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Committee approves AB 380 to align price-gouging protections with emergency declarations
Summary
AB 380 would extend state price-gouging protections for hotels, food and other essential goods and services for the full duration of an emergency declaration and close a 12-month lease loophole; the committee passed the bill as amended to Appropriations.
Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez presented AB 380 to the Public Safety Committee, proposing changes to Penal Code section 396 (price gouging) to extend protections for hotels, food and essential goods and services for the full duration of an emergency declaration and to close a loophole landlords were using by offering leases longer than 12 months.
"AB 380 addresses these issues by extending price gouging protections for hotels, food, and other essential goods and services for the full duration of an emergency declaration," Gonzales said. He added that organizers had documented thousands of instances of rent gouging in Los Angeles after recent wildfires and that the bill would align protections and close a technical loophole landlords used to evade existing rent-increase caps.
Anya Lawler of Public Interest Advocates (speaking for sponsors Public Counsel and Strategic Action for a Just Economy) described crowd-sourced tracking that found thousands of instances of rent gouging after the fires and said the bill would delete the 12-month-leases limit that landlords used to avoid rent caps.
Opposition came from rental-property and commercial business groups. Embird Madison for the California Apartment Association said AB 380 would remove periodic local review deadlines and could create uncertainty about when emergency protections remain in effect, and asked for clearer notice requirements on local government websites and reporting to the state Office of Emergency Services. Industry groups including BOMA and the California Business Properties Association argued the bill effectively imposes commercial rent control and interferes with private contracts, and they urged narrower, locality-limited relief.
Committee members acknowledged the competing policy goals: protect disaster-affected residents and small businesses from exploitation while ensuring transparency for property owners and avoiding unintended consequences for mom-and-pop landlords. Several members said they would work with the author on amendments to clarify duration, notice, and to protect small property owners.
After discussion, the committee adopted amendments and passed AB 380 as amended to the Appropriations Committee. Assemblymember Harabedian moved the measure with a second by Assemblymember Sharp Collins; the clerk recorded affirmative votes and the measure advanced.
