flood, or declared local emergency touching LA County reactivates the 10% cap the moment it's proclaimed, no legislative process required.
What's Sacramento Doing About It?
While the county's local protection lapsed, two bills moved through the state legislature that would rewrite the underlying law itself.
SB 1365 (Sen. Ben Allen) closes a loophole landlords used during the fires: leases longer than a year were exempt from the price-gouging cap, which is why so many post-fire leases mysteriously ran 13 months. The bill folds longer leases into the definition of protected "housing" and tightens how landlords can claim the repair-cost exemption, shifting it to an affirmative defense standard rather than an automatic pass. It passed the Senate 27–10 on August 31, 2026, and is now enrolled and headed to Governor Newsom's desk.
SB 493 (Sen. Josh Becker) it would add war to the list of triggers that can activate the statewide price-gouging cap, covering a formal declaration of war, active U.S. military operations abroad, or U.S. support of UN peacekeeping forces. Becker has framed it as protection against gas-price spikes tied to overseas conflict. The Governor or Attorney General would still have to find a real link between the conflict and rising prices before it kicked in, and it would max out at 60 days.
Both bills drew fire from a coalition of 25+ landlord and business groups, including the California Apartment Association and California Association of Realtors, who argue the expansions stack new criminal exposure on top of AB 1482 and local rent control without addressing actual bad actors. As of late August, SB 1365 was the closer of the two to becoming law, while SB 493 was still working through the Assembly.
What This Means If You're a Landlord
Rent smart, not just legal. There is no active price-gouging cap in LA County today, but AB 1482 (8.7%) and, for unincorporated county properties, the RSTPO (2.919%) both still apply. Price a unit assuming those ceilings, not the old 10% emergency rule.
Keep your pricing paper trail current. If SB 1365 is signed, the repair-cost exemption gets harder to claim after the fact, you'll want documented costs and timing before you raise a price, not after a complaint lands.
Don't assume "no emergency, no risk." A new fire, storm, or local proclamation reinstates the 10% cap the second it's declared, and the county's own ordinance carries penalties up to $50,000 per violation, well above the state's $10,000 cap (DCBA).
What This Means If You're a Homeowner
If you're rebuilding or repairing after the fires, the 180-day protection on contractor and reconstruction pricing runs from whenever a qualifying emergency was declared for your property, worth checking against your own timeline before signing a repair contract.
If you're weighing whether to list a property as a rental versus a sale, know that the emergency-driven ceiling that shaped pricing for the last 16 months is gone for now. That changes the math on what a rental actually cashflows at, and it's worth running current numbers rather than last year's.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the LA County wildfire rent cap still in effect? No. The county's local extension of the 10% price-gouging cap expired May 28, 2026, after the Board of Supervisors declined to renew it (The Real Deal).
Can rent still be capped at 10% in LA County? Yes, automatically, if any new state or local emergency is declared covering LA County. The cap isn't gone permanently - it's currently just not switched on (Cal OES).
What's the maximum legal rent increase in LA County right now? Absent an active emergency, most covered units fall under AB 1482's statewide cap of 8.7% (Aug 2026–July 2027). Rent-stabilized units in unincorporated LA County are capped lower, at 2.919% (Coastline Equity).
What would SB 1365 change for landlords? It would close the loophole that exempted leases over a year from the price-gouging cap and tighten how landlords prove a repair-cost exemption. It's currently awaiting the Governor's signature (Digital Democracy).
Let’s Talk!
If you're pricing a rental right now, don't guess. The cap that applied six months ago isn't the cap that applies today. If you’re thinking of listing, reach out to us at 310-853-2643 or at info@paulsalazargroup.com.
