PACE is Working for Consumers

PACE financing is an effective free-market option to access credit that has been implemented by hundreds of state and local governments. PACE financing meets a critical gap in the consumer-financing marketplace, giving homeowners and commercial property owners additional choices to get long-term financing at competitive rates for energy efficiency, water conservation, seismic retrofits, hurricane protection, and other property renovations.

Since 2007, PACE has helped more than 150,000 families upgrade their homes, created an estimated 30,000 local jobs. PACE is saving more than 10 billion gallons of water, and reducing carbon emissions by more than 4 million metric tons. To date, no other energy and water financing solution in America has achieved similar results.

The program has already financed more than $3.6 billion of energy, water and resilience improvements for homeowners and $400 million for commercial building owners.

PACE-enabling legislation has been approved in 33 states, and residential PACE financing is active (launched and operating) in three states: California, Florida, and Missouri (map).

An Affordable Choice for Homeowners Meeting a Critical Gap in the Marketplace

Participation by the property owner is 100 percent voluntary and PACE is not a government-imposed tax.

PACE provides homeowners a vital option to access credit to replace failing systems and make improvements to their homes, meeting a critical gap in the consumer-financing marketplace.

PACE makes efficiency improvements more accessible, allowing homeowners to lower utility bills and reduce consumption of natural resources.

Energy efficiency improvements such as water heaters, insulated windows and doors, efficient roofing, or solar panels can be 100 percent financed based on the value of the home, requiring no upfront cash payment.

This not only allows many homeowners to access lower interest rates, but expands the number of homeowners who can consider PACE financing to make home improvements.

Since it was approved nearly a decade ago, the PACE industry has grown by leaps and bounds.

Like any growing industry, there have been speed bumps along the way. But PACE providers have embraced and support additional consumer protections for PACE.

In 2016, the nation’s leading PACE providers worked with the Department of Energy on Best Practice Guidelines for Residential PACE Financing Programs, which strengthened underwriting and contractor standards.

Looking ahead, PACE providers agree that all PACE financing systems must:

• Offer simple but comprehensive disclosures which provide a clear, three-day right to cancel and are modeled on the federal Know-Before-You-Owe disclosure form now used for home mortgages.
• Confirm financing terms by phone with all customers in a live, recorded call that reinforces the written disclosures;
• Require participating contractors to be properly licensed, bonded, and insured;
• Withhold contractor payment until the homeowner approves the completed work;
• Remove contractors that do not adhere to agreed-upon PACE standards;
• Independently audit completed installations for compliance; and Set standards governing contractor marketing practices and workmanship issues, including adopting processes to resolve and remediate homeowner complaints – a level of consumer protection rarely available with any other form of home improvement financing.

Source

Related:

PACE is Working for Business

PACE is Working for Local Government

#StandUp for #Home #Property #Rights #Consumer #Choice #Freedom #SpeakOut for #Efficiency & #Energy #EnergyEfficiency #Financing Options #SpeakUp for #Local #Construction #Businesses & #Jobs #Thanks to #Government #LocalGovernment #LocalGov #RenewFinancial’s #CaliforniaFIRST #Today #PACE is #Working