Luxury hotel accused of price gouging during Eaton fire will pay to settle lawsuit
-
Click here to listen to this article - Share via
See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Set us as preferred
- A Pasadena luxury hotel corporation will pay $320,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging it unfairly raised prices on guests in the wake of the Eaton fire last year.
- The company did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
- Under California law, it is illegal to raise prices for lodging or other goods by more than 10% in the wake of a natural disaster if the state has declared a state of emergency.
A international luxury hotel corporation will pay $320,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging it unfairly raised prices on Pasadena guests in the wake of the Eaton fire last year, prosecutors said Monday.
Langham Hotels Pacific Corporation — which owns dozens of high-end resorts around the globe including the Langham Huntington in Pasadena — raised prices on Pasadena guests by more than 10% from its normal posted rates after the wildfire, which claimed 19 lives and destroyed roughly 9,400 buildings.
Under California law, it is illegal to raise prices on goods by more than 10% after the governor’s office has declared a state of emergency.
“It is reprehensible to overcharge and take advantage of wildfire victims who were in desperate need of housing as they fled their homes from raging fires last year,” Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said in a statement. “During a time when our community was meant to come together to help those in need, Langham Hotels Pacific Corporation profited from other people’s tragedies.”
The company did not admit any wrongdoing, according to the district attorney’s office. An attorney representing Langham did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Monday.
According to a stipulated judgment entered into on Friday between Langham and the county, the company “had an automated pricing system in place, but a cap on price increases was not immediately implemented resulting in hotel guests being charged prices in excess of those allowed.”
While the district attorney’s office has not criminally prosecuted anyone for price gouging since the fires, both county and city attorneys have gone after alleged violators of the state law in civil court.
L.A. City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto sued rental giant Airbnb for alleged price gouging last summer in the wake of the devastating Palisades fire. She also won $1.2 million in restitution from Blueground, another large-scale home rental company, to settle a similar lawsuit earlier this year.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
Senator Allen has put his money on fire mitigation and bringing stakeholders together in communities up and down the state to reduce their risk and stay insured. In this episode, Host Kate Cagle speaks with Allen about his plans.
The Hillside Strangler murders terrorized Los Angeles in the late 1970s. The killers were a pair of sadistic cousins. One confessed. The other was set to stand trial—until L.A. prosecutors flinched.
Hosts Fidel Martínez and Suzy Exposito run the Latino vibe check — inspired by a newsletter from their colleague Carlos De Loera asking a simple but loaded question: Is there any advantage to being Latino in the United States?
