California AB 238 LA Fire Mortgage Forbearance
Financial ProductsMortgages & Lending
About
- Requires covered mortgage lenders/servicers to provide qualifying 2025 Los Angeles firestorm borrowers experiencing wildfire-related financial hardship with statutory mortgage forbearance for up to 12 months, subject to the conditions in AB 238.
Eligibility — Housing
- Applicant must not have had a recorded Notice of Default against the secured property before the beginning of the wildfire disaster, unless that Notice of Default was later rescinded.
- The mortgage must be a residential mortgage loan secured by residential real property improved by four or fewer residential units.
- Applicant must not have surrendered the property securing the residential mortgage loan, as evidenced by a surrender-confirmation letter or delivery of the property keys to the mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent.
Eligibility — Participant Type
- Applicant must be a natural person who is the mortgagor or trustor on the residential mortgage loan, or a person who holds power of attorney for the mortgagor or trustor.
Benefits
- Up to 12 months of deferred scheduled mortgage payments; participating lenders may also offer an additional up-to-90-day extension subject to lender/investor requirements. (90-day periods, extendable up to the statutory maximum while eligible.)
- housing
Documents needed
- Borrower must request forbearance and affirm wildfire-related financial hardship.
- Servicer/account information is needed; the statute does not prescribe a universal documentary proof package beyond the required affirmation.
- Proof of financial hardship due to the wildfire disaster
- Surrender-confirmation letter or evidence of property possession (if applicable)
- Surrender-confirmation letter or evidence of property keys not being delivered to the mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent
- Evidence that no unresolved pre-disaster recorded Notice of Default exists unless rescinded
How to apply
- online
- phone
- in-person
- Processing time: Servicer timing varies; the borrower requests an initial 90-day period and can seek extensions in additional 90-day increments if eligible.
Also at this location(2)
