Hello, so glad that you are here. I am desperate for help. My condo burned down this past Monday 9/18/23 in Los Angeles (Downey). It is unlivable, red-tagged and left with no belongings. We are homeless. I am now going through an insurance nightmare. At the time of refinance (7/20/20), I was fully covered with my HOA’s insurance: walls in and walls out. Now that I am attempting to put in a claim with the insurance company (State Farm), they are stating that I am only covered from walls out and left with no home owners insurance. Somewhere down the line, the homeowners insurance fell off. I am at a loss as to who dropped the ball and if any way I may have dropped the ball, isn’t the mortgage company liable to force place a policy for their asset? Please help! Otherwise everything will come out of pocket. What are my rights?
Sergio Beaz asked 7 months ago Sergio,
We are so sorry to hear about your situation. We suggest you start with the CA Department of Insurance Consumer Services team (https://www.insurance.ca.gov/0500-about-us/02-department/030-csmcb/consumer-services.cfm#:~:text=The%20Consumer%20Communications%20Bureau%20(also,Claims%20and%20Automobile%20Physical%20Damage) and see if they can figure out when and how your unit owners policy lapsed or was canceled, and advise you on whether your mortgage company should have force-placed a policy when it lapsed. You should also consult a policyholder attorney. Those who will represent you on a “contingency fee” basis don’t charge by the hour. You should be able to get a free consultation on your situation. You’ll find a number of policyholder attorneys in UP’s “Find Help” directory (https://uphelp.org/recovery/professional-help-directory/). You may have some recourse. In California, an insurance company must give you notice for any reduction or elimination of coverages. (https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=INS§ionNum=678). Do you know if you received such a letter clearly notifying you of the change in coverage? And have you reached out to the agent you worked with to get a clear understanding of what happened? If your agent is at fault, you may be able to recover repair funds from them.