In LA, residents weigh whether to sell or rebuild after fires destroy their homes
| Altadena, Calif.
Alicia Rodriguez has already been approached by a company who wants to buy her burned-out property in Altadena.
That property, where she lived with her adult son, was in the once-picturesque neighborhood of well-appointed stucco homes on Olive Avenue. Most all of them are gone now, among those consumed by the Eaton Fire.
Her son struggles with a seizure disorder, and Ms. Rodriguez was with him in the hospital, where he was undergoing a scheduled brain surgery, when the fire began to tear through her neighborhood.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onThose displaced after losing homes in the LA fires are weighing whether to rebuild or sell. Will a vibrant and diverse community retain its historic character?
鈥淢y dad is sick, too,鈥� she says as she stands in line at a donation center at聽Westminster Presbyterian on Lake Avenue. She聽asks for a few boxes of wet wipes. 鈥淚鈥檝e got a lot going on. Maybe I鈥檒l just sell and move. I hate to leave my community, but I don鈥檛 know if we can make it work here anymore.鈥�
Indeed, as it is for the tens of thousands of others who have lost homes or endured significant damage to their houses, getting a cash offer from a big company can be difficult to turn down. It could even be a lifeline for some.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an option,鈥� Ms. Rodriguez says of the offer she received. 鈥淚鈥檓 lucky to have anything. There are so many people who don鈥檛 even have what I do.鈥� When her son recovers, she says, she鈥檒l head to Redding to care for her dad, so she鈥檒l have a place to stay.聽
Housing prices are skyrocketing, even though it's against the law
But thousands of others do not, says Yulree Chun Tio, a realtor and brand strategist in Cerritos who has been doing pro-bono work for people in need of a place to rent.聽
In addition to companies seeking to purchase properties from those who are displaced, Ms. Tio says, the prices of houses now for sale or rent are starting to skyrocket, even though it鈥檚 against the law.聽聽
鈥淭here aren鈥檛 enough homes,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here weren鈥檛 before the fires, and it鈥檚 worse now. For every house for rent or sale, there are 100 people in line within minutes of it being advertised. No one wants to stay in a hotel or a campsite for long.聽
鈥淭hey need housing and I doubt strongly that most will find it, not at these prices,鈥� she says. 鈥淧eople started gouging within a day of the fires.鈥�
On Jan. 14, Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order to block predatory speculators from approaching homeowners within three months of the fire in heavily impacted Zip codes.
鈥淎s families mourn, the last thing they need is greedy speculators taking advantage of their pain,鈥� Gov. Newsom said in a statement. 鈥淚 have heard first-hand from community members and victims who have received unsolicited and predatory offers from speculators offering cash far below market value - some while their homes were burning.鈥澛�
Violating the order is a misdemeanor if a speculator is caught and charged. But the practice continues.
California law, too, outlaws price gouging after an emergency has been declared, prohibiting increases of more than 10% for 30 days after a disaster. The governor has extended this prohibition for 60 days, to March 8, and it may be extended again.
Even so, says Ms. Tio, gouging is likely to continue because desperation grows with every passing day.聽
鈥淚f you鈥檙e on the low end of the housing market, you鈥檒l have nowhere to go,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e already seeing it. I had a pro bono client who was trying to find a place, and before we could go look at it, the landlord jacked up the rent by $3,000.聽
鈥淚n disasters like this, you鈥檒l see the best and worst in people,鈥� Ms. Tio says. 鈥淪ome landlords give people free lodging for a period of time and others price gouge.鈥�
California officials say 9,418 structures have been lost in the Eaton Fire and 1,064 damaged in the once working-class neighborhoods of Altadena and surrounding areas. Overall, the Eaton Fire and Palisades Fire have destroyed almost 16,000 structures and damaged almost 2,000 more.聽
These losses come at a time when California was already facing a chronic shortage of homes, driving prices to some of the highest in the country. According to by the California Housing Partnership, the state was hoping to build 119,287 affordable new homes in 2024, but it funded construction of only 14,592.聽
By most any metric, Greater Los Angeles has the worst homeless crisis in the nation, and experts worry the aftermath of the fires could further exacerbate this crisis. And most know the attention and funding pouring in now won鈥檛 last.
Will a vibrant and diverse community survive?
One of the greatest dangers, resident after resident says, is the loss of one of the most vibrant communities in the country.聽
鈥淭his was a diverse community where people were able to build decades ago,鈥� says Ms. Tio. And part of this diversity now remains a cross-section of socioeconomic groups. Given the efforts of companies trying to buy up properties and California鈥檚 housing crisis, she worries about gentrification. 鈥淚鈥檓 afraid for working-class people who will either have to move or become homeless."
One section of Altadena is a historic and thriving middle-class Black neighborhood. In the era of redlining, Black folk around the country moved here, a place where many could afford houses without guaranteed loans. In California鈥檚 tight housing market, much of the area can now be considered affluent, with the median home value between $700,000 and $1.3 million.
Stephanie Graves and her husband, longtime members of the Altadena Black community, are not even thinking of selling. They built their house on Pine Street 32 years ago. This month, they lost it in the Eaton Fire.
鈥淲e will rebuild,鈥� Ms. Graves says. 鈥淭his was our first home, and I can鈥檛 worry about what anyone else does. We live here, and we will continue to live here. We鈥檙e feeling supported by our community, and we鈥檙e praying our way through it.鈥�
The Graves are staying with other family members while they sort their way through insurance policies and available state and federal aid. 鈥淲e are figuring it out. It鈥檚 complicated, but the help is there.鈥�
