New California wildfire homeowner assistance program includes reverse mortgages

As communities and organizations continue to reckon with the impact of the Los Angeles-area wildfires, the state is now stepping in with a new assistance program that will include impacted reverse mortgage borrowers whose homes were damaged or lost.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Thursday announced that the CalAssist Mortgage Fund will launch on June 12. It will “provide grants up to $20,000 to homeowners whose homes were destroyed or left uninhabitable in recent fire, floods, and other disasters,” according to a statement from the governor’s office. “This includes those individuals whose homes were destroyed by the LA-area firestorms earlier this year.”

The new program has $100 million behind it, according to reporting from CBS News, and will be managed by the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA). It will also be paired with “$25 million in additional housing counseling support through CalHFA’s National Mortgage Settlement Housing Counseling Program, and none of the funds impact the proposed 2025-2026 budget,” Newsom’s office added.

The program’s eligibility guidelines explicitly include reverse mortgage borrowers.

To qualify, a forward or reverse mortgage borrower must own only one property; the damaged property must have served as the beneficiary’s primary residence for at least one month prior to the disaster; and the combined income of all occupants must not exceed designated income limits for the county in which the property is located.

The guidelines also extend the qualifying disaster period back from Jan. 1, 2023 to Jan. 8, 2025.

Reverse mortgage industry professionals reacted positively to the news when reached by HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily (RMD).

Leading reverse mortgage servicer and subservicer Celink is participating in the program and plans to notify its impacted customers of the provisions soon, according to Ryan LaRose, the company’s chief client and industry relations officer.

“We are definitely aware of the CalAssist Mortgage Fund and we have already signed up as a participating servicer,” LaRose told RMD. “We will be advising borrowers that they can apply soon, as the program will start taking applications from homeowners starting on June 12th.”

Many of the company’s existing education and outreach programs can be put to use to inform impacted customers about the relief provisions, he added, saying that the effort aligns with previous relief programs.

“We have developed robust outreach campaigns for borrowers who may be eligible for this program, as well as others such as the Homeowner’s Assistance Fund (HAF) and the D.C. ReMIT program (which is exclusively for reverse borrowers),” LaRose explained.

“We make outbound calls and have developed email campaigns for borrowers, as well as providing information on these valuable programs through their monthly statements.”

LaRose added that Celink is “very supportive of CalAssist and other similar programs, which provide much-needed assistance to senior borrowers who have been impacted by a variety of circumstances.”

Tom O’Donoghue, principal with Reverse Loans Now, has multiple clients impacted by the recent wildfires and said the program would help.

“The program needs more exposure, but it is encouraging to see that reverse loans finally get some support in California regarding disasters,” O’Donoghue said. “Personally, I have a friend who can benefit from this and I will reach out to her today.”

Ashley Smith, senior vice president of marketing strategy and communications at Finance of America, also provided a statement of support.

“At Finance of America, we fully support the new CalAssist Mortgage Fund’s mission to provide meaningful relief to homeowners impacted by the recent California disasters. We are working to ensure our customers — particularly those navigating the recovery and rebuilding process — are made aware of this important resource,” Smith said.

“Moreover, our servicing team stands ready to help impacted customers recover with dignity and stability — actively supporting them in understanding the application process for this program so that they are able to access this critical aid.”

According to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), there are more than 5,000 Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) originations in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale metropolitan statistical area, along with nearly 4,600 endorsements. California has long served as the most dominant state in the country for reverse mortgage business.