State Hearing at PCC Friday Will Probe Whether Banks Obey Wildfire Mortgage Law

A California Assembly committee will hold a public hearing Friday at Pasadena City College to examine whether mortgage servicers are complying with a state law that requires them to offer forbearance to homeowners affected by the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires.

Assemblymember John Harabedian (D-Pasadena), who co-authored Assembly Bill 238, the Mortgage Forbearance Act, will host the hearing after his office received reports that some servicers were not following the law, according to a statement from his office. The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation has received 233 consumer complaints about mortgage forbearance since January 2025, with 92 percent resolved in consumers’ favor, according to state data.

The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Westerbeck Recital Hall on the PCC campus, 1570 E. Colorado Blvd. Assemblymember Avelino Valencia (D-Anaheim), who chairs the Assembly Banking and Finance Committee, will also participate. Eaton Fire survivors and community members are expected to testify.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 238 into law on September 22, 2025. The law requires mortgage servicers to offer an initial 90-day forbearance period, extendable in 90-day increments up to 12 months, to homeowners experiencing financial hardship from the wildfires. During forbearance, servicers are prohibited from charging late fees, initiating foreclosure or reporting the forbearance negatively to credit agencies. Borrowers who were current on their mortgages before entering forbearance cannot be required to repay the forborne amounts in a lump sum.

The Eaton Fire ignited on January 7, 2025, and burned approximately 14,021 acres in the Altadena community of unincorporated Los Angeles County. It destroyed 9,418 structures and killed 19 people, making it the second-most-destructive wildfire in California history. More than 14 months later, recovery has been slow: fewer than 30 homes in the fire zone have been fully rebuilt, according to published reports.

“Wildfire survivors shouldn’t have to fight their mortgage company while they’re trying to rebuild their lives,” Harabedian said in a statement. “This Outcomes Review will help ensure the law is being followed and identify ways we can strengthen protections for families still at risk of losing their homes.”

The hearing is part of the Assembly’s Outcomes Review program, announced by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas in November 2025 and described by his office as a first-of-its-kind oversight tool. Under the program, 14 lawmakers are evaluating laws they authored to assess real-world implementation. Harabedian’s review is the program’s first hearing focused on wildfire recovery.

Andrew King, an Altadena resident who lost his home in the Eaton Fire, told NPR in January that the financial uncertainty of rebuilding weighed on him constantly. “It keeps me up at night,” King said. “Because I don’t know if I’ve made a financial decision that’s gonna ruin us.”

Harabedian has also introduced AB 1847, which would extend the forbearance period from 12 months to 36 months and push the request deadline from January 7, 2027, to January 7, 2029. That bill was referred to the Banking and Finance Committee and the Judiciary Committee on February 23, 2026.

The hearing announcement did not list mortgage industry representatives among the participants. Harabedian represents Assembly District 41, which includes Pasadena and Altadena.

Westerbeck Recital Hall has a fixed seating capacity of 218. Parking is available in Lot 5 on Bonnie Avenue. Residents who have experienced difficulties with mortgage servicers can file complaints with the DFPI at dfpi.ca.gov or by calling (866) 275-2677.

“We don’t build trust by passing laws,” Rivas said in a February statement announcing the Outcomes Review program. “We build trust by delivering results.”