Eaton Fire family sues landlord over alleged $15,000 monthly rent gouging

A family displaced by the Eaton Fire filed what attorneys say is the first private civil lawsuit of its kind against a landlord accused of charging nearly $15,000 a month for a three-bedroom rental — roughly three times the legal rate under state anti-price gouging protections, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.

The suit, filed one day before Los Angeles County's wildfire-related price gouging protections were set to expire, highlights an enforcement gap that advocates say has left thousands of displaced Southern California residents still unable to find affordable housing — a vulnerability that wildfire-prone communities across the region, including in Orange County, increasingly face.

The Renick family, formerly of Altadena, rented a three-bedroom home in Glassell Park after the Eaton Fire displaced them. According to ABC7 Los Angeles, the landlord charged the family nearly $15,000 per month — an amount attorneys say was nearly three times the legally permitted rate for comparable housing under California's emergency anti-price gouging protections.

Despite receiving a notice from the L.A. City Attorney's Office flagging the listing as potentially violating state law, the landlord allegedly continued charging the elevated rent for months, ABC7 reported. California law bars landlords from charging above a legal ceiling during declared states of emergency.

"Nobody had been through a crazy fire like that before," Candy Renick, a plaintiff family member, told ABC7. "Having thousands of people looking for housing at the same time. You know, just to think that a landlord would take advantage of people when they are in their most vulnerable state in the middle of a crisis is just outrageous."

Chelsea Kirk of The Rent Brigade, one of the attorneys representing the family, described the housing crisis facing displaced residents months after the fires. "Rather than recover from the wildfires, we have stalled out. Thousands of displaced residents still have not been able to find affordable housing. Some have left L.A. altogether," Kirk said, according to ABC7.

Rental prices in fire-affected areas surged between 20% and 200% in some cases following the Eaton Fire, ABC7 reported. The Renick family has since returned to their Altadena home.

The lawsuit was filed one day before LA County's wildfire-related price gouging protections expired, raising urgent questions about what legal recourse displaced residents retain — and whether the emergency framework that was meant to protect them lasted long enough to do so.