A survey of major home mortgage lenders and real -property appraisers in California and the Puget Sound region shows a general inattention to earthquake hazards in appraisal and lending policy. This inattention is demonstrated not only in responses to survey questions, but also in a lack of differentiation in lending decisions between properties within and outside surface-fault rupture zones. As posited by organizational theory however, important variants exist in this overall policy, almost always resulting from the efforts of individuals within large lending organizations