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‘Wildfire refugees’ scramble to find housing as rental prices soar

January 18, 2025

Declan Durcan and his wife wept with relief when they got the call last Sunday telling them they could rent a three-bedroom house in Brentwood.

It was a small but consequential bit of good news after a devastating, heart-rending week.

Their Pacific Palisades home was transformed into rubble Jan. 7 when an inferno devoured their block. Then came a fruitless search for a nearby rental.

“Everywhere we looked had like 50-60 people, people offering double, triple the rent, offering to pay six months rent up front,” said Durcan, 48, a network sales engineer who worked from his three-story hill house before the fire. “In the scenario that we’re in, we’re very fortunate to find a place because it was a struggle around west Los Angeles.”

See more: The latest on the L.A. wildfires

A precise tally for how many homes were lost and how many families displaced in this month’s firestorms has yet to be determined.

But on top of the enormous economic and human costs, the disaster unleashed a mad dash for replacement housing that pitted fire refugees against one another, sparking bidding wars and a wave of opportunistic price hikes.

State and local authorities quickly vowed to pursue price gougers.

Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Friday, Jan. 17, that his office sent more than 200 warning letters to hotels and landlords accused of price gouging. The AG also has criminal investigations into price gouging underway.

Landlords are looking “to re-victimize the victims of the fires, to exploit them in their vulnerable state,” Bonta said.

“These predators are looking at the disaster with dollar signs in their eyes instead of kindness in their hearts,” he said. “That is unconscionable. It is despicable. It is disgusting. It is sick, and it’s unacceptable. And most importantly, it is illegal.”

Homes along Pacific Coast Highway sit in ruins after being burned by the Palisades Fire in Malibu, CA, on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. The Palisades Fire, burning in the Santa Monica Mountains, has burned an estimated 5,300 structures. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

On the flip side, the fires and the exploitation have been offset by an outpouring of kindness and support from some in the housing industry.

Property managers, real estate agents and apartment providers pitched in to find shelter for the thousands of newly homeless households.

Real estate agents frantically scoured listings and drafted leases for friends, neighbors and clients without charging their usual commissions. Apartment and Realtor associations issued a call for property owners with vacant homes and backyard units to come forward and offer them to victims.

An Irvine apartment company offered furnished apartments at a discount, and a Sherman Oaks property management company offered short-term leases of less than a year without charging their usual short-term premiums.

Southern California already had a shortage of homes for sale or rent before the fires.

With more than 12,000 homes, businesses and other structures confirmed as damaged or destroyed in the Eaton and Palisades fires, that housing shortage got even worse.

As many as 100 people are showing up for open houses, some agents said. They tell displaced families not to be picky right now. A home doesn’t have to be ideal, or even furnished. People need to take what they can get.

“The rental market is in a feeding frenzy. It’s absolutely gone crazy,” said Zach Quittman, 44, to a Coldwell Banker agent who’s been helping others find housing even after losing the Pacific Palisades house he and his wife rented.

“It’s been just an absolute chaotic situation,” said Quittman, who also lost his Tesla Model S, his wife’s wedding dress, her vintage clothes and jewelry collection and his childhood keepsakes. “As traumatic as it’s been, people want normalcy. People want home. People want stability. People want their kids to lock into school districts.”

Heavy smoke from a brush fire in the Pacific Palisades rises over the Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Garcia)

‘Here we go again’

Jane Richardson looked out her bedroom window around 10:30 am on Jan. 7 and spotted a fire up in Temescal Canyon, just over a mile from her El Medio Bluffs home.

“Here we go again,” she thought.

A fire erupted in that same spot around 1:30 am New Year’s Day, but appeared to be out in about an hour, she said. (Investigators are looking into whether embers from that previous blaze sparked the Palisades fire a week later.)

In the next two hours, Richardson, 64, started gathering essentials to take as she and her husband evacuated.

The wooden rocking horse her father built when her children were little. Her Taylor guitar. Photo albums and a couple small pieces from her art collection. Christmas decorations, including a small Santa her son made in third grade.

She left behind her stack of homemade quilts, her children’s baby books, a portrait of her mother and a photo of her father from the 1920s.

“I just thought we’d be back,” said Richardson. “By no stretch did we fill the cars.”

Now, they can’t go back.

“They’re all gone,” she said of homes on her cul-de-sac.

Fortunately, her daughter and son-in-law recently bought a house in Glendale, so she and her husband have a place to stay for the time being.

Once settled, Richardson and her husband joined “that crazy rental race.”

Her sister in Seattle got onto the multiple listing service and lined up places to consider. Her daughter found brokers and properties. They managed to see at least seven in the past week.

“It’s pretty awful, the scramble right now,” she said. “You realize everybody else is in the same boat. … It just became clear after a couple of days that it was just going to the highest bidder.”

Landlords or their agents kept coming back and telling Richardson what another person offered to pay, asking, “What would you offer?” Landlords kept asking, “How high can you go?”

“It’s been every property that we looked at,” Richardson said. “Everywhere you go, it’s fire refugees, and if they’re like us, they’re well insured. (Landlords) know it’s insurance money.”

Most families want to find housing close to their home to stay near churches and schools. Santa Monica, Marina del Rey, Brentwood, Westwood, Beverly Hills and Cheviot Hills are inundated with requests for housing, forcing some residents to look farther out.

But because of the lack of housing, the once tight-knit neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades and Altadena are scattering as far away as the San Fernando Valley, Santa Barbara and Orange County, residents say.

Joe Cilic, a broker with Pacific Palisades’ Sotheby’s International Realty office, realized he had to act quickly after losing his house on Jan. 7. By Jan. 8, he found an unfurnished house in Cheviot Hills, a 10-minute drive from Pacific Palisades, and rented it right away. It was the first property he looked at.

His family has been sleeping on air mattresses. The heat didn’t work for the first few days, and the sewer line recently backed up. Still, he considers himself lucky.

The agent who listed the home got 30 more calls after Cilic leased it, and families kept driving by to see if it was available.

“Some properties have had open houses and had 100 people go through (them),” said Cilic, who’s been working for free helping others find and sign leases. “If people have homes in Los Angeles that they’re not using — let’s say you’re bi-coastal or something like that — it would really be a huge help if they could put those homes on the market for lease.”

Ross and Melanie Canter, who are staying with family in Carmel, said they’ve heard of cases where friends agreed to terms of a lease, only to be told later they’d have to agree to a two-year lease for more money. Another friend tried to sign the paperwork, then got ghosted when the agent received a better offer.

“Every property they look at already has multiple offers on it,” Ross Canter said. “We’ve heard stories about people paying off Realtors and giving them bonuses and cash advances above the rental costs.”

‘It just took off’

California law limits price hikes following a disaster declaration to 10% above pre-disaster levels. Violators face a fine of up to $10,000 and up to a year in jail.

If the home is new to the market, property owners can set the rent at 160% above the fair market rent set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Almost 1,300 entries of suspected price gouging appeared by Friday on a crowdsourced spreadsheet titled, “Tracking Rental Price Gouging in LA.”

Reported rent hikes averaged 51%, with three property owners alleged to have sought a 10-fold price jump.

Chelsea Kirk, an organizer with the L.A. Tenants Union, created the spreadsheet after learning that a three-bedroom home in her neighborhood that typically rents for $4,500 a month relisted after the fires for $12,000 a month.

“It was plain and clear they were raising the rents post-Jan. 7. They’re exploiting the moment,” she said.

She poked around on Zillow and found several more examples. Then, she got “fired up” after reading social media posts about more price changes.

“I was like, I’m going to track and report these,” Kirk said. “So, I made the spreadsheet. … And then, boom! It took off. I did not expect it to be what it is now.”

By last Thursday, she had 50 volunteers helping her maintain the spreadsheet. Some called landlords to ask why they were charging so much. Some landlords said it was an accident or a mistake. Others blamed Zillow’s artificial intelligence, saying they had nothing to do with raising the rent.

“They are not sophisticated property owners or property managers,” Anthony Luna, owner of the property management firm Coastline Equity, said of the price-gougers.

Engaging in bidding wars with tenants could open a landlord up to a lawsuit, he added.

At a press conference Wednesday, L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said it’s a “gray area” if a landlord accepts a higher price as a result of an unsolicited bidding war. But if a landlord solicits higher bids, “they’re engaging in price gouging,” Hochman said.

Several agents said they’ve refused to represent clients seeking to rent out homes at double the usual rent. Anne Russell Sullivan, a Brentwood broker and president of the Greater Los Angeles Realtors Association, said agents need to be careful.

“A lot of landlords and potential landlords and homeowners are being faced with 30 and 40 people who all want to get the same space. So, they’re bidding up and up and up,” she said. “If you’re a Realtor, you have to advise your clients that, according to law, in times of crisis, you cannot gouge the prices.”

Michael Astalis, left, with his wife, Paola Rodriguez, son, Michael Jr., and daughter, Mary, along with dogs. Napoleon and Daisy. In addition to losing his Altadena home, Astalis lost 45 nearby rentals that he owned in the Eaton Fire. "I lost $16 million in 3 1/2 hours," he said. The family is sharing a two-bedroom granny flat in the backyard of his daughter's Pasadena home until they can get their finances squared away and can start hunting for a new place to live. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/ SCNG) — Michael Astalis, left, with his wife, Paola Rodriguez, son, Michael Jr., and daughter, Mary, along with dogs. Napoleon and Daisy. In addition to losing his Altadena home, Astalis lost 45 nearby rentals that he owned in the Eaton Fire. “I lost $16 million in 3 1/2 hours,” he said. The family is sharing a two-bedroom granny flat in the backyard of his daughter’s Pasadena home until they can get their finances squared away and can start hunting for a new place to live. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/ SCNG)

Devastated and depressed

Altadena landlord Michael Astalis doesn’t have to think about what to charge tenants for his rentals. All his apartments and rental houses burned to the ground in the Eaton fire — 45 units in all.

On top of that, he lost his five-bedroom, two-story home.

Astalis, 76, is now sharing a two-bedroom granny flat behind his daughter’s Pasadena house with his wife and two adult children.

His family is living out of suitcases and sleeping on air mattresses on the floor.

“It’s very tight,” he said.

Astalis had two other houses on his lot, plus the 43 other rental units in the area.

Michael Astalis' five-bedroom, two-story home in Altadena on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, after it was destroyed in the Eaton Fire. Astalis owned four rental houses, a 17-unit apartment building and 10 1929 cottages. His home and all his rentals were destroyed, and his family is now sharing a backyard unit owned by their daughter and son-in-law in Pasadena. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/ SCNG) — Michael Astalis’ five-bedroom, two-story home in Altadena on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, after it was destroyed in the Eaton Fire. Astalis owned four rental houses, a 17-unit apartment building and 10 1929 cottages. His home and all his rentals were destroyed, and his family is now sharing a backyard unit owned by their daughter and son-in-law in Pasadena. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/ SCNG)

“I lost $16 million in 3 ½ hours,” he said.

He went back the next morning, but the neighborhood was engulfed in flames.

“It was an apocalyptic view,” he said. “Just like driving through hell.”

Astalis will need to get insurance money for living expenses before he can move out of his daughter’s granny flat. He faces cash-flow problems since he has to reimburse his 45 tenants for three weeks rent plus their deposits.

Also see: Altadena’s historic Black community pulls together after destructive Eaton fire

“The big issue here is a lot of tenants will have to figure out for the first time where to move. Many of them were long-term tenants,” said Simon Gibbons, Astalis’ son-in-law who helped manage his properties. “There’s literally nowhere for them to go. Some are in with other family members. Some were down at the convention center.”

The Virginia Pines, a 17-unit apartment complex in Altadena, on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. The complex has been shut down by fire, displacing all of the tenants. "A lot of tenants will have to figure out for the first time where to move. Many of them were long-term tenants," said Simon Gibbons, who helped manage the rentals for his father-in-law, Michael Astalis. Astalis lost 45 rental units in the Eaton Fire. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/ SCNG) — The Virginia Pines, a 17-unit apartment complex in Altadena, on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. The complex has been shut down by fire, displacing all of the tenants. “A lot of tenants will have to figure out for the first time where to move. Many of them were long-term tenants,” said Simon Gibbons, who helped manage the rentals for his father-in-law, Michael Astalis. Astalis lost 45 rental units in the Eaton Fire. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/ SCNG)

Tenants were crying when they called Astalis, a Cold War refugee from Romania. All were looking for a new place to live.

“They’re all asking me if I have any other places, which I don’t,” he said.

While his tenants are homeless, Astalis also lost his livelihood.

Nonetheless, he’s been busy arranging for multiple claims with insurance companies, dealing with banks and fielding unsolicited calls from law firms.

“I’m kind of devastated and very depressed,” Astalis said. “It’s so much pressure. …We’re just trying to navigate with a little bit of sanity.

“When this clears up, we’ll try to look for a place.”

SCNG staff writer Jason Henry contributed to this report.

The remains of a small housing community in Altadena, consisting of 10 small fruit-picker cottages, on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. The cottages were 100 years old, said owner Michael Astalis, who lost 45 rental units as well as his own home in the Eaton Fire. His family is now staying at a two-bedroom granny flat in the backyard of his daughter's Pasadena home. Astalis said his tenants are "looking for a place to live. Some of them are staying with family. They're homeless." (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/ SCNG) — The remains of a small housing community in Altadena, consisting of 10 small fruit-picker cottages, on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. The cottages were 100 years old, said owner Michael Astalis, who lost 45 rental units as well as his own home in the Eaton Fire. His family is now staying at a two-bedroom granny flat in the backyard of his daughter’s Pasadena home. Astalis said his tenants are “looking for a place to live. Some of them are staying with family. They’re homeless.” (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/ SCNG)

‘Wildfire refugees’ scramble to find housing as rental prices soar Orange County Register

News Details

‘Wildfire refugees’ scramble to find housing as rental prices soar

‘Here we go again’

‘It just took off’

Devastated and depressed

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