She guaranteed the home through Progressive, financed by Homesite, and prepaid the very first year as her loan commitment needed, the fit states. Her 2022 policy brought $255,000 in residence protection, on top of protection for personal effects, loss of usage, and liability. Two endorsements could have lifted those limits further.
Here is where the story turns. In 2022, the filing states, Progressive sent out RIHousing several notices about the premium coming due. The escrow account held enough to pay it. RIHousing did not, the suit declares – and the Progressive policy lapsed.
What replaced it was thin. According to the suit, RIHousing bought “force-placed insurance coverage” – the backup coverage a servicer purchases when it thinks a borrower’s policy has actually dropped – with a limitation of just $223,022, which the fit says covered just the amount of the loan and only the home. No personal property. No loss of use. And the filing states RIHousing kept renewing that coverage every year.
Desjardins did not know, court documents say, up until January 3, 2026, when fire damaged the home. The state fire marshal ruled it unexpected, the filing states. In the aftermath, she declares, she discovered the force-placed policy was far insufficient to restore.
The match claims it was not an isolated slip. It says a RIHousing staff member informed her this had taken place in the past, which she learned of another Rhode Island customer captured the same way.