gouge

They’ve been thankful to escape L.A.’s punishing housing market, where thousands of families forced out by the Eaton and Palisades fires have found price gouging, bidding wars and shortages of available homes.

Landlords had begun to ask for two-year leases, and despite warnings from state officials against price gouging, “everything is quadruple the price it was two weeks ago.”

More than 11,000 homes have been confirmed destroyed in the fires and reports of widespread price gouging and bidding wars have followed as the little available rental inventory gets snapped up quickly.

The charges filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday are the first for price gouging related to the historic fires that struck Jan. 7.

If convicted of price gouging, landlords can face up to a year in jail and criminal penalties of $10,000 per violation.