Landlords Beware

Editor’s Note: In an answer to this intriguing editorial, Robert B. Forouzandeh writes, “For those landlords who read the March 18, 2022, op-ed entitled “Landlords Beware” and suddenly believed that they would be going to jail, think twice before sending in the measurements for your prison jumpsuit.” See his complete Voice here.

The COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated California and Santa Barbara’s rental crisis. For years, rents have skyrocketed year after year, pushing millions of tenants into financial instability. Rental companies and real estate experts justify these increases as “simple supply and demand” or “natural fluctuations in the market,” but one major reason since late 2017 is actually criminal price gouging since California has been in a perpetual state of emergency.

Price gouging is when merchants take advantage of spikes in demand by charging high prices for basic necessities during a state of emergency. Penal Code §396 states that once a state of emergency has been declared it is illegal for the rental price advertised, offered, or charged for housing to an existing or prospective tenant to be raised more than 10 percent — even while the unit is vacant. The California Apartment Association (CAA) states on its website, on a page titled Price Gouging, that “rent increases to 10% for the duration of the emergency [are illegal] irrespective of the duration and whether the unit becomes vacant.” According to Zumper, the nation’s third largest real estate platform, rental prices have risen 20 percent during this time, and 18 percent in the last year alone.