“Is this our get-out-of-jail-free card?
“We’re attached to this property, we’re stuck in LA,” he’s thought. “Shall we leave?”
Patti has been cleared that their insurance will not cover the cost of reconstruction. He and his wife are looking for a mortgage deferment and recently applied for hardship status with their bank.
Job opportunities have also not been strong. Pate recently finished work on a documentary for Hulu, but calls current job prospects “bleak.” Now the couple is considering slowly rebuilding their home over time, if they can somehow make the economics work.
Some have rethought their future in other ways.
Madeleine Power, a 32-year-old producer, was ready to leave Los Angeles before Diester.
With no work, the past 12 months had been “the worst financial year of my life”, he said, adding that he had worked odd jobs babysitting and cleaning. He felt, at times, like the city itself was rejecting him.
Then his house burned down. He found his purpose by using his skills as a producer to help raise money for his neighbors, and when people heard about his situation, some approached him with job leads. Now he also has $30,000 in donations — more money than he says he’s ever made.
There is no question in the mind of power. She is living.
“LA got me,” he said. “Come to LA and just show it.”
John Koblin Contributed reporting from New York and Alice McFadden From Los Angeles.
