Price Gouging Prohibited During Tropical Storm Sinlaku Emergency

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Office of the Attorney General

Douglas B. Moylan · Attorney General of Guam

590 S. Marine Corps. Drive · ITC Bldg., Ste. 902 · Tamuning, Guam 96913 · USA

671-475-3324 · 671-475-4703 (fax) · dbmoylan@oagguam.org · www.oagguam.org

“Guam’s Toughest Law Enforcers”

Release from the Eagle’s Nest:

Price Gouging Prohibited w/ COR 2

(Monday, April 10, 2026)

With Tropical Storm Sinlaku currently positioned east of Guam and currently forecast to

approach the Island as a Category 2 to 4 typhoon, Attorney General Douglas Moylan reminds

and cautions merchants, landlords and fuel providers: NO price gouging will be tolerated. As

Guam prepares for possible severe weather, the law is clear. Merchants cannot raise prices in

anticipation of a disaster. THIS RESTRICTION DOES NOT PREVENT MERCHANTS, LIKE

GAS STATIONS (FUEL PROVIDERS), FROM LOWERING PRICES. Once a Condition of

Readiness is declared, Guam law freezes wholesale and retail prices at pre-emergency levels.

Pursuant to 5 GCA § 32201(c)(21), the AG reminds the business community:

Price Gouging is Prohibited. Merchants and landlords may not increase prices

due to anticipated shortages caused by a storm or typhoon.

Price Freeze Upon COR Declaration. Once COR 1, 2, or 3 is declared,

wholesale and retail prices are frozen and remain frozen until seventy-two (72) hours

after Guam returns to COR 4. This freeze applies to gasoline, diesel, propane, and all

essential goods.

Violators face three (3) times the gross profits on overcharged goods; five (5) times the

amount of overcharges for services or rentals; Court injunctions and enforcement actions by the

AG. Attorney General Moylan reminds the public, “When a storm approaches Guam, our people

prepare, they cannot to be exploited. The law freezes prices. Businesses that try to raise

prices during this emergency will face aggressive enforcement. We will protect our Client, We

the People.” The freeze applies only to increases, “Fuel companies and merchants are free to

lower prices at any time, especially with the volatility from the Iran War. If costs drop, prices

should drop. What the law prohibits is raising prices on families preparing for a typhoon.” The

AG is accepting complaints suspected price gouging or fixing on our website

www.guamattorneygeneral.org. Residents are encouraged to document price changes and

report violations immediately. We urge our businesses to act to help our community as good

businesses do and as made up of residents themselves.

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5 GCA GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

CH. 32 TRADE PRACTICES AND CONSUMER PROTECTION

31

such failure to disclose such information was intended to

induce the consumer into a transaction into which the

consumer would not have entered had the information been

disclosed. A merchant of vehicles shall reveal to a consumer

in writing prior to sale all previous damage to a vehicle and

known to the merchant and all repair work done on a vehicle

by the merchant or at the merchant’s instruction prior to

signing a contract of sale or selling a vehicle, and revealing

any used parts which were used in the repairs; or

(18) Charging consumers different prices for the same

goods or services on account of the race, ethnic origin, color,

creed, sex, sexual preference, handicap or age of the

consumers; provided however, that nothing in this subsection

shall prevent a merchant from giving discounts to local

residents.

(19) Violating subparagraphs (f) (marking of outdated

food, etc), (g) (damaged consumer products), (h) (marking of

water-added products), (i) (sale of cans of rusty food), or (j)

all of § 40120, Title 10, Guam Code Annotated;

(20) Violating Regulation Z of the United States Federal

Reserve Board in the financing of the sale of goods or

services; or

(21) Price gouging in time of disaster prohibited.

(A) It shall be an unfair trade practice for any

merchant or landlord to increase the price of any goods,

services, or dwelling rentals on the basis of shortage

anticipated or caused by any disaster. A merchant may

add to the normal sales price of goods normally

imported by sea incremental freight costs caused as a

result of air freight actually incurred, and may pass on

to customers actual overtime labor costs for services in

addition to regular charges.

(B) After a disaster in which there is serious damage

to five hundred (500) or more of the permanent

residential units on the island caused by the disaster,

after a typhoon bringing sustained winds to Guam of

100 miles per hour or more, or after an earthquake that

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5 GCA GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

CH. 32 TRADE PRACTICES AND CONSUMER PROTECTION

32

affects Guam with a reading on Guam greater than 7.0

on the Richter Scale, the Governor may, by executive

order, freeze residential rents to levels in effect the day

before the disaster, for up to 120 days from the date of

the disaster, which freeze may not be thereafter

extended.

(C) If Condition of Readiness 1, 2 or 3, or an

equivalent condition is declared, or if I Maga'hågan or

Maga'låhen Guåhan declares that a state of emergency

exists requiring emergency assistance, or after a disaster

which damages two hundred (200) or more of the

permanent residential units on the island, or after a

typhoon brings sustained winds to Guam of one hundred

(100) miles per hour or more, or after an earthquake with

a reading on Guam greater than 7.0 on the Richter Scale,

I Magaʹhåga or Maga'låhi may, by Executive Order,

freeze mark-ups and prices on designated goods and

services which he or she finds to be in short supply or in

danger of being in short supply as a result of the disaster

to markups and prices in effect the day before the

disaster, for up to thirty (30) days after the disaster. Said

freeze shall not be extended. A merchant may add to the

normal sales prices of the goods the increased import

cost of the goods, for all goods normally imported by

sea, and incremental freight costs caused as a result of

air freight actually incurred.

(D) Merchants and landlords violating this

subsection (21) shall be subject to the same damages,

penal ties and other liabilities provided in this chapter

and for damages equal to three (3) times the amounts of

all gross profits on overcharged goods or five (5) times

the amount of overcharges for services or rentals, in

addition to all other damages and remedies allowed by

law or equity, and may be temporarily and permanently

restrained and enjoined from further violation without

the applicant therefor being required to post bond.

(E) The price on all wholesale and retail goods shall

be frozen whenever I Maga’lahen Guåhan declares

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