Florida PACE & Ygrene Loans: The Complete Guide

How a PACE Loan Actually Works

PACE stands for Property Assessed Clean Energy. It sounds like a loan, and it spends like a loan. But legally, it is not a normal loan at all. There is no bank statement and no monthly coupon book. Instead, the money you borrowed for solar panels, a new roof, impact windows, or an AC unit is attached to your home as a special assessment on your property taxes.

Here is what that means in plain terms. Once a year, your PACE payment shows up as a line on your property tax bill. It is listed as a "non-ad valorem assessment." You will usually see it first on the TRIM notice — the "Truth in Millage" notice your county mails out each August. Then it lands on the actual tax bill that goes out in the fall. Many Florida homeowners never noticed the line until their mortgage escrow payment suddenly jumped to cover it.

Because PACE rides on your tax bill, it has powers a normal loan does not have. If you fall behind, the debt is treated like unpaid property taxes. In Florida, unpaid property taxes can lead to a tax certificate sale and, over time, even a tax deed sale of your home. And the assessment is tied to the property, not to you personally. On paper, it can stay with the house when you sell.

That last part is where the biggest myth lives. Salespeople often said, "Don't worry — it transfers to the buyer." In the real world, that almost never works. Most buyers' lenders will not close on a home with a PACE assessment sitting ahead of their mortgage. FHA and Fannie Mae rules generally require the PACE balance to be paid off at sale or refinance. We cover both rules below, because they also point to two of your exit paths.

• PACE vs. a regular solar loan: what's the difference? →
• Can't sell your house because of a solar lien or UCC filing? →

The Florida PACE Providers — and Their Payoff Desks

Four names cover most Florida PACE deals. Your paperwork may show a program name, a district name, or an administrator's name — sometimes all three. Look at your financing agreement and the assessment line on your tax bill to figure out which one you have. Then call the right payoff desk.

• Ygrene Energy Fund — one of the largest PACE administrators in Florida, and the subject of a 2022 FTC enforcement order (details below). Payoff desk: 866-634-1358.
• Renew Financial (RenewPACE) — another major administrator, which also faced government scrutiny over its PACE program in California. Payoff desk: 844-736-3934.
• Florida PACE Funding Agency (FPFA) — runs the HomeRun financing program. Payoff requests: Payoffs@FloridaPACE.gov or 800-969-4382.
• FRED — the Florida Resiliency and Energy District. Payoffs are handled through paymypace.com or 888-338-3578.

When you call, ask for a written payoff statement. Ask what date the payoff is good through, whether interest adds up daily, and whether this year's installment has already been sent to the county tax roll. If it has, you may still see a charge on this year's tax bill even after you pay the balance — so get clear instructions in writing. Never wire money based on a number someone read to you over the phone.

Why PACE Trapped So Many Florida Homeowners

PACE was not sold in a bank branch. It was sold at kitchen tables, by door-to-door solar and home improvement salespeople. The contractor was usually the one holding the tablet and rushing homeowners through e-signatures. Many people believed they were approving "a government energy program." They did not understand they were putting a lien-like assessment on their home.

The numbers show how heavy the hit was. Research from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) found that PACE financing raised borrowers' property tax bills by roughly $2,700 per year on average. For a retiree on a fixed income, that is a crisis, not an inconvenience. And for most of the program's history, there was no real ability-to-pay check. Approval was based mostly on home equity — what the house was worth — not on whether the homeowner could actually afford the payments.

Then come the two surprises. First, the escrow shock: your mortgage servicer sees the bigger tax bill and raises your monthly payment to cover it, sometimes by hundreds of dollars, and often more than a year after you signed. Second, the transfer myth: when you finally try to sell, the title company and the buyer's lender demand a full payoff at closing — no matter what the salesperson promised at your kitchen table.

• Why did my solar loan payment jump? →
• Promised free solar, now you have a loan? →
• Elderly parent talked into solar? Start here. →

The Enforcement History: This Is Not Just You

If you feel like you were misled, you are in large company — and regulators have said as much in court filings. In 2022, the FTC obtained an order against Ygrene over allegedly deceptive practices, including claims about how easily PACE debt "transfers" to a home buyer. The order included $3 million in consumer relief. About $2.9 million of that was distributed to consumers in 2025, and the median check was about $2,555. That is real money. But for many homeowners it is far less than the PACE deal cost them — which is why the exit paths below still matter even if you got a check.

Renew Financial faced its own scrutiny. In California, Renew reached a settlement with Los Angeles County over its PACE program practices. The details differ from the Ygrene case, but the pattern is the same one Florida homeowners describe: aggressive contractor sales, confusing paperwork, and payments people could not afford.

Florida officials have acted too. A Miami-Dade County review found that contractors working with Ygrene and Renew had done unpermitted work on roughly 40 homes. That finding helped drive the county's September 2023 PACE ordinance, which added local consumer protections. And a legal fight between the Florida PACE Funding Agency and county tax collectors — over where and how the agency can operate — reached the Florida Supreme Court in December 2025. The ground under PACE in Florida is still moving.

One more date to know. The CFPB finalized a rule that treats new PACE financing like a mortgage under Regulation Z — with ability-to-repay checks and mortgage-style disclosures — effective March 1, 2026. That rule only covers new PACE deals signed after it takes effect. It does not rewrite the agreement you already have. For an existing deal, your realistic options are the five exit paths below.

Exit Path 1: Pay It Off Early

The cleanest exit is prepayment. You request a payoff statement, pay the balance, and the provider releases the assessment so it stops appearing on future tax bills. Every payoff desk listed above exists for exactly this.

Florida law helps here — with a timing catch you need to know. Under Florida Statute 163.081, PACE agreements signed on or after July 1, 2024 can be prepaid, in full or in part, with no prepayment penalty. If your agreement is older than that, the statute does not reach back — your contract's prepayment clause governs instead. The good news: the major Florida providers state that they do not charge prepayment penalties on residential deals. Even so, read your financing agreement and get the payoff terms confirmed in writing before you send a dime.

Where does payoff money come from? Savings, family help, or often a home equity loan or line of credit at a lower cost than the PACE deal. Compare the interest rate and fees on your PACE assessment against your alternatives. Swapping expensive PACE debt for cheaper financing can save real money over time — but run the numbers first, or have someone you trust run them with you.

• Step-by-step: getting out of a Ygrene PACE loan in Florida →

Exit Path 2: Pay It Off When You Sell

If you are selling anyway, the sale itself is the exit. The PACE balance gets paid from your proceeds at closing, and the buyer takes the home free of the assessment. Your closing agent or title company handles the payoff — but only if they know about it early.

This step is usually not optional. Under FHA Mortgagee Letter 2017-18, FHA generally will not insure a mortgage on a home where a PACE assessment sits ahead of the mortgage, and Fannie Mae's guidelines point the same direction. In practice, that means the buyer's lender will require the PACE balance to be paid off at or before closing. The "it transfers to the buyer" promise collapses right here, at the closing table.

So plan for it. Order a payoff statement before you list the home. Price the house knowing the payoff comes out of your equity. And tell your listing agent and title company on day one. A PACE surprise discovered a week before closing is how sales fall apart — and how sellers end up taking bad last-minute deals.

Exit Path 3: Refinance the PACE Debt Into Your Mortgage

If you have equity and workable credit, refinancing can fold the PACE balance into a normal mortgage. Fannie Mae's Selling Guide section B5-3.4-01 specifically allows a "limited cash-out refinance" to pay off a PACE assessment. In plain English: you can refinance your mortgage, add the PACE payoff to the new loan amount, and it still counts as a regular rate-and-term refinance instead of a cash-out — which usually means better pricing.

Why bother? Three reasons. Mortgage rates are often lower than the true cost of PACE money. A mortgage spreads the balance over a long term with one predictable monthly payment. And it removes the assessment from your tax bill, which ends the escrow spikes for good.

Whether this path works for you depends on your equity, credit, income, and current rates. Talk to a mortgage lender or broker, and say the words "PACE payoff under Fannie Mae B5-3.4-01." If the loan officer looks confused, find one who is not. FHA borrowers should ask about their own options too — FHA's PACE rules live in Mortgagee Letter 2017-18.

Exit Path 4: Challenge Whether the Deal Was Ever Valid

Some PACE deals should never have existed. Florida Statute 163.086 gives courts the power to declare a PACE assessment void in certain situations — including forgery, fraud, or violations of the three-day right to cancel. And if a court voids the deal, the statute requires the contractor to restore your property. Whether any of that relief is available depends entirely on the facts of your case, so treat this as a door to knock on, not a promise.

What does a validity problem look like? A signature that is not yours. A spouse's name signed by someone else. An e-signature "completed" on the contractor's tablet that you never actually saw. No copy of the required cancellation notice. Work that started before your three-day cancellation window ended. An elderly parent who did not understand what they were signing.

This path runs through a courtroom, so it is not a do-it-yourself project. Gather every document now: the financing agreement, the construction contract, the completion certificate, texts and emails with the salesperson, and your tax bills. A consumer attorney can tell you whether your facts may fit the statute — and whether other claims, like one under Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, could travel with it. We are not a law firm, and nobody can promise an outcome. But if your paperwork smells wrong, it costs nothing to have it looked at.

• Florida's 3-day cancellation rule, explained →

Exit Path 5: Hardship Deferral of Your Tax Bill

This last path is a pressure valve, not a full exit. Florida Statute 197.252 lets qualifying homestead owners apply to defer part of their property tax bill — which can matter a lot when a PACE assessment has pushed that bill out of reach. You apply through your county tax collector using Form DR-570.

Understand what deferral is before you lean on it. It is a pause, not forgiveness. Deferred amounts generally keep accruing interest and become an obligation that gets paid later — often when the home is sold. Eligibility usually depends on household income, and the rules and deadlines are specific. Call your county tax collector's office, ask about the homestead tax deferral under Statute 197.252, and ask exactly what applies to your situation.

Used carefully, deferral buys time — time to work one of the real exits above. A payoff you can plan for. A sale on your schedule instead of a forced one. A refinance. A legal challenge. Time is often the one thing a stressed homeowner needs most, and this is a lawful way to get some.

Whatever Happens, Do Not Stop Paying Your Property Taxes

Never withhold your property tax payment to protest a PACE assessment. In Florida, unpaid property taxes can lead to a tax certificate sale and eventually a tax deed sale — meaning you could lose your home over a dispute you might otherwise have won.

This is the single most dangerous mistake angry homeowners make, and it is an understandable one. The PACE line sits on the same bill as your regular taxes, and in most cases you cannot simply pay the bill minus the PACE portion — ask your tax collector how your county handles it, but do not assume you can split it. Refusing to pay does not hurt the PACE provider first. It puts your own homestead in the tax-sale pipeline.

If you believe the assessment is invalid, fight it while staying current. Courts and regulators can order refunds after the fact — the FTC's Ygrene case proves money can come back. What no one can easily undo is a completed tax deed sale. Keep paying, keep every receipt, and press your claim through the proper channels.

Other Legal Levers If You Were Misled

Beyond the five exit paths, Florida law gives wronged homeowners a few more tools. None is guaranteed, each has deadlines and trade-offs, and some depend on facts we cannot know from here. But you should know they exist.

• FDUTPA — Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act — may allow you to recover your actual damages if you were deceived. One caution: FDUTPA has two-way fee shifting, meaning a losing party can be ordered to pay the winner's attorney's fees. Get advice before filing.
• Small claims court handles disputes up to $8,000 under Florida Small Claims Rule 7.010(b). Filing fees typically run about $55 to $300, a pretrial conference usually comes within about 50 days, and courts routinely send both sides to mediation. Larger claims, up to $50,000, go to county court.
• The Florida Homeowners' Construction Recovery Fund may pay on claims against contractors who held a solar (CVC) license — those fall under Division II. Caps are $15,000 for pre-July 2024 contracts and $30,000 for newer ones. You generally need a judgment, award, or restitution order first, and you must file within one year — so watch that clock closely.
• The FTC Holder Rule (16 C.F.R. 433.2): if your financing paperwork contains the required Holder notice, you may be able to raise the contractor's misconduct against the finance company. Recovery under the notice itself is capped at the amounts you have already paid, and the rule is a weak fit for PACE tax assessments specifically — but it can matter in related solar loan disputes.

Deadlines are the silent killer here. Statutes of limitations and the Recovery Fund's one-year window keep running whether or not you have decided what to do. If you think you have a claim, find out the deadline before anything else.

• The FTC Holder Rule and your solar loan →
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What To Do This Week

You do not have to solve all of this today. You just have to start. Everything above gets easier once your paperwork is in one place and your numbers are real instead of guessed. Here is a simple one-week plan.

• Find your latest tax bill or TRIM notice and locate the non-ad valorem assessment line. Write down the annual amount.
• Identify your provider — Ygrene, Renew, FPFA/HomeRun, or FRED — and call the payoff desk for a written payoff statement.
• Pull together your paperwork: the financing agreement, the contractor's contract, the completion certificate, and every text or email with the salesperson.
• Look up the job on your county's online permit portal. Confirm the work was actually permitted and passed final inspection.
• If your solar was never turned on, or your roof leaks around the panels, photograph it now and note the dates.
• Write down your key dates: when you signed, when the work finished, and when you first noticed a problem. Legal deadlines run from dates like these.
• Keep your property taxes current, no matter how angry you are. Set a reminder for the fall bill.
• If anything looks wrong — a signature you do not recognize, a payoff far bigger than you were told — get the file reviewed before you pay anyone another dollar.

The folder you build this week is the raw material for every exit path in this guide — the payoff, the sale, the refinance, the legal challenge, and the deferral. Build it once, and every option gets cheaper, faster, and stronger.