According to DCBA, the county has received 915 complaints of price gouging, about 90% of which were related to rental prices, the Mercury News reported. “As the market continues to use these algorithms, it is feeding into the increases,” said Rafael Carbajal, the DCBA director.

The Rent Brigade, an online group that tracks rent increases on housing and apartment rental websites, compared listings posted before Jan. 7, the day the Eaton and Palisades fires started, with listings for the rest of January and found more than 2,800 instances of rent gouging in L.A. County. According to the group, “landlords and agents are illegally overcharging renters by $7.7M per month.”

At Tuesday’s board meeting, Supervisor Kathryn Barger said in some cases rents were doubled overnight. Barger said she heard from a displaced resident, who was outbid by $3,000 above the asking rent and walked away without any place to stay.

Barger’s district includes Altadena, where an estimated 6,000 homes, including 100 multifamily rental properties, were destroyed in the Eaton fire.

The supervisors heard from several witnesses who reported that rent gouging is occurring in locations miles away from the fire zones. According to Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, some landlords are raising rents on tenants to induce them to move out so they can charge double for the new tenant.

The Housing Department in Los Angeles estimates that 751 multifamily units were destroyed in the Palisades fire, 75% of which were rent-stabilized units.

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office filed a lawsuit in Superior Court this week alleging that Blueground US Inc., a provider of furnished rentals, engaged in multiple instances of price gouging during the fire emergency.

Hydee Feldstein Soto, the L.A. city attorney, cited 10 cases in which she said that Blueground engaged in price gouging, including one apartment in the downtown area of the metro, where she alleged that the firm raised rent more than 30%, from $4,140 a month to $5,400, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Blueground denied the company broke the anti-gouging law and said most of the listings cited by the city attorney were for future dates that weren’t subject to price gouging restrictions.

Blueground leases units from property owners, furnishes the apartments and then rents the units to tenants and businesses that need housing for their workers.

The California attorney general’s office has filed two criminal cases against L.A. area real estate agents accusing them of price gouging.

In one of the cases, a couple who lost their home in the Eaton fire attempted to rent a home in La Canada Flintridge. After their application was received, the couple was informed the price had gone up by 38%, attorney general Rob Bonta said in a statement.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has extended the fire emergency declaration and its 10% limit on rent increases until March 8.

The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved an ordinance this week that prohibits landlords from evicting tenants for allowing people or pets displaced by the wildfires to live with them. The new rule will remain in effect for one year.