Editorial News Alert: L.A. County Passes Emergency Declaration for December Winter Storm
Editorial News Alert
L.A. County Passes Emergency Declaration for December Winter Storm
By Janet M. Gagnon
Chief Corporate Affairs Officer & SVP Government Affairs
On December 31st, 2025, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to pass a new emergency declaration based on the December winter storm. The new declaration continues the implementation of the existing county ordinance for anti-price gouging restrictions during times of emergency for all of Los Angeles County and went into effect immediately.
As you may recall, an emergency declaration for the November storm was previously extended by Supervisor Horvath’s motion that was effective until December 28 2025. As Chair, Supervisor Hilda Solis (who took over as Chair for the Board of Supervisors in December) declared the December winter storm emergency on December 24, 2025, which went into effect for seven days until the full Board passed this new declaration. Thus, there has been no “gap” in declared state of emergency for storms in Los Angeles County since Chair Barger declared the November storm emergency on November 21, 2025.
In fact, Los Angeles County has been under a constant state of emergency since January 7, 2025 due to the wildfires, extension of the wildfires emergency per motions by Supervisor Horvath and then Chair Barger in October and another emergency declaration due to immigration enforcement activities per motion by Supervisor Horvath in October. Thus, Los Angeles County rental housing providers have been prevented from raising rents to full market rate for over a year due to one “declared emergency” after another.
In addition, Governor Gavin Newsom has also declared an emergency for Los Angeles County based on the same December storm. The difference between state law and County ordinance regarding anti-gouging provisions primarily involves penalties for non-compliance with the County’s ordinance significantly increasing penalties from $10,000 under state law up to $50,000 per violation under the County’s ordinance.
Given the frequency of such emergencies and the ever-expanding definition of what constitutes an emergency, it appears that the Supervisors are now seeking to do an end-run around state law that prohibits rent stabilization on newer multifamily properties built within the last 15 years as well as all single-family properties. By frequently declaring these “emergencies”, they are using the anti-price gouging ordinance as a de facto rent stabilization ordinance. AAGLA continues to urge an end to the storm emergency declarations as soon as the County has qualified for the additional funding it is seeking.
Given this latest emergency declaration, no rental housing provider of any kind (multifamily, single-family, condominium, townhouses, or accessory dwelling units) countywide is now allowed to raise rents in existing rental housing for new or existing renters by more than 10% until the emergency is declared as ended by the Board of Supervisors.
This article is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions regarding your property or specific leasing issues and the requirements of any legal changes described herein, please consult with an attorney.