Overview

Many in California believed that Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing would bring California homeowners into a green-energy future through its novel use of the secured property tax assessments to pay for clean energy upgrades, but this financing product has not lived up to its promises.

Instead, Public Counsel has been overwhelmed with clients—most commonly people of color and seniors—who have had their hard-earned home equity stripped due to the poor regulation and design of this program. Because these loans are paid as part of a homeowner’s property taxes, they get “first lien” position, which means that a homeowner who cannot afford to pay the increased property taxes — either directly to the County or as part of their mortgage payment — will face foreclosure.

In addition to filing two class actions against the County of Los Angeles and its private financing administrators, our Consumer Impact team provides counsel and advice and, in some cases, limited representation to PACE victims. To date in 2021 we have cleared more than $1.5 million in fraudulent PACE lien debt for our clients. 

LITIGATION UPDATE: On December 8, 2022, Plaintiffs, the County, and Renew Financial reported to the court that they had finalized a settlement agreement to resolve both class action lawsuits. Read more HERE.

ACTUALIZATION DE ESTADO: El 8 de diciembre de 2022, los Demandantes, el Condado y Renew Financial informaron al tribunal que habían finalizado un acuerdo de conciliación para resolver ambas demandas colectivas. Aprende más AQUI.