This is truly a call to arms, We have to fight this to the end.
This is not just a local issue but nationwide this PACE program is about to be shut down or changed in such a way that it will not be viable to most people. Say goodbye to you ability to secure a loan from the county to purchase energy improvements such as insulation, windows, appliances, solar etc for your home or business. We'll just keep going with using more energy, letting the utility companies and the feds determine our economic and environmental fate.
I’m sure you have heard of this local program somewhere in the news and on radio. In Sonoma County it’s the SCEIP program. This program over the past year has spread to over 17 states in the country and now it’s in jeopardy of failing or at least its rules changed so it’s not a viable solution for people to use to help them finance energy improvements to their homes or businesses.
In May 2010, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the same organization we bailed out in 2009) directed banks and credit unions on how to treat assessments under programs such as the SCEIP. These directives stated that energy improvement assessments should be classified as “loans” instead of “assessments,” implying that agreeing to the assessment could be considered a violation of most mortgage documents. Sonoma County vigorously disagrees with this interpretation and is working diligently to reverse their opinion through legislative action and education efforts with the federal regulators. In the meantime, it is important for you to understand what these directives mean to your situation.
On July 6, 2010, FHFA issued a guidance statement to lenders regarding SCEIP type programs and the assessments being applied. As of July 6th, no new energy improvement loans will be accepted or processed. Basically the program is frozen.
Visit www.sonomacountyenergy.org for up-to-date information.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency Statement from July 6, 2010 is available on the SCEIP website for review. We strongly encourage you to contact the Federal Key Decision Makers and share your support of SCEIP and Property Assessed Clean Energy (“PACE”) programs.
It's time to write your supervisors and legistlators again, remind them to do what we hired them to do. The Federal key decision makers document link above has names and contact info for you to write too. Solar sonoma county has pre-written letters if you want to use them.
Lets get the message out that we want and need energy independance finacing avialiable to all in california and accross the nation.