The $3,000 Earthquake Brace+Bolt grant covers barely half the typical retrofit

California's Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB) program offers homeowners a $3,000 grant to retrofit pre-1980 wood-frame homes with raised foundations by bolting the house to its foundation and bracing cripple walls. The average cost of this type of retrofit is approximately $6,000-$8,700, meaning the grant covers only 35-50% of the expense. For 76% of EBB-funded retrofits, the total cost is under $7,000, leaving homeowners to pay $3,000-$4,000 out of pocket even with the grant. This gap disproportionately affects lower-income homeowners and elderly homeowners on fixed incomes, who are also the most likely to own older, unreinforced homes. Many eligible homeowners do not apply because the remaining cost is still unaffordable, or because they do not know the program exists. Additionally, the program is limited to specific ZIP codes and has application deadlines, creating a geographic lottery where identical homes on opposite sides of a ZIP code boundary receive different treatment. The problem persists because the EBB program's budget is finite and politically constrained, increasing the grant amount would reduce the number of homes served, and there is no complementary low-interest loan program specifically designed to fill the gap between grant and total cost.