Trump targets banks over wildfire homeowners’ treatment, singles out Wells Fargo

Homeowners uprooted by the Los Angeles wildfires have spent months trying to keep up with mortgage bills, insurance claims and temporary housing costs while their neighborhoods remain in limbo. Donald Trump has now turned that pressure on the banks, saying his administration will look into how lenders are treating fire survivors and singling out Wells Fargo as “very difficult to deal with.”

Trump raised the issue after meeting with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger in Washington, D.C., on April 22. Bass and Barger said in a joint statement that they had a “very positive discussion” about FEMA, rebuilding funds, insurance company obligations and pressure on big banks to ease the financial strain on families who lost everything. Trump said homeowners who lost houses in the fires should be treated “very fairly and well.”

The fires that drove the dispute began on January 7, 2025, with the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire. California received a major disaster declaration the next day. State and local officials have described the disaster as one of the most unprecedented natural disasters in California history. It killed 22 people, destroyed about 12,000 homes and caused more than $50 billion in property damage, leaving many families trapped between rebuilding costs, damaged credit and lenders still expecting payments.

California has already moved to blunt some of that financial pressure. Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 238 on September 22, 2025, requiring lenders to offer mortgage forbearance of up to 12 months for eligible wildfire survivors. The law bars late fees, default interest and foreclosure proceedings during the forbearance period. Newsom said it expanded on a January 2025 agreement with mortgage lenders that had offered at least 90 days of forbearance, with many lenders voluntarily going up to 12 months.

Now Barger is pressing for even more time. On April 7, 2026, she backed AB 1847, which would extend wildfire mortgage forbearance from 12 months to 36 months and move the request deadline to January 7, 2029. The fight has shifted from emergency response to the far messier recovery phase, where the key question is whether homeowners can hold onto their credit, their mortgages and their chance to rebuild before the next bill arrives.

Wells Fargo says its disaster assistance team may help customers with flexible mortgage and home equity payment options after FEMA-declared disasters. The bank also tells borrowers to contact their homeowner’s insurance company first, then call its disaster assistance team. California’s recovery portal says the state has backed the response with $2.5 billion in immediate disaster relief and that Los Angeles County has moved to speed permitting and inspections for rebuilding demand. The dispute now sits at the intersection of banking, housing and climate disaster policy, with Washington, Sacramento and Los Angeles all trying to shape who bears the cost.