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City launches 311 portal, sends cease-and-desist letters as rent-gouging complaints rise after wildfires
Summary
City attorney, Housing Department and Community Investment for Families described outreach and enforcement steps after wildfire-related displacement: a new 311 portal, hundreds of complaints vetted, about 400 cease-and-desist letters and targeted email outreach to landlords and tenants.
The Los Angeles Housing and Homelessness Committee heard a verbal update Jan. 29 on city efforts to address rent gouging following recent wildfires, including a plan to open a 311 web portal for reporting price gouging and ongoing enforcement activity by the City Attorney’s Office.
City Attorney spokesperson Peter Wofford told the committee “most of our referrals do involve high end single family homes” and said the office had received “over 1,250 complaints of price gouging” and had confirmed the accuracy of “approximately 850 of those referrals.” He said the office had “sent approximately 400 cease and desist letters,” split roughly between alleged perpetrators and current occupants of affected properties. Wofford also said the office uploaded “a draft ordinance and report with requested updates to Los Angeles Municipal Code section 47.12, which is the local price gouging statute.”
Wofford said the city will replace the attorney’s dedicated phone and email channels with a 311 user portal for reporting rent gouging; “that should launch tomorrow on lacity.gov,” he told the committee.
Staff from the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) and the Department of Community Investment for Families (CIFD) described parallel outreach. LAHD Assistant General Manager Anna Ortega said the department has distributed information at disaster assistance centers, put bulletins on its website and social media, and that staff “have assisted about 500 residents” at centers. Ortega said LAHD sent “an email blast on January 14th to about 88,000 landlords citywide” and planned an additional mailing “this week” to roughly 172,000 landlords and tenants describing allowable rents and price-gouging protections. Ortega also reminded the committee that LAHD’s rent registry “registers rental properties” and does not capture tenant names, which limits options for direct mail to affected households.
Greg Good of LAHD reviewed funding that could support tenant outreach and assistance. He said some federal, state and local pots may be available, including tenant outreach and education funds in the city’s ULA expenditure plan and a $14,600,000 allocation for an “income support” category tied to seniors and persons with disabilities. Good also noted “$3,300,000 of SB2 money” that could be eligible for tenant support.
Committee members pressed staff on how success is measured. Chair Council Member Raman asked how the City Attorney’s cease-and-desist letters translate into compliance; Wofford said the office would follow up with additional detail. Council Member Blumenfield asked whether criminal referrals to the state attorney general had been made; Wofford said criminal prosecution was possible but he could not yet confirm referrals.
The committee requested follow-up reports showing how the city is measuring outcomes for enforcement (for example, whether listings were delisted or rents reduced) and how outreach is being targeted to tenants displaced by the fires. LAHD staff said they are coordinating with the U.S. Postal Service to reach residents in the burn area whose local post office is closed and mail is being held at Brentwood.
The update combined enforcement, communications and funding discussion; committee members asked staff to return with metrics and with a plan to use available outreach dollars to reach displaced and vulnerable households.
