STATELINE, Nev. — The threat the Caldor Fire poses to Lake Tahoe residents is exposing differences between laws against price-gouging in Nevada and California.
While California prohibits exorbitant price increases during emergencies, a ban that Nevada lawmakers passed this year doesn't take effect until October.
Evacuees are reporting rideshare companies quoting trips from area ski resorts to the Reno-Tahoe International Airport at eight times the normal rate and hotels on the Nevada side of the resort town hiked room rates to nearly $450 per night.
Reports of price-gouging have emerged routinely in disaster zones during hurricanes and won newfound attention in statehouses during the pandemic.