Overview
- Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on July 9, 2026, that Mike Kobeissi was sentenced after a DOJ probe into an attempted rent increase for Eaton Fire evacuees.
- The investigation found a couple who lost their home applied to rent a listing and were told the monthly price rose 38% after their application was received.
- Prosecutors brought the matter through the DOJ’s Special Prosecutions Section, though Kobeissi’s attorney says the final conviction was a misdemeanor false-advertising charge rather than a charge under the state’s post-disaster price-gouging statute.
- Kobeissi’s sentence includes 12 months of probation, 100 hours of community service, a required professional ethics course, a $20,000 payment to a disaster relief fund, and a written apology to the victims.
- The case tests how Penal Code section 396 — which generally bars price increases greater than 10% during declared emergencies and covers rental housing — is enforced, and tenant advocates say only a few prosecutions have followed despite thousands of listings they flagged as likely violations.