Bay Area Congress Members Join the Fight Over Green Loans
Two Bay Area congressional leaders are fighting to save a pioneering green home loan program that supports up to 20,000 new jobs in California, but two federal lending giants claim the financing program is too risky.
It's known as the PACE program, Property Assessed Clean Energy, and it lends money to homeowners looking to install upgrades like solar panels or window insulation. The loans are paid back through their property taxes.
Already San Francisco, San Mateo and Sonoma counties have programs up and running. The problem is, last week Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said they wouldn't accept any loan that included a PACE assessment, saying they were too risky. Their argument: they'd be the last to get paid if a homeowner defaulted.
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"The federal government encourages these PACE programs to be created and it also funds them, but on the other hand another agency slaps them down," said Peninsula congresswoman Jackie Speier, who along with the North Bay's Mike Thompson have introduced legislation to sort out this mixed message.
It reverses the blanket refusal of PACE properties, but allows Fannie and Freddie to ratchet up eligibility standards.
"Fannie and Freddie are becoming much more responsible, which is a good thing, but we don't need to kill the PACE program in the process," said Speier.
PACE represents up to a billion dollars in new projects and up to 20,000 jobs in California alone.
