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STATLINE, Nev. (AP) – As residents of dreadful Lake Tahoe pack their belongings and flee a wildfire blazing towards the California-Nevada border, some have encountered an unexpected hurdle: price gouging.
A rideshare company has offered more than $1,500, nearly eight times the round-trip fare, to move from the smoky ski resort in Heavenly Valley to the security of Reno-Tahoe International Airport. A Nevada hotel-casino outside the eviction order zone advertised a two-night stay for $1,090.72, nearly four times the midweek price offered the day before.
Reports of price increases routinely appear during natural disasters, and it gained new attention early in the pandemic as some businesses tried to capitalize on panic over demand for toilet paper and hand sanitizer.
While there is no federal law banning it in emergencies, it has addressed at least a dozen state home price increases since last year, including Nevada and California, where Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill banning the practice last September.
But unlike California, Nevada’s price gouging ban, signed by Governor Steve Sisolak in June, doesn’t go into effect until October. The start date limits authorities from overseeing the issue and taking action beyond a promise to monitor.
“We hope good traders won’t participate in price gouging,” Sisolak said in Carson City, where ash particles from the Caldor Fire rained down from the sky on Tuesday. “They will try to get their goods to the widest possible group of people.”
Officials in both states have publicly warned businesses overshadowed by the massive fire of falling prices, with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, his Nevada counterpart Aaron Ford, and U.S. Representative Mark Amodei asking consumers to report the incidents to their offices.
Ford’s office said Wednesday that it has not received any specific complaints. Bonta said the information is confidential.
The Caldor Fever calmed significantly on Friday, but only a few miles from the California resort of South Lake Tahoe. On Monday, the flames reached the city so quickly that authorities ordered a mass evacuation of all 22,000 people. People at the state line in Douglas County were ordered to leave a day later.
Montbleu Resort, Casino and Spa – a 438-room high-rise Nevada hotel just blocks from the California line – has begun offering discounts for evacuees, $60 for firefighters and first responders, and free accommodation for their employees.
For everyone else, it increased room rates from $120 to $450 per night excluding taxes and fees on Tuesday.
Tim Tretton, the resort’s deputy general manager, said Wednesday that he did it to deter tourists from traveling near the bushfire and to keep rooms ready for those evacuated. The company said it plans to refund the difference to those who book at a higher cost.
“We did not and do not plan to collect at these rates and provide refunds or discounts as appropriate,” Tretton said.
Leaving South Lake Tahoe has also become more expensive for some travelers.
A 60-mile (96-kilometer) Lyft XL ride from the city to Reno normally costs around $200. On Tuesday, it increased nearly eightfold as people rushed to beat the flames.
An enraged resident shared a screenshot of prices on Twitter showing $1,535 for a van or SUV for at least five passengers. SFGate reported that costs dropped to $230 by midday.
Lyft and Uber said on Wednesday that price increases triggered automatic restraints as demand surged around South Lake Tahoe during emergency evacuations. Lyft said it was “reviewing and adjusting fees for specific affected drivers in the region.”
“When driving demands exceed the number of drivers on the road, premium pricing – high fares designed to attract more drivers to high-demand areas – is automatically activated,” the company said. “Once we understood how the eviction order impacted Lyft prices, we immediately applied a cap and ultimately suspended prime-time pricing.”
Uber said fares were capped in some locations after it declared a public emergency on Monday. It released a second cover on Tuesday.
Gas stations around evacuation zones haven’t increased prices significantly this week.
Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C. and 39 states have regulations that limit price hikes in emergencies, according to the National Conference of the State Legislature.
Mississippi, some of which was battered by Hurricane Ida, strengthened penalties in its price gouging law in 2006, months after Hurricane Katrina left extensive havoc and a shortage of supplies caused long gasoline lines in the first weeks after the storm.
North Carolina’s Attorney General filed a price-eroding lawsuit last week at a gas station that raised mid-range and premium gas prices to $9.99 per gallon after a ransomware attack forced the Colonial Pipeline, the United States’ largest fuel delivery system, to shut down. . .
Nevada’s anti-price ballot law passed in May in a party-line vote in favor of Democrats and opposed by Republicans. The law will prohibit price increases in areas where the governor has declared a state of emergency.
California law generally prohibits businesses from raising prices by more than 10% following a state or local emergency notification.
“If you see price gouging – or have been a victim of it – I recommend that you immediately file a complaint online at my office at oag.cag.gov/report or contact your local police department or sheriff’s office.” said Bonta.
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