RPV To Buy Landslide-Damaged Homes, But It Could Take Years: Report

PALOS VERDES, CA — Some residents of Rancho Palos Verdes whose homes were affected by the landslide may finally be getting some help after city officials announced they would be starting a buyout process, according to a report from LAist.

Homeowners living in the landslide area have been waiting for months to hear whether they qualify for the voluntary buyout program that was announced by the city, along with state and federal governments in October 2024.

SEE ALSO: RPV May Never Get Federal Funding To Help With Landslide: Report

City officials announced at the time that the $42 million program would offer affected homeowners a fair price based on the value of the home before the disaster. The land bought by Rancho Palos Verdes is expected to be converted into an open space area with restricted development.

At least 85 homeowners applied for the buyouts, but only 23 were placed on a shortlist to have their homes appraised, according to the report by LAist.

“If you have not been contacted by the City about completing an appraisal, this means your property is not among the 23 being considered for buyouts and will not advance in this round of program funding,” city officials announced on Tuesday, according to the report.

But because Rancho Palos Verdes has yet to get the $42 million, it may take years before the homeowners see a cent, and if they do, they will most likely be paid in installments, according to the report.

The Portuguese Bend landslide has caused significant problems to the city of Rancho Palos Verdes and its residents, whose multi-million-dollar homes have been destroyed.

Heavy rains at the start of 2024 exacerbated the issue, making the landslide move at an unprecedented rate of several inches per week. To combat this, the city has been installing deep dewatering wells to relieve water pressure on the slide plane as a short-term solution.

Although recent droughts have slowed down the movement, Rancho Palos Verdes faces other issues.

During his campaign trail last year, President Donald Trump, who owns a implied during a speech in Palos Verdes, where he owns a golf course, that more should be done to help the landslide victims.

"This area is very solid, but you go a couple of miles down, you'll see something that's pretty amazing," Trump said during the campaign stop. "The mountain is moving. And it could be stopped but they need some help from the government. So I hope they get the help."

Trump has yet to address the issues in Rancho Palos Verdes this year. Instead, he slashed a grant meant to help cities take a proactive approach to prepare for future natural disasters.

In April, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced it was ending a program that was expected to help Rancho Palos Verdes get ahead of potential future issues caused by the landslide.

FEMA called the program "wasteful" and said it had become too "politicized."

At the time, Rancho Palos Verdes Mayor David Bradley told LAist that without the money promised by FEMA, the city couldn't do any long-term planning and could only perform emergency remediation tasks.

Read more from LAist.

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Local Editor Rachel Barnes contributed to this report.