Price Gouging Protections In Effect In Eight California Counties

As a powerful storm bringing high winds, damaging rain, and heavy snowfall makes landfall in California, Governor Newsom has proclaimed a state of emergency for Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties.

The emergency proclamation includes provisions authorizing a California National Guard response if tasked, facilitating unemployment benefits for impacted residents, and making it easier for out-of-state contractors and utilities to repair storm damage. The emergency proclamation can be found here.

With the proclamation, price gouging protections immediately go into effect. Price gouging is defined as when a business, including self storage facilities, raise a price more than 10% of what it was before the state of emergency. These protections generally apply for 30 days after a declaration of emergency, although for reconstruction services and emergency cleanup services, protections apply for 180 days following the declaration.