Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and members of the Los Angeles City Council took steps to prevent property speculation and evictions, as concerns grow that the devastating wildfires will make the city’s housing shortage worse.

Mr. Newsom issued an executive order on Tuesday that is intended to limit speculation on properties in areas where the fires destroyed or damaged homes. A council member, Eunisses Hernandez, later said she had introduced a motion calling for a yearlong moratorium on certain types of evictions in fire-affected neighborhoods.

The wildfires have destroyed thousands of structures and displaced tens of thousands of people. There is mounting evidence that they have sparked bidding wars and double-digit increases in the price of rental offerings, putting pressure on a housing market that was already one of America’s least affordable.

The bidding wars and rent increases are happening even though the state of emergency that Mr. Newsom declared last week banned any increase above 10 percent for the duration of the crisis.

The first part of Mr. Newsom’s two-part executive order bans unsolicited offers for less than what a property’s fair market value was before the fires started. The ban expires after three months. Mr. Newsom said in the order that he had heard from owners who had received such unsolicited offers over the past week and that owners in that situation could be “especially vulnerable to exploitative practices of unscrupulous individuals who seek to profit from this disaster.”

The second part calls on California’s Department of Real Estate to investigate predatory practices against owners and to inform the public about them.

The City Council motion introduced by Ms. Hernandez and another councilor, Hugo Soto-Martínez, proposed a moratorium on evictions in homes where tenants have suffered economic or medical hardship as a result of the fires. A draft of the motion published by the local television station KTLA says the intention was to prevent a “predatory pattern” of rent increases that has been documented after previous wildfires in California and Hawaii.

“It’s a sad reality that people will try to take advantage of this tragedy to jack up rents and evict tenants,” Mr. Soto-Martínez said. “Before this, housing was already unaffordable for the working class.”

KTLA reported that the City Council motion is likely to be heard in the council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee before it is returned to the full council for a vote in the next few weeks.

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and members of the Los Angeles City Council took steps to prevent property speculation and evictions, as concerns grow that the devastating wildfires will make the city’s housing shortage worse.

Mr. Newsom issued an executive order on Tuesday that is intended to limit speculation on properties in areas where the fires destroyed or damaged homes. A council member, Eunisses Hernandez, later said she had introduced a motion calling for a yearlong moratorium on certain types of evictions in fire-affected neighborhoods.

The wildfires have destroyed thousands of structures and displaced tens of thousands of people. There is mounting evidence that they have sparked bidding wars and double-digit increases in the price of rental offerings, putting pressure on a housing market that was already one of America’s least affordable.

The bidding wars and rent increases are happening even though the state of emergency that Mr. Newsom declared last week banned any increase above 10 percent for the duration of the crisis.

The first part of Mr. Newsom’s two-part executive order bans unsolicited offers for less than what a property’s fair market value was before the fires started. The ban expires after three months. Mr. Newsom said in the order that he had heard from owners who had received such unsolicited offers over the past week and that owners in that situation could be “especially vulnerable to exploitative practices of unscrupulous individuals who seek to profit from this disaster.”

The second part calls on California’s Department of Real Estate to investigate predatory practices against owners and to inform the public about them.

The City Council motion introduced by Ms. Hernandez and another councilor, Hugo Soto-Martínez, proposed a moratorium on evictions in homes where tenants have suffered economic or medical hardship as a result of the fires. A draft of the motion published by the local television station KTLA says the intention was to prevent a “predatory pattern” of rent increases that has been documented after previous wildfires in California and Hawaii.

“It’s a sad reality that people will try to take advantage of this tragedy to jack up rents and evict tenants,” Mr. Soto-Martínez said. “Before this, housing was already unaffordable for the working class.”

KTLA reported that the City Council motion is likely to be heard in the council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee before it is returned to the full council for a vote in the next few weeks.