LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion Tuesday to increase the penalty for price gouging to a maximum of $50,000 per violation.

The supervisors voted 5-0 to increase the penalty. State law allows for up to one year in jail and a $10,000 fine for price gouging, which occurs when landlords or merchants charge more than 10% above what they were charging before a disaster occurs.

Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who introduced the motion last week, noted then that "price gouging laws have been in effect limiting the amount of money that can be charged for goods and services including rent. Yet, there are bad actors who are taking advantage of this crisis."

She noted that the recent LA County wildfires burned more than 16,000 structures, many residential, and displaced tens of thousands of people, and cited a study by Rent Brigade that found thousands of potential violations, including in areas not affected by fires, in just the first 11 days since the blazes broke out Jan. 7.

Board Chair Kathryn Barger, who co-authored to the motion, said she had witnessed a disturbing trend of price gouging in the area preying on the most vulnerable communities. Barger called the increased penalty a "bold action."

The County Counsel was also authorized to consider initiating or joining existing litigation regarding price gouging and price fixing algorithm software used by housing websites.

Supervisor Holly Mitchell said the rent-fixing algorithms were predatory and compared them to red-lining practices that kept minorities from buying homes for decades.

In last week's meeting, the county CEO was also asked to draft a board letter requesting online housing applications, including Redfin, Zillow, Apartments.com, AirBnB and VRBO, post a banner on their website about the county's state of emergency and price-gouging laws.

The motion will remain in effect for the duration of the local emergency.