California agents scramble to help clients affected by LA wildfires 

As the California wildfires enter their second week, the scope of the damage and destruction seems immeasurable. 

But real estate agents have stepped up, working to find housing for the tens of thousands of displaced LA-area residents and looking for other ways to help those who've lost everything — including some agents themselves.

"So far, we know of over 100 people within the real estate community who have lost their homes," said Heather Ozur, president of the California Association of Realtors. 

Agents asked to 'give extraordinary service' — and fight price gouging

While firefighters, medical professionals and government agencies are dealing with the emergency head-on, the real estate industry is also demonstrating that it can play an important role.  

"One of the things that I've realized over the last week — particularly over the last five days — is that the real estate agents themselves are part of that front line," Mauricio Umansky, CEO of The Agency and star of Netflix's Buying Beverly Hills, told Real Estate News. 

Umansky said he's asked his agents to "give extraordinary service to the people that need housing right now," particularly in the wake of stories about price gouging on rental housing and property owners who may be taking advantage of the disaster. 

He has no tolerance for such behavior, telling his agents that "if they have any landlords that want to price gouge, that we fire them," Umansky said. "I don't want to work with those motherf*****s."

Balancing ethics while serving clients 

There are real consequences for unethical behavior, warned California's Department of Real Estate. In a message to the agent community this week, the agency said price gouging during a state of emergency is a criminal offense and carries penalties including fines of up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment for up to one year.

C.A.R.'s Ozur also emphasized that agents must behave ethically, but she acknowledged that some may feel conflicted about their responsibility to their clients — especially if those clients are willing to do whatever it takes to find housing. 

If a client gets into a bidding war or asks their agent to go far above and beyond the price for a residence — whether rental or for-sale — Ozur said agents should make sure everything is in writing. 

"There's got to be a clear communication," she said. While some people are actually behaving badly, others "are going to be accused of something that they didn't do" because they failed to document the transaction properly. 

How agents are giving back 

Many major brokerages have gotten involved in relief efforts, and some individual agents are also looking for ways to give back.

Kyle Whissel, a broker and team lead based in San Diego, has offered to either refund participating teammates' commissions back to clients who have been directly impacted by the wildfires, or donate the commission to the client's charity of choice. 

He hasn't had any takers so far, acknowledging that most displaced residents won't "make a snap decision to relocate in a matter of days," but he expects that to change.

"I think as some people go through the process and realize that there's just nothing available [in LA], after a couple of weeks' time, I think more people will make the decision to relocate," he told Real Estate News. 

Ozur said agents need to be careful about donating commissions, noting that there are rules around what agents can do with those funds — but she applauds the efforts of agents who are getting involved in relief efforts or putting in long hours to help their clients recover.

"Realtors care about their community. They will go to the front line, or donate, or do anything they can help to rebuild the community," she said. "At our heart, that's who we are."