A Rhode Island homeowner says her mortgage servicer let her insurance lapse, force-placed worse coverage, then left her underinsured when fire hit.
The lawsuit, filed June 8, 2026, in federal court in Rhode Island, lands on a problem every servicer knows by name: force-placed insurance. And it ties that problem to a house fire.
Vanessa Desjardins bought her home at 12 Robin Drive in Bristol in April 2017, financed by a $265,109 FHA mortgage through Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation, known as RIHousing. The loan carried a mandatory escrow account. Each month, part of her payment was set aside to cover taxes and her hazard insurance premium, according to the filing…