Just days after signing nation-leading smoke remediation bills and extending mortgage protections for survivors, California Governor Gavin Newsom launched a new state program to help close the gap between insurance payouts and the cost of rebuilding.
The program, first announced during the Governor’s State of the State earlier this year, was developed in response to feedback from survivors of the Eaton and Palisades fires. The $100 million program was funded as part of the state budget.
“California will not leave survivors to navigate recovery alone,” Newsom said. “With the launch of this recovery fund, we’re turbo-charging efforts to help families get back home and communities rebuild faster. I’m proud of the work we’ve done with the Legislature to make this fund possible, and I look forward to seeing its impact across California.”
The Disaster Rebuilding Assistance Program offers key financing tools to help reduce the cost of rebuilding, connect homeowners with trusted lenders, and improve loan options for low- to moderate-income households. The program offers interest rate buydowns, which use upfront assistance to reduce borrower interest costs, and loan-loss guarantees, which increase borrower access to funds by allowing lenders to lend more expansively with lower risk.
“For victims of wildfire and other natural disasters, the process of rebuilding their homes can be both daunting and expensive,” said Tomiquia Moss, secretary of the California Housing and Homelessness Agency. “California has stepped up to support victims of the Los Angeles wildfires by streamlining permitting to allow for faster rebuilding and providing much-needed mortgage relief. Through the Disaster Rebuilding Assistance Program, we are continuing to make key investments to help Californians with the financial assistance they need to rebuild and recover.”
“Many families are still navigating the challenges and trauma that follow the loss of a home,” said CalHFA Executive Director Tony Sertich. “The state is here to support their recovery and help them rebuild their homes and communities.
Homeowners interested in exploring eligibility and learning more should visit the program’s webpage, and should meet with a participating construction lender to understand the steps they’ll need to take.
This program was built from the state’s collaborative efforts with survivors’ groups and lending partners following the Los Angeles area firestorms. Today’s announcement adds to the 28 executive orders issued by the Governor, as well as other state financial programs, including the CalAssist Mortgage Fund, which provides up to $100,000 of mortgage payments over a period of one year that do not have to be repaid. The CalAssist program has awarded $54 million in mortgage relief to 1,575 households as of Sept 14, 2026, and 76% of the funds went to homes in the Eaton Fire.
Today’s announcement also builds on California’s ongoing recovery efforts in Los Angeles, where the state has worked with survivors, local governments, and community partners to accelerate debris removal, permitting and rebuilding while providing mortgage relief and other assistance.
The fund launches days after the governor signed bills to permanently extend mortgage forbearance protections for disaster-affected homeowners. For survivors still paying a mortgage on a home they can’t live in, Assembly Bills 1842 and 1847 (Harabedian) provide families a path away from foreclosure and help them keep their homes.
The legislation makes permanent the kind of mortgage forbearance protections the governor secured directly from loan servicers after the LA fires — automatic protections and processes in law following a disaster to help borrowers avoid foreclosure. This landmark legislation also doubles the mortgage forbearance window available by law for LA fire survivors, from 12 months to 24 months, and requires servicers to offer borrowers the option to defer repayment of missed payments until the end of the loan, unless prohibited by investor contract terms or servicing guidelines.
California’s Credit Unions is actively connecting credit unions to the emerging statewide recovery network. If you’d like more information, please contact Amanda Merz.
