As Los Angeles wildfires squeeze California’s already tight rental market, concerns are growing over rent raises

No tenant ever wants to receive notice that their landlord is increasing their rent—especially when they’re living through the worst possible scenario.

After countless California residents lost their homes in the January wildfires, the search for a new place to live has become increasingly difficult for many.

Was low inventory the issue?

Yes, but also, less than a week after the Pacific Palisades fire leveled thousands of homes, accusations of price gouging started circulating.

Rent prices across the nation continue to hit new highs due to a number of factors, but this feels like an overstep that just can not be ignored.

Let’s dive into the big questions: What’s the deal with these dreaded rent increases?

How much can a landlord raise rent legally?

And what’s happening in some of the biggest markets, including California, New York, and Texas?

California renters face price gouging after devastating wildfires

Higher mortgage rates, astronomical asking prices, and a lack of inventory have forced would-be homebuyers to stay in the rental market for the last two years, but the situation has become particularly dire in Los Angeles, CA.

The shortage of rental housing came into stark light after tens of thousands of wildfire evacuees attempted to find temporary housing after losing their homes.

While the number of displaced people continued to rise, the amount of rentals depleted instantaneously, with many of the remaining properties simultaneously becoming unattainable.

The issue was first brought to light by celebrity real estate agent Jason Oppenheim, the star of Netflix’s “Selling Sunset.”

The light of a fire fighting helicopter illuminates a smoldering hillside as the Palisades fire grows near the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood and Encino, California, on Jan. 11, 2025. AFP via Getty Images

He revealed in an interview with the BBC that some L.A. landlords have been exploiting the tragedy to make lots of money fast.

“There are price-gouging laws in California that are just being ignored right now,” he said.

“This isn’t the time to be taking advantage of situations, and it’s also illegal to take advantage of a natural disaster.”

Hopefully, these greedy profiteers will be caught and charged for their crimes, but this is a clear example of breaking the law.

However, that doesn’t mean a landlord doesn’t have the right to raise your rent.

How much can my landlord raise my rent?

In terms of tenant rights, landlords can’t just raise your rent whenever they feel like it; they have to wait until whatever contract you’ve signed with them expires, says Robert Pellegrini, president of PK Boston, a real estate and collections law firm with offices in the Greater Boston area.

That means that if you have a lease, they can’t raise it until the lease term expires.

Depending on where you live, rent control laws vary, and could mean the difference of having to move quickly before your lease is up.

To give you a better example, let’s compare rents in three different states:

How much can a landlord raise rent in California?

The housing situation in Los Angeles during and after the wildfires was a unique situation, albeit not an entire new one.

But in California, how much rent can be raised is closely regulated.

Local rent-control laws restrict how much a landlord can increase rent annually.

For instance, the California Tenant Protection Act of 2019 prohibits landlords from raising rent more than “10% total or 5% plus the percentage change in the cost of living – whichever is lower – over a 12-month period,” according to the CA Department of Justice website.

Landlords drastically inflating rents when demand is high after a disaster such as the wildfires is not considered a legal rent increase in California.

After hearing the news of price gouging, state Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a stern warning to landlords trying to make a buck off the tragedy.

“We’ve seen businesses and landlords … jack up the price,” Bonta said.

“It’s called price gouging. It is illegal. You cannot do it. It is a crime punishable by up to a year in jail and fines.”

How much can a landlord raise rent in New York?

If you live in New York City and beyond, it’s important to confirm whether your rental is rent stabilized or not, as the rules are quite different depending, according to the Residential Tenants’ Rights Guide.

If you sign a lease for non-rent regulated lease, the landlord does not have to renew the lease and thus has more flexibility to increase the rent.

In this case, if the landlord intends to raise the rent by more that 5%, they must provide notice to raise rent 60 days before the agreement expires if you’ve lived in your place for a year and 90 days notice if you’ve lived in your place two or more years.

California renters are facing difficulty as thousands search for new homes. AFP via Getty Images

For rent stabilized units, if they call under Section 8 – aka the Housing Choice Voucher program, family will pay no more than 40% of their adjusted monthly income toward their rents.

Meaning the only way your rent goes up is if you gross annual income goes up.

How much can a landlord raise rent in Texas?

Now, we enter the wild, Wild West when it comes to rent increases in Texas.

Unlike California and New York, there is no statewide law that places limits on increases to rent, according to the Texas state official website.

Once your lease is up, a landlord can increase the rent as they please.

The caveat in Texas laws is a local and city level, and only during special circumstances.

For an example, if a state of disaster has been declared in an area, say like Dallas or Austin, and local officials find that a housing emergency exist, they can ask for a rent control ordinance.

However, the Governor must approve the ordinance before it can go into effect. 

How and when can a landlord raise rent payments?

Now that you know how much your rent could potentially go up, here’s some information to ease your mind: you’ll have some warning.

Depending on the kind of lease your sign with your landlord, you could have anywhere from 30 days to a year before the increase goes into effect.

For example, if you’ve signed a one-year contract, it’ll be a year before rent can go up.

So, if you live in New York, and you signed a year lease, it will be a year before your rent can go up, and the law states the landlord has to give you 60 days notice of the increase.

Is it enough time to find a new place if your rent goes up too high?

In NYC, probably not — but it’s more than some people get, as we’ve learned!

Now, lets say you sign a two-year lease agreement. Now you’re locked into a rental price of the next two years, which is why signing a lease for two years or longer is wise, if you’re in the position to do that.

Meanwhile, if you’re renting with a month-to-month lease, your rent can’t increase until the end of any given month.

Simple, but real rules.

How much notice does a landlord have to give to raise the rent amount?

According to rent control laws in most states, renters must be granted at least 30 days’ written notice before a new rent increase is enforced, although that can vary based on how much the rent will actually go up.

In California, for instance, that advance notice expands to 60 days if the increase is more than 10% of the rent.

These rules are also typically true for a “tenant at will” (i.e., you do not have a lease) and, more surprisingly, a tenant in a rooming house, where you are likely to pay rent weekly.

“In this case, one would assume that seven days’ notice would suffice. Not the case!” says Pellegrini.

“Tenants in rooming houses still require 30 days’ notice for a rent increase.”

A house being destroyed by the Eaton Fire. Getty Images

No matter how strange your leasing terms may seem, or how unorthodox your housing situation, you may be surprised when it comes to your rights concerning rent increases.

Is there a limit to how much a landlord can raise rent ?

As unfortunate as it may be, rent increases are common, and many tenants expect some kind of increase every time their lease comes up.

Still, some renters might find it hard to believe just how much the price of their housing goes up every year, forcing them to move out if they can’t afford the price of their rental property.

“When it comes to how much a landlord can raise rent, anything flies,” says Pellegrini.

“There are no rules, and it’s totally at their discretion.”

Except, of course, if you’re living in a rent-stabilized or rent-controlled apartment, in which case there are strict government provisions in place governing how much rent can be raised (or if it can be increased at all).

Finding one of these rent-controlled apartments is something like locating the holy grail.

So, if you don’t know if you have a rent-controlled apartment, the chances are you do not.

If that’s the case, you, your lease, and your wallet are mostly at the mercy of your landlord and the rental market in your area.

However, there are some exceptions to what your landlord can do, for example: raise the rent to punish a renter.

“If it looked to a judge like the landlord was raising rent punitively—say, for example, to get ‘payback’ for the tenant contacting the Board of Health for a health code violation—then this is not OK, and the landlord could be found guilty and made to pay as much as triple damages and court costs,” says Pellegrini.

In this case, it’s not about your rental agreement, the length of your lease, or even a housing market increase in your area.

It’s about what is legal and illegal.

If you think you may be a victim of a punitive rent increase, contact a lawyer.

Can a landlord raise rent retroactively?

The short answer is no. 

In most cases, if a landlord has slapped a tenant with a retroactive rent increase, he was negligent in letting the tenant know about the increase at the appropriate time.

The renter can’t be held responsible for a rent increase he or she genuinely didn’t know about.

“Often, a landlord provides proper notice of the increased rent retroactively together, to try to bully renters out, knowing that the tenant might be overwhelmed due to the ‘back rent’ and would be more likely to vacate,” says Pellegrini.

If this is the case for you, be aware that a tenant can file suit against a landlord, or simply counterclaim if an eviction has already been initiated by the landlord.

How to know when a rent increase is illegal and what to do?

So, now that you know a bit more about annual rent increases: What if you’re realizing that your rent may have been increased illegally and violated tenant laws?

Maybe your rent was increased illegally on a rent-controlled apartment.

Or, perhaps you’re looking through your rental agreement and realizing that you weren’t due for an increase.

Should you sue your landlord?

There are some cases where you can, and illegally raising the rent is one.

But it can be costly and time consuming, and you’re not going to want to continue living there if you do, so first it’s best to exhaust all your other options.

There are things you can do to protect yourself from an illegal rent increase.

Smoke rises from a home along the Pacific Coast Highway that was reduced to ash by the Palisades Fire on Jan. 9, 2025. AFP via Getty Images

“A tenant should keep track of every correspondence they receive,” says Pellegrini.

“They should also take notes when communication is verbal, and keep track of the dates of each communication.”

This is especially important when trying to prove harassment (to pay rent or otherwise).

But don’t assume that your landlord is automatically the bad guy.

“In my opinion, the vast majority of landlords do the right thing, and, out of the slim percentage that do not, they aren’t even aware that they did something incorrectly,” says Pellegrini.

“So, in all but a few cases, I’d highly recommend that the tenant communicate with the landlord first if something doesn’t seem right. If the tenant ends up in court, or starts things off in a threatening way, they should remember that the landlord owns the property. And, if the landlord finds the tenant to be difficult to work with, the landlord is entitled to allow the tenancy to expire and find a new tenant.”

So, you should protect yourself (and your money) from an unfair increase, but don’t go so far as to threaten your landlord and put your housing situation at risk.

Remember that your landlord could have made an honest mistake.

It’s also possible that you could have miscalculated an increase along the way.

If you come on too strong to correct the situation, you could potentially end up facing eviction.