The displacement caused by the recent Los Angeles–area fires has renewed attention on price gouging in rental housing. Some landlords were accused of increasing their rents by more than 300 percent — spikes that appeared to violate California law, which like many other states prohibits setting unconscionable prices on necessities.
Or, as we more commonly know it, price gouging.
Notable examples of price gouging include big increases in the cost of bottled water, gasoline, or generators during natural disasters, as well as essential medical devices like the EpiPen or medications like insulin being priced many times higher than the cost of production and distribution. Even in our unabashedly capitalist society, public opinion polls show that price gouging is strongly opposed by the American people.
Which got me thinking about what we see each week in eviction court, where my students and I represent tenants….