Innovative form of financing now available in unincorporated Amador County via Home Run Financing; approval based on home equity and ability to pay, payments made through property taxes
JACKSON, Calif., Aug. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Homeowners in the unincorporated areas of Amador County can once again access Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) home improvement financing, now through industry leader Home Run Financing (HRF). This innovative mechanism can be used to fund renewable energy, and energy and water efficiency upgrades, as well as earthquake resiliency. Amador County joins more than 340 other cities and counties in California in making PACE Funding available to homeowners.
“Californians are seeing more and more 100-plus degree days, making it clear that heat is increasingly an issue of concern and that air conditioning is a necessity, not a luxury,” said Robert Giles, CEO of Home Run Financing. “PACE financing helps a lot of homeowners access efficient, affordable HVAC as well as other energy and water saving improvements. This financing option gives homeowners choice and equitable access to these vital home improvements, without needing large sums of capital or unsecured credit with high variable interest rates.”
Approval for PACE financing in California is based on homeowners’ home equity and their ability to repay, rather than their credit score; requires no money down to start a project; and enables customers to make payments through their property taxes. This makes financing available for many more homeowners for projects including HVAC, solar, energy efficient roofing and insulation, and water efficiency, as well as fire-resistant roofing and seismic (earthquake) resiliency.
PACE Financing is available only through registered and trained contractors. State legislation and regulation by the state Department of Financing Protection and Innovation (DFPI) provides robust consumer protections for homeowners.
Despite the recent heavy rains, drought remains a perennial and deepening problem in California, so more and more homeowners are looking for additional ways to fund home upgrades to save water. California homeowners are also looking for ways to reduce utility bills in the face of rising energy costs, both by installing renewable energy systems like solar panels, and by installing more efficient (less leaky) windows and doors and roofs. PACE Financing is specifically designed to be used for such water and energy saving projects.
The PACE financing model provides the strongest consumer protections of any home improvement financing product, with homeowner identity verification measures; recorded confirmation of terms calls conducted in English or Spanish to ensure the homeowner understands the financing; a further recorded call in English or Spanish to verify the project is complete before the contractor gets paid; third-party inspection of completed projects; rigorous contractor oversight and training; and additional protections for the elderly and low-income homeowners, among several other stringent consumer protection measures.
In the six years Home Run Financing (previously PACE Funding Group) has been operating in California, the company has provided almost $416 million in PACE financing for 14,000 home improvement projects across the state. These projects have set in place greenhouse gas reductions, over the lifetime of the upgrades, of 101,400 metric tons, equivalent to taking almost 22,000 cars off the road for a year or powering almost 13,000 homes for a year. The water efficiency upgrades have set in place the conservation of 56.4 million gallons of water, equivalent to filling 2,800 backyard pools or taking 2.8 million five-minute showers. HRF-financed projects have created more than 3,700 good-paying jobs across the state.
Learn more at www.homerunfinancing.com.
CONTACT
Severn Williams, 510-336-9566
swilliams@tanagercommunications.com