Denise and George Toberman’s return to their Big Rock home marks a rare endpoint in Malibu’s Palisades Fire recovery: the city says their rebuilt residence is the first in Malibu to receive a certificate of occupancy since the January 2025 fire. The announcement came alongside the city’s issuance of its 100th permit authorizing a property owner to begin reconstruction, according to NBC Los Angeles.
One milestone measures permission; the other measures habitability
The two announcements represent different points in the recovery process. A construction permit allows rebuilding work to proceed, while a certificate of occupancy follows completion of required work and final approval for use of the residence. The Tobermans received their rebuild permit in October 2025 and completed the home in 11 months, the report said. Their experience demonstrates that a permit can lead to a move-in, but it does not establish how quickly other permitted properties will reach that stage.
The permit figures also need to be read by category. Malibu reported 532 total permits in the Palisades Fire incident area as of Feb. 4, 2026, while separately reporting 25 home-building permits, 47 single-family homes in building-plan review and at least 20 homes under construction. The city also listed 70 planning applications under review and 153 planning applications approved. Those figures describe several layers of the pipeline rather than a count of completed homes, according to the City of Malibu.
The latest available snapshot shows a pipeline still in motion
Malibu’s data suggest that reconstruction was advancing simultaneously through planning, building review and active construction, but they do not provide a citywide total of homes that had received certificates of occupancy. The Tobermans’ home therefore remains a documented completion milestone, not evidence that the broader rebuild has reached a comparable stage.
The city’s Rebuild Center had hosted 2,018 appointments and averaged 45 appointments per week as of its Jan. 26, 2026 update. That activity indicates continuing demand for assistance as owners move through applications, design review, permits and construction, but appointment totals cannot be converted into a count of homes nearing completion.
Financial support does not eliminate the rebuilding gap
The cost of remaining displaced or financing reconstruction is another factor between a permit and a return home. The State of California says eligible homeowners whose properties were destroyed or made unsafe in the Los Angeles fires could receive up to three months of mortgage payments, capped at $20,000, through the CalAssist Mortgage Fund. The state also says more than 400 lenders committed to reduce or pause qualifying borrowers’ mortgage payments for 90 days, according to its Los Angeles fires assistance guidance.
Those programs document available relief, not the financial circumstances of any particular Malibu household. They also do not show how many owners have secured financing, begun construction or reached final inspection. What is clear from the available records is narrower: one Malibu family has received the first reported post-fire occupancy approval, while many other properties remain at earlier stages of recovery.
