Jean Eaglesham

3 weeks ago | wsj.com | Jean Eaglesham |Nicole Friedman

LOS ANGELES—Susan Spira called her insurer days after the Los Angeles wildfires destroyed her family’s home—only to be told her policy had been canceled. The reason: In the chaotic days after the house burned to the ground, her monthly premium hadn’t been paid. “I nearly fell apart,” she said. Spira, a real-estate lawyer, fought back and the insurer, California’s Fair Plan, agreed her Pacific Palisades house was covered when the infernos sparked.

1 month ago | yahoo.com | Jean Eaglesham |Nicole Friedman

Condominium owners across the country are facing a paralyzing problem: They can’t sell their properties because of a fast-growing and mostly secret mortgage blacklist. Real-estate agent Paul Gangi was days away from closing a sale of his listing in Shadow Ridge, a 440-unit townhouse and condo complex in Ventura County, Calif., in December. That is when his phone rang. “I got a panicked call from the lender saying, ‘Sorry, we’ve just found out Shadow Ridge has been blacklisted,’” he said.

1 month ago | wsj.com | Jean Eaglesham |Nicole Friedman

March 17, 2025 5:30 am ETCondominium owners across the country are facing a paralyzing problem: They can’t sell their properties because of a fast-growing and mostly secret mortgage blacklist. Real-estate agent Paul Gangi was days away from closing a sale of his listing in Shadow Ridge, a 440-unit townhouse and condo complex in Ventura County, Calif., in December. That is when his phone rang. Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

1 month ago | wsj.com | Jean Eaglesham

California regulators have given State Farm provisional approval for an emergency 22% hike in home-insurance rates, months after devastating wildfires upended the state’s already troubled insurance market. The rate increase will add an average $600 a year to the bills of State Farm’s million-plus home-insurance customers in California, the consumer group Consumer Watchdog estimated. It comes barely a year after a 20% increase came into effect. State Farm is California’s biggest home insurer.

1 month ago | wsj.com | Jean Eaglesham

Tariffs are likely to load billions of dollars in extra costs onto home, auto and business insurance, pushing rates up further, an industry group warned. Costs for personal auto insurance could rise by between $7 billion and $24 billion a year, as tariffs boost prices for replacement car parts, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association said. That would imply a single-digit percentage increase in rates, if costs are passed on to policy buyers.