{"id":49417,"date":"2026-04-27T20:19:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T17:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/la-wildfire-recovery-aftermath-draws-trump-scrutiny\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T20:19:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T17:19:26","slug":"la-wildfire-recovery-aftermath-draws-trump-scrutiny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/la-wildfire-recovery-aftermath-draws-trump-scrutiny\/","title":{"rendered":"LA wildfire recovery aftermath draws Trump scrutiny"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump said last week that his administration will examine how banks are treating homeowners affected by the last year\u2019s Los Angeles wildfires<\/a>, singling out Wells Fargo<\/strong> for criticism after meetings with local officials.<\/p>\n

In a post on Truth Social<\/strong>, Trump said he met with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles County supervisor Kathryn Barger, among other leaders, to discuss recovery efforts<\/a> following the fires that \u201cravaged Los Angeles, and the surrounding area.\u201d He praised insurance companies for their treatment of homeowners but said banks \u201chave a long way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Banks must treat those people, who so horribly lost their Homes in this tragic fire, very fairly and well,\u201d Trump wrote, adding that his administration would be \u201clooking into their actions, effective immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a joint statement<\/a> on Bass\u2019s website, the officials said they had \u201ca very positive discussion\u201d with the president about federal disaster aid and rebuilding funds, \u201cas well as the support of the President to continue joining us in pressuring the insurance companies to pay what they owe \u2014 and for the big banks<\/a> to step up to ease the financial pressure on L.A. families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump also wrote that Wells Fargo \u201chas been very difficult to deal with\u201d but did not provide details about the actions he intends to review. A spokesperson for Wells Fargo declined to comment when reached by HousingWire<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Donna Schmidt<\/a>, president and CEO of\u00a0DLS\u00a0Servicing<\/strong>, said that although mortgage servicers who are clients of her company have \u201cnot identified anything of concern related to forbearance activity either in the affected Los Angeles area or nationally,\u201d risk is still relevant.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose properties stuck in permitting or insurance limbo do not provide confidence to the agencies at risk that the matter will be resolved any time soon,\u201d Schmidt said. \u201cTheir risk increases proportionally with each delay. Local government ineptitude is not the banks\u2019 nor the agencies\u2019 burden to carry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recovery efforts<\/h2>\n

The January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires destroyed about 12,000 homes and caused more than $50 billion in damage<\/a>, with most losses tied to the Eaton and Palisades fires, which were contained by Jan. 31, 2025.<\/p>\n

Fueled by drought, low humidity and powerful Santa Ana winds, the fires burned roughly 59 square miles, killed an estimated 440 people and displaced more than 200,000 residents.<\/p>\n

In January 2025, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that five major lenders \u2014 JPMorgan Chase<\/strong>, Wells Fargo, Bank of America<\/strong>, U.S. Bank<\/strong> and Citigroup<\/strong> \u2014 would offer 90-day mortgage forbearance to homeowners in fire-affected areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. The relief included pauses on credit reporting and the possibility of extended assistance.<\/p>\n

In September 2025, Newsom signed Assembly Bill 238 into law<\/a>, which required lenders to provide up to 12 months of mortgage forbearance for borrowers experiencing financial hardship tied to the disaster. <\/p>\n

In January 2026, Trump signed an executive order<\/a> allowing the federal government to bypass certain state and local regulations in rebuilding efforts after last year\u2019s wildfires, saying that California officials have delayed the recovery.<\/p>\n

Under that order, the Department of Homeland Security<\/strong> \u2014 through the Federal Emergency Management Agency<\/strong> (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration<\/strong> \u2014 was directed to review rules that could override state and local permitting requirements for federally funded rebuilding projects.<\/p>\n

In March, the California Mortgage Bankers Association (CMBA)<\/strong> testified<\/a> before the\u00a0California Assembly Banking & Finance Committee that AB 238 can provide short-term mortgage relief for January 2025 wildfire victims, but forbearance needs guardrails and a defined path forward.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump said last week that his administration will examine how banks are treating homeowners affected by the last year\u2019s Los Angeles wildfires, singling out Wells Fargo for criticism after meetings with local officials. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he met with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles County supervisor…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49417"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49417\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}