California is pumping up mortgage relief to $100,000 in annual grants as it plans to serve a broader bracket of disaster survivors.

The California Housing Finance Agency updated CalAssist eligibility on Thursday, Feb. 12, extending to applicants from high-income households whose homes were severely or completely damaged in either governor-proclaimed or president-approved disaster declarations from Jan. 1, 2023, through Jan. 8, 2025.

“By offering a full year of mortgage assistance and expanding income eligibility, we’re making it clear that this support is real, available, and intended for families who are still recovering,” said Rebecca Franklin, CalHFA’s chief deputy director, in a statement.

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Household income limits vary by county, capped at $360,000 in Orange County, $281,400 in Los Angeles County and $274,300 in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, among others. Qualified properties include single-family homes, condos, or permanently affixed manufactured homes.

The funds come 13 months after wildfires in the Pacific Palisades and Malibu turned to ash more than 23,448 acres, killed a dozen people, destroyed 6,837 structures and damaged nearly 1,000 others before extinguished on Jan. 31. In Altadena wildfires burned 14,021 acres, killing 19 people and destroying 9,414 structures. Another 1,074 buildings were badly damaged.

Among other qualified disasters are Sept. 2024’s Airport and Bridge fires across Orange County, Riverside and San Bernardino. The Airport fire swept through 23,526 acres between Orange and Riverside counties, burning for 26 days. That fire damaged 160 structures — including homes, sheds, vehicles — and damaged 34 others. That fire coincided with the Bridge fire, which damaged 54,795 acres, destroying 81 structures and damaging 17 others.

Homeowners can have payments that are late, current or in forbearance. Those who already received assistance from FEMA or from other programs are still eligible, the state said.

The money is being pulled from the $105 million CalAssist Mortgage Fund, created after the National Mortgage Settlement. The $25 billion agreement by 49 states, the federal government, and the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers — Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, Rescap/Ally and Wells Fargo — was in response to foreclosure abuses and questionable mortgage practices that led to the Great Recession in 2007-09.

The mortgage relief increases come eight months after its first grants were capped at $20,000, targeting low- to moderate-income survivors.

“Those are the most vulnerable homeowners, when you have lost your primary residence in a disaster, there’s a lot of financial burden,” Franklin said. “Now that we’ve been running the program for a few months, we feel confident that we can expand our assistance to help even more survivors of disasters through these funds.”

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The expansion also comes a week after President Donald Trump sent members of his administration, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler, to strategize with Pacific Palisades businesses and residents over rebuilding priorities. That visit followed the city’s vote to waive permit and plan-check fees, and Trump’s executive order to take over wildfire remediation.

Program facilitators hope the grants will help those who have missed payments and are reaching the end of their forbearance.

“Were here to give those disaster survivors a little bit of breathing room while they focus on recovering and rebuilding,” Franklin said.

For more eligibility and application information, go to calhfa.ca.gov/CalAssist/index.htm