Newsom Issues Order Restricting Land Purchases in Fire-Stricken Areas

An overhead pole camera image shows wildfire damage at the Altadena Community Church destroyed by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, Calif., on Jan. 14, 2025. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

California Gov. Gavin Newsom took executive action on Jan. 14 to restrict predatory land transactions for the next three months in areas destroyed by the recent deadly wildfires.

The executive order prohibits unsolicited and undervalued property purchases for three months in Altadena and other area codes, where thousands of homes were destroyed or damaged since the fires broke out on Jan. 7.

“As families mourn, the last thing they need is greedy speculators taking advantage of their pain,” Newsom wrote in a statement on Tuesday. “I have heard first-hand from community members and victims who have received unsolicited and predatory offers from speculators offering cash far below market value—some while their homes were burning.”

The governor signed the order on Tuesday while visiting with leaders in Altadena.

“This predatory behavior is disgusting in the best of times, and of course here, in the midst of this tragedy and scale,” Newsom said in a video posted on X. “It’s disgraceful. We’re going to hold those folks accountable.”

In the executive order, the governor stated that those impacted by the fires, especially property owners, may be traumatized, uncertain, and especially vulnerable to exploitative practices of people who are looking to profit from the disaster.

The governor has also directed the Department of Real Estate and other state agencies to provide a notice to the public of their rights under the law, resources for information, and contact information for law enforcement agencies tasked with enforcing the prohibition.

The order received mixed reviews on social media.

Mark Valorian, a trader and marketer, said he thought it was a “good policy.”

“I’m a free market libertarian basically diametrically opposed to everything [California] does, but after thinking about this, I really think this is good policy,” Valorian said on Tuesday. “It should protect the highest risk people from being taken advantage of at a relatively small cost.”

Marc Joffe, president of the Contra Costa Taxpayers Association and a fellow of the California Policy Center, had a different opinion on the order, calling it “really bad.”

“Here’s a cynical take on Newsom’s executive order banning low-ball offers on fire-damaged LA properties: if they change hands at a low value, Prop. 13 will lock in a lower assessment reducing local government revenue,” Joffe wrote on X on Wednesday. “This [order] is really bad: the properties have lost value, and some owners undoubtedly need cash now. With this order, they can’t even get 95 or 99 cents on the dollar.”

Denise Johnson, whose home is one of the few that survived the Eaton Fire in her neighborhood in Altadena, Calif., holds her cat Ramsey as she and her two children hunker down without power to care for their pets and protect the home on Jan. 14, 2025. Jae C. Hong/ AP Photo

Newsom’s office said the order will protect the working-class neighborhood in Altadena, which was hit especially hard by the Eaton fire about 15 miles east of Los Angeles in Altadena and Pasadena.

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), the fire had consumed 14,117 acres by Wednesday morning and was 45 percent contained.

Recovery and law enforcement crews, including the county coroner’s office, continued to search residences destroyed in the fire.

As of Wednesday, officials have reported 16 deaths and six firefighter injuries related to the fire.

Mimi Laine inspects her mother's house, which was destroyed by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, Calif., on Jan. 9, 2025. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Cal Fire reported that 4,627 homes and buildings were destroyed in the blaze, with another 486 damaged.

“Opportunistic investors in communities such as Altadena threaten the character and vibrancy of the community and could displace and endanger vulnerable residents who have long ties and investments in the community,” Newsom’s office said in a statement on Tuesday.

California law makes violating a governor’s order during a state of emergency a misdemeanor, which can be prosecuted by the attorney general or a local district attorney’s office.

The order covers the zip codes 90019, 90041, 90049, 90066, 90265, 90272, 91001, 91104, 91106, 91107, 93353, and 93536.

Anyone who offers to buy or acquire any interest in property located in these areas for less than its fair market value on Jan. 6, a day before the fires broke out, would be violating the order.

The governor urged residents to report violators at oad.ca.gov/report.