By Rich McKay and Jonathan Allen
(Reuters) – Thousands of Angelenos who lost their homes in some of the most devastating wildfires in California history are in fierce competition with each other for an affordable place to live in Los Angeles’ post-disaster housing market.
By Friday, the fires had killed at least 27 people and destroyed more than 10,000 structures in the residential enclaves of Pacific Palisades and Altadena. After the fire, rents went up and uncertainty over insurance settlements left some of the displaced in limbo.
In interviews this week, Angelenos described the anguish of being exiled from beloved neighborhoods and the daunting task of figuring out what comes next for them and their families. Here are some of their stories:
‘TOTALLY CRAZY’ RENTAL MARKET
John Adolph, a 48-year-old video producer, and his wife, two young children and two dogs have been staying with friends since fleeing their Altadena home a week ago. Their ranch-style home they had spent six years near the Angeles National Forest was completely destroyed in the Eaton (NYSE: ) Fire.
“We thank God that we are safe, but we don’t know what’s next,” he said. “We’re both lucky, our jobs are still here. I know people who lost their livelihoods and have to start over. We’re still busy.”
Adolph and his wife, Christine, are lifelong Angelenos and don’t plan to move out of the area for good “unless it ends up kicking and screaming,” he said.
For the time being, the family was content to stay with friends, but they know that in the long run, a lot can be asked for. They were already looking at apartments for rent.
“We have two kids and older dogs, we can’t just bounce from hotel rooms to Airbnbs,” he said. “We need something stable for the kids.”
When they went to look at the apartment for rent, there were already six families in front of them.
“It’s completely crazy,” Adolph said. “He’s going in crazy mode.”
Although his home was insured, he worries that skyrocketing construction costs and new insurance rates could push them out of their own neighborhood.
“So it’s up in the air whether we can actually rebuild,” he said. There’s no telling how long it will take the county to clear the debris before they even begin. – We would really like to stay, but who knows, we don’t know.
‘MUSIC CHAIRS’
On the GoFundMe page set up by Kate Alexandria, she includes a photo of the fire that consumed her Altadena rental apartment and says her credit cards have been drained. By Friday, people had donated more than $3,000.
Alexandria, a 27-year-old grant writer, moved to Los Angeles three years ago from Grass Valley, a small town north of Sacramento, after being disturbed by devastating wildfires nearby.
She was renting what she described as an illegally converted apartment in Altadena above garages filled with fuel, paint and other fire accelerants. For a while, she shared the monthly rent of $2,000, which was a bargain in Los Angeles, with a roommate.
After the fire, the landlord refunded the January rent, but she still hasn’t gotten back her $2,000 security deposit, which she says she desperately needs.
Alexandria says she takes about 40 different medications to manage the painful symptoms of her disability, but most of the medications were destroyed by the fire. Replacing prescriptions will cost hundreds of dollars.
Her cat is staying at a friend’s house in nearby Pasadena, which is undergoing renovations, while she crashes at her friend’s mother’s house in Van Nuys, about 20 miles west of Altadena, until Saturday, when her mother returns from a trip. Most days she drives between the two places.
“It’s going to be musical chairs for a while,” she said. FEMA approved her an initial payment of $770, which is not much in a city as expensive as Los Angeles. She is trying to get approved for a disaster loan from Airbnb.org, which would allow her to rent at least a few days.
California prohibits price increases of more than 10% in disaster declarations, but rents have risen nonetheless. As Alexandria looked through apartment listings, places that were listed for $2,000 a month in January were now going for more than $3,000, she said.
She is appalled by what she calls the “creepiness” of landlords, but dreams of returning to her beloved neighborhood.
“It’s just the weirdest and most beautiful place in Los Angeles,” she said.
‘FEEL LIKE A GHOST CITY’
“I feel like where you live is part of your identity,” said Deisy Suarez-Giles, who lost the four-bedroom Altadena home she bought in 2021 and the citrus and avocado orchard she planted on the property. “I feel like a part of who we are is gone.”
She and her husband, Keith Giles, secured a hotel room in downtown Los Angeles near their spa business for about $170 a night, a sort of discount for employees because the hotel uses their masseurs.
On Friday, they moved into a free rental apartment donated by Airbnb for 10 days. After that, they don’t know where they will end up.
The couple sent their two young sons to relatives in Florida until some stability was established.
She and her husband still have to make monthly mortgage payments on their destroyed home, on which they still owe $850,000. Paying off the mortgage is now more difficult because they were partly reliant on the rent paid by the tenant who lives in the studio behind the house. And their spa business has suddenly slowed down.
“We fought, and now with the fire we feel like a ghost town,” she said. “Nobody’s thinking is ‘spa’ right now.”
He is waiting to hear from the insurance company how much the costs will be reimbursed in the next 12 months. Before they start their rental search in earnest, they need to know their budget.
They threw out some tentacles, but the boys’ new Christmas puppy turned out to be an easy reason for landlords to turn them away: “No pets.”
‘HAPPY AND BLESSED’
Kathleen McRoskey went under contract to buy her two-story, four-bedroom home on the day of the 1994 earthquake and left it last week just before the Palisades Fire engulfed it.
She and her husband, Mike, grew up a few miles from Palisades and met in first grade. They decided to stay in the neighborhood where they raised their four children.
The family is now staying at the husband’s sister’s house near the University of California, Los Angeles.
“Being with family and being miles away from where we lost our home is priceless,” McRoskey said. – On the other hand, we put a burden on her.
Moving through the Los Angeles market was earth-shattering. A tip from her husband’s real estate friend about an unlisted rental home in Santa Barbara led to an early morning tour of the property, which she said appeared to be a “drug deal.”
They know they have a relatively generous budget because a few months ago, her husband decided to increase their fire insurance coverage after helping an elderly woman struggling to file a claim after losing her home in the 2018 Malibu fire.
We are extremely happy and blessed, she said.
They hope to move up the coast to Santa Barbara in February, when they will start thinking about the multi-year process of building a new home on their Palisades property.
“In our 70s, we didn’t even dream of rebuilding,” she said.
