The Kern County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to end their Property Assessed Clean Energy Program, or PACE, which means homeowners will no longer be able to receive loans.
The program was originally designed to provide energy upgrades for homeowners, but after recipients of the loan say there was confusion with the process that made it difficult to sell or refinance a property, supervisors said they decided to end the program altogether.
The loan is different from a standard mortgage because it is given out by private companies and is paid off through homeowners' property taxes. The Kern County Treasurer tax collector puts a lien on the home until the debt is paid.
Local realtor Jeanne Radsick says realtors have lost commission after trying to sell these homes. She also says many of these homeowners did not realize the full terms of the loan.
”The concerns that we have expressed over the past few months are real—we are dealing with the consumers who cannot do anything about what they’ve done on their properties. It is too late to retroactively go back to some of these folks and help them, but I see no reason to continue this process,” Radsick says.
However, local contractors say they will now be losing work with the end of this program. As many as nine different solar and construction companies partnered with the program and they say they will now be losing future business.
