On September 15, the California governor signed two companion mortgage forbearance measures. AB 1842, the California Mortgage Relief Act (Ch. 241, Stats. 2026), creates a permanent statewide framework requiring mortgage servicers to provide forbearance to borrowers whose residences become uninhabitable due to a federally declared disaster. Eligible borrowers may request forbearance within six months of a disaster declaration by affirming uninhabitability, with no additional documentation required. Servicers must offer an initial 180-day forbearance period, extendable in 90-day increments up to 12 months, and may not assess late fees or charge a default rate of interest during the forbearance. The act requires servicers to report forborne accounts as current under the FCRA, bars judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure while a borrower is performing under the forbearance terms, and requires servicers to offer at least one post-forbearance home retention option that does not demand a lump-sum repayment of arrearages or increase the borrower’s preforbearance monthly payment. The act authorizes civil enforcement by the state attorney general, district attorneys, and county counsel. A safe harbor applies where compliance would conflict with servicing guidelines for federally backed loans.

Separately, AB 1847 (Ch. 242, Stats. 2026) amends California’s existing wildfire-specific mortgage forbearance law — enacted following the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires — to extend the maximum forbearance period from 12 months to 24 months and push the deadline for borrowers to request forbearance to January 7, 2029. The bill adds a requirement that borrowers affirm the secured property is uninhabitable due to the wildfire disaster and permits servicers to request additional documentation from borrowers seeking extensions beyond 12 months, but only where the investor, guarantor, insurer, or loan holder has made a written request for such documentation. AB 1847 also extends the servicer notification window from 10 business days to 21 days and prohibits late fees and default-rate interest during the notification waiting period. At the end of the forbearance, servicers must offer borrowers the option to defer repayment of forborne amounts to the end of the loan term through a loan deferral or comparable loss mitigation option, unless the investor contract or servicing guidelines prohibit it.