Victory Alert: L.A. County Finally Ends Countywide Emergency Price Restrictions
Victory Alert
L.A. County Finally Ends Countywide Emergency Price Restrictions
By Janet M. Gagnon
Chief Corporate Affairs Officer & SVP, Government Relations
On March 19th, the Board of Supervisors rejected a further extension of the countywide emergency price restrictions that have existed for 16 months since the wildfires in January 2025. Supervisor Lindsey Horvath yet again put forward a motion to further extend the price restrictions through June 27, 2026. However, she only received two votes in favor, her own and Chair Hilda Solis (termed out this year). Supervisors Kathryn Barger, Holly Mitchell and Janice Hahn all abstained from voting, so the motion FAILED. The current emergency price restrictions are still in effect through May 28th.
Last month’s motion from Supervisor Horvath specifically stated, “Direct the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs to provide to the Board via written report or verbal presentation to the Homelessness or Operations Cluster, indicators or milestones or other information or data that can be used to evaluate the continuing need for price gouging protections for future renewals.” Supervisor Horvath failed to make good on that written promise to have the issue reviewed in either the Homelessness or Operations Cluster before making this new motion to further extend the price restrictions.
AAGLA had repeatedly contacted the Supervisors’ offices since the passage of the April 14th motion about the status of the presentation to the Homelessness or Operations Cluster. However, that was never agendized for either the Homelessness or Operations Cluster and appears to be a clear attempt by Supervisor Horvath to avoid the cluster meeting process and any substantive review or detailed data about the need for these ongoing “emergency” price restrictions using the Board’s emergency “superpowers” over the entire County.
AAGLA continued to zealously oppose further extensions of the declared emergency and provided in-person oral testimony against today’s motion. In addition, AAGLA reached out to several business organizations and local Realtor associations for their assistance in fighting this gross overreach by the Board of Supervisors to this conclusion. We thank all of our colleagues across these organizations that spoke against these harmful restrictions over the past 16 months. Also, a special thanks to the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce for their opposition letter sent to the Supervisors yesterday. It was a team effort that eventually won this victory and convinced 3 Supervisors to finally stop these unnecessary and harmful extensions of price restrictions that harm rental housing providers throughout the County.
While we celebrate this win, we must remain vigilant as Supervisor Horvath has already threatened to resurrect the issue next week on May 28th by bringing it to the Homelessness cluster. We hope this horrific policy is finally and fully dead after 16 months, we must continue to press the Supervisors to stop abusing their emergency superpowers long after the actual emergency has ended and rely on detailed data (not unfounded claims) to make decisions especially those impacting the entire County.
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.