The Altadena family claims it was charged nearly three times more than the legal limit. Karma Dickerson reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 28, 2026.
An Altadena family is suing its former landlord after the property owner allegedly rent-gouged by nearly $100,000 after the Eaton Fire, the family announced Thursday.
The lawsuit brought on by Randall and Candy Renick, who were forced out of their home due to severe smoke damage, alleges that Terrence and Catalina Chow charged them nearly three times the maximum rent permitted under state and local law.
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WATCH HEREThe property owners also allegedly continued to collect the illegal rent for nearly 10 months after receiving written notice from both the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office and Los Angeles County that their conduct was illegal.
"We started looking for a place to live and realized quickly that it was hard to find a place. Thousands of people were looking at the same time," Candy Renick recalled. "When we found a house on Zillow in Glassell Park, we took it, not realizing at the time that we were being charged three times what rent gouging laws allow."
The lawsuit seeks restitution of the unlawful overcharges, compensatory damages, civil penalties of up to $30,000 per violation as well as attorneys' fees and costs.
"The lawful maximum monthly rent for the Renick’s rental was $5,032.50. That's 165% of the federal fair market rent for a furnished three-bedroom home in their zip code, which is the ceiling that the law sets during a declared emergency," Josh Nuni, an attorney for the Renick family, said, adding the wildfire victims were charged almost $15,000 per month, nearly three times the legal maximum.
The attorney said the complaint is the first privately filed civil lawsuit related to rent gouging from the January 2025 fires, urging other victims to come forward.
"Wildfire season is here again. And when the next fire hits, families will again be displaced. The state and the city's price gouging laws exist because we know people will be taken advantage of without them," Nuni said. "This case is about making sure those laws are more than just words on a page."
The Renicks are now back at their Altadena home.
Chelsea kirk, a tenant’s advocate, began tracking rental price spikes after the Eaton and Palisades fires in January of 2025. As part of a pro-tenant collective called the Rent Brigade, she said she’s documented thousands of instances of what she says is price gouging.
"Because we realize we cannot rely on government officials to enforce these protections, we have to take enforcement into our own hands," Kirk said.
After the devastating wildfires, rental prices began surging by 20 to 50%, and in some cases, as much as 200%.
"Modest apartments that had rented for $1,500 were suddenly listed for $3,500," Kirk said.
The city of LA and the LA County district attorney have previous announced investigations and cases related to rental price gouging.
City News Service contributed to this report.
