San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan threw her support Tuesday behind new legislation aimed at updating the state’s price gouging law in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stephan joined state Sen. Thomas J. Umberg, D-Santa Ana, and Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer in co-sponsoring Senate Bill 1196, which will update the existing price gouging law to cover online and new sellers of items.
The District Attorney’s Office said current law makes it illegal for sellers to charge more than 10% above what they previously charged for a particular good or service before a proclamation or declaration of emergency. Since the law hasn’t been changed since 1992, it has not provided safeguards against online or new sellers committing price gouging offenses, according to the DA’s office.
“Emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic bring out the best in most Californians, but some businesses take advantage of emergency conditions to gouge consumers with extreme prices for essential goods and services,” Stephan said. “This bill will help close loopholes that allow greedy actors to escape accountability and ensures that California businesses don’t charge abusive prices for health and consumer essentials during this national emergency.”
DA’s officials said Tuesday that they have received more than 280 complaints of potential price gouging.
Violations of the statute can result in penalties of up to one year in county jail or a fine of up to $10,000, in addition to civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation.
Overcharging for essential goods or services by more than 10% is illegal unless a business can show its own costs have increased, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
“We are committed to protect Californians from those that prey on our community during the trying times of national or global emergencies,” Umberg said. “We will continue to use all of the tools at our disposal to prevent price gouging during this, and any future disaster. There are brave men and women in the health and public safety sectors of our community whose lives are on the line every day. It is immoral and unacceptable to allow some to take advantage of this crisis when so many are fighting to help.”
Price gouging complaints can be reported to the District Attorney’s Consumer Hotline at 619-531-3507.