By Jorge Casuso

March 5, 2025 -- The City Council last week voted to begin enforcing home-sharing and vacation rentals laws suspended during the Palisades Fire to help fire victims find housing.

Under the resolution approved last Tuesday ratifying the Emergency order issued January 8, property owners can continue renting furnished or unfurnished units for less than one year to those displaced by the wildfires.

The move to reinstate enforcement was prompted by concerns the provision for short-term rentals could be abused, although staff indicated no violations have been found.

"We haven't seen widespread abuse of short-term rentals," Planning Manager Jing Yeo told the Council, adding the Rent Control officials are "monitoring and cross-checking records."

Councilmember Caroline Torosis asked staff for reassurances that the exemptions for fire victims would be carefully monitored and enforced.

"In the beginning, we were being as judicious as possible helping people who needed a place to stay," Torosis said.

"How do we create a narrowly tailored exemption for fire victims without saying we're suspending all enforcement of an ordinance?"

City Attorney Doug Sloan noted that the Emergency Order suspended enforcement "only for those displaced by the fires" and suggested requiring an "attestation" that the unit was being rented to fire victims.

"I don't think you're going to have people affirmatively reporting violations to you," Torosis said. "So I want to make sure this is as difficult as possible to get around."

Councilmember Ellis Raskin, who made the motion to reinstate enforcement on vacation and homesharing rentals, noted that "there probably won't be new housing for short-term rental folks" being offered.

"They probably know where they're going at this point," Raskin said of the fire victims.

Under the order extended Tuesday, priority is given to lower income households on the City’s Below Market wait list that have minor children in local public schools or work in Santa Monica at least 25 hours a week.

City staff also is preparing an action for Council approval that would "allow those displaced to remain in their alternative accommodations" for 12 months or longer "following their displacement."

Under the local, county and state emergency orders, it is illegal to increase the price of goods and services, including the price of housing, by more than 10 percent.

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to extend price gouging protections for housing through April 8 in response to "continued reports" of violations.

The action extends the protections, which were set to expire on Sunday, for "rental housing, short-term rentals, and hotel accommodations,” said Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath, who made the motion.

“No one should have to worry about losing their housing while trying to recover from a disaster," Horvath said in a statement. "LA County remains committed to supporting our impacted communities as they rebuild their lives.”

The Board of Supervisors had previously increased the maximum civil penalty for price gouging to $50,000 per violation.

At last Tuesday's City Council meeting, Code Enforcement Director Daniel Mick said the City has "sent a few cease and desist letters for possible price gouging for rents," but he reported no violations.

Apartment List's monthly rent report found increases in cities close to the Palisades and Eaton fires, with rents rising by 3 percent in Santa Monica and 2 percent in Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena ("Santa Monica Rents Rise in Wake of Wildfires," March 4, 2025).

The report noted that "with that cap set at 10 percent, the fires could still have a meaningful impact on rent prices in a market where metro-wide rent growth had previously been essentially flat," including Santa Monica.