The Oppenheim Group founder and principal broker of Selling Sunset talks to Fox News Digital about how he spoke out against landlords taking advantage of price gouging amid the devastating California wildfires.
“Selling Sunset” master broker and founder of The Oppenheim Group is offering proof that California's purportedly expensive property owners are not only acting unethically, but illegally in the wake of the devastating wildfires.
“It's pure greed,” Oppenheim told Fox News Digital earlier this week. It is a callousness and a lack of community and a desire for personal gain.”
He continued: “We are a capitalist society and I fully understand that under normal circumstances we take advantage of the imbalance of supply and demand. But there is a reason for surge pricing laws and people need to be informed.
Oppenheim is part of a larger group of real estate agents in the Los Angeles area He noticed and called The predatory behavior of the owners in the housing and rental market, who demand higher prices in the midst of property destruction in fire.
California wildfires: Essential phone numbers for Los Angeles area residents and how you can help
the flames It started 12 days agoAs strong Santa Ana winds fanned the flames that started in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, FOX Weather reported. Tens of thousands of people in Los Angeles and Ventura counties are displaced and remain in a state of emergency. The wildfires, which have killed at least 25 people and destroyed nearly 12,000 homes, businesses and schools, continue to wreak havoc.
Jason Oppenheim warns California residents about landlords trying to get property prices during a wildfire disaster. (FOX Business)
“I was up late a couple of nights ago or last week, looking for leases, and I kept seeing the 'up' arrows on (multiple listing services), which you rarely see people raising rent prices. , especially when we were there,” Oppenheim explained, “a soft rental market.
“So I drew a map of the area around Altadena and the area around the Palisades, and I sorted by price increases and dozens and dozens of price increases. And I was just blown away,” he said. “I think it should be illegal.”
Using its legal records, the broker found California Penal Code Section 396, an anti-price gouging statute that limits the amount of price gouging in emergency situations.
Selling Sunset founder, CEO and principal broker Jason Oppenheim talks to Fox News Digital about his office's support for fire victims and their homes, and calls on California leaders to cut real estate “red tape.”
More specifically, the law says, “Landlords may not increase rent by more than 10 percent in an emergency, unless the increase is due to additional charges or a prior agreement.”
“These people have suffered the loss of their assets and are now exposed to price increases,” Oppenheim said. “And even my own clients, this is something that really blew me away, to be honest… I sent a client to see a house that was asking $13,000 on the MLS. He gave the landlord $20,000 six months ago and Offered the landlord. My client countered with $23,000 a month, which is almost double the value of the house and I was just in shock and despair.
“It's pure greed. It's a callousness and a lack of community and a desire for self-interest.”
He continued: “Intentionally abusing someone who is injured is not appropriate. “Landlords who have done this and are at above-market rents, I'd be surprised if they don't hear from the district attorney or the attorney general or at least get a letter from their tenant within a few months. When their tenant finds out about the situation be informed, they must pay back all that money plus fines and possible criminal liability.
Also weigh in Homeowners insurance discussionOppenheim pointed the finger at finding bureaucratic solutions instead of blaming providers for their actions.
Jason Oppenheim, owner of Oppenheim Real Estate Group, discusses the effects of the California wildfires on local real estate markets on “The Big Money Show.”
“It frustrates me when I see these celebrities superficially attacking insurance companies. It's just like click-bait virtue signaling,” he said. “Does anybody like the insurance companies? No, probably not. But to sit there and blame the insurance companies superficially, you know why the insurance companies left California? Because our politicians, with all their wisdom “They told themselves endlessly that they weren't allowed to do that. It raised rates and (insurance companies) lost billions of dollars because of previous fires.”
“What do you expect them to do? Come here and insure us at ridiculously low rates when they're paying out billions of dollars in claims?” The broker suggested. “It's stupidity piled on stupidity. What we need to do is find out why they left.”
One of the Golden State's highest-paid real estate leaders — along with an official letter signed by more than 45 others — argues. California Exhibition Plan It will have to increase its debt from the current $3 million to $6 million to adequately insure those homes in the Palisades and Malibu.
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Romer Debus managing partner Pierre Debus says the economic fallout from the California wildfires will continue to be a “sad story.”
“Most of the homes in Malibu weren't even able to get any insurance because California wouldn't offer it. So it seems like California doesn't want to cover them, but they kind of blame the insurance companies. They know, Oppenheim said.
Let's enter some more insurance companies. Let's create an efficient market. Let California enter the insurance market.