DA51 — Rent Gouging & Short-Term Rental (STR) Relisting Evidence

Overview

This page documents how, after removing a long-term tenant, the owner substantially increased the asking rent in violation of California’s emergency price-gouging protections and then relisted the home as a lucrative short-term/medium-term rental. Together, these exhibits show the financial motive for the fraudulent eviction and the owner’s willingness to ignore state price limits following declared disasters.

Key Facts

• Pre-eviction rent: approx. $5,000/month under the original tenancy.
• Post-eviction 2024 listing: approx. $5,500/month (Zillow record).
• January 5, 2025 listing: $6,900/month — roughly a 25% increase over $5,500.
• California emergency law: Penal Code §396 generally caps rent increases at 10% above the pre-emergency rate after declared disasters (e.g., 2025 Palisades fire).
• STR listing: The property (or substantially similar configuration) is advertised on Airbnb at roughly $7,786 per month, showing a shift to high-yield STR/medium-term rental use.

Evidence Cards (Large) — With Full-Size Links

Open full-size Zillow rent history

Zillow history for the Brynn Avenue property showing:
• 4/11/2022 listed at $5,000/month
• 9/16/2024 listed at $5,500/month

• 1/5/2025 listed at $6,900/month (+25.5% over $5,500),
• 2/5/2025 listed at $7,786/month (+54.2% over $5,000),

Airbnb listing at 54% increase from signed contract with tenants during the price-gouging law demonstrating post-eviction rent increases well above California’s 10% emergency cap.

Open full-size CA price-gouging law summary

Summary of California’s emergency price-gouging response:
• Palisades fire (January 2025) triggers Penal Code §396.
• Landlords prohibited from increasing rents by more than 10% over pre-emergency levels.
• Violations subject to criminal and civil penalties. This makes the 25%+ increase shown in the Zillow record potentially unlawful.

Open full-size Airbnb listing

Airbnb rental listing titled “Live the beach life in Huntington Beach city,” with a calculated monthly rate of approximately $7,786 for a one-month stay. This demonstrates the owner’s shift to STR/medium-term rental use at far higher effective rents after displacing the long-term tenant, reinforcing motive for the eviction and price-gouging behavior.

Legal Significance

These exhibits support the following theories:

• Rent gouging / emergency price violation under California Penal Code §396 (increases >10%).
• Retaliatory eviction with financial motive — tenant removed to allow large rent jumps and STR conversion.
• Unfair business practices under B&P Code §17200 (exploiting disaster conditions for profit).
• RICO predicate behavior when combined with the forged contracts, payment diversion, and concealment documented on other DA pages (enterprise pattern for financial gain).