City Attorney Seeks Permanent Ban and Millions in Penalties for Operators
City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto has filed a civil lawsuit against a group of individuals and affiliated companies, accusing them of operating an extensive illegal short-term rental operation in violation of city laws and exploiting wildfire-displaced residents through unlawful rent hikes.
Feldstein-Soto said that her office had received over 1000 complaints of rental price gouging violations.
The civil enforcement action, announced Monday, targets a group the city says conducted thousands of illegal short-term rental transactions across Los Angeles, including rent-stabilized units that are barred from such use. The lawsuit also alleges the defendants engaged in price gouging in the aftermath of the January 2025 Palisades and Eaton wildfires, violating California’s Anti-Gouging Law by inflating rental prices by as much as 113%.
“The scale of the alleged activity—the illegal short-term rentals and the wildfire-related price gouging—is outrageous,” Feldstein Soto said in a statement. “The defendants not only exacerbated a severe housing shortage but took advantage of Angelenos at their most vulnerable time.”
Filed under California’s Unfair Competition Law, the lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction to bar the defendants from operating short-term rentals outside the city’s ordinance, as well as restitution to affected tenants and potentially tens of millions in civil penalties.
According to the complaint, the group listed and booked short-term rentals for thousands of nights without obtaining proper permits, often employing deceptive tactics such as using fake host identities and falsely labeling properties as located in Beverly Hills or West Hollywood to evade enforcement. The properties were advertised and booked on major platforms despite city laws restricting such activity to primary residences with valid registration.
The defendants named in the complaint include:
- Akiva Nourollah
- Micah Hiller
- Haim Amran Zrihen
- Rachel Florence Saadat
- Hiller Hospitality LLC
- Hiller Hospitality Group LLC
- 1070 Bedford LLC
- Red Rock 70 LLC
- Coastal Charm LLC
Several of the companies are registered in Nevada but authorized to do business in California.
Los Angeles implemented its short-term rental ordinance in 2019 to protect housing stock and neighborhood quality of life. Under the ordinance, only primary residences may be offered as short-term rentals, and hosts must register with the city and comply with limits on rental days, tax collection, and advertising disclosures.
Following Governor Gavin Newsom’s state of emergency declaration for the wildfires on January 7, California’s Anti-Gouging Law came into effect, capping rent increases at 10% for the duration of the emergency. Feldstein Soto alleges that in the weeks following the disaster, the defendants raised rent on some units by more than double, in one case exceeding a 100% increase.
The lawsuit also accuses the defendants of converting long-term housing into illegal short-term rentals and continuing their operations after the fires despite the increased housing demand and legal restrictions.
The City Attorney’s Office encourages any residents who believe they have been victims of price gouging to report the violations through the city’s 311 system or by completing an online complaint form. Reports can be made anonymously.
The litigation is being handled by the Public Rights Branch of the City Attorney’s Office.
