Dear PACENation members,
Last month, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and its Federal Housing Administration issued long-awaited guidance that leads us on a path for broader availability of residential PACE financing throughout the United States. These two tremendously important federal agencies have, after thorough review, concluded that PACE is an entirely valid use of the local government assessment financing mechanism, used for decades by nearly 40,000 assessment districts throughout the US to fund projects that benefit property owners and meet a clear public purpose. PACENation applauds and strongly supports the guidance, and you can read our full statement here.
Hopefully, you were able to join our webinar last month, and we again thank Ari Matusiak (from Renovate America), Cliff Staton (from Renew Financial), and Laurie Goodman (from the Urban Institute) for outlining the guidance, talking about its significance, and answering questions from some of the nearly 500 folks who tuned in. If you could not, you can watch a replay of the webinar here.
HUD/FHA accept that because PACE assessments remain with a property upon sale, including foreclosure sales, PACE isn’t really senior to their mortgage interests. Because they recognize the valid public purpose associated with PACE, they’re willing to treat PACE assessments in arrears the same way they treat other property taxes and assessments.
As a result of this important guidance, we expect that more states will begin offering residential PACE. With broader use we’ll gain more experience and data to support what we already know: PACE makes homes healthier, more comfortable, sustainable and valuable, and it’s creating thousands of good local jobs. We look forward to working with all stakeholders in the coming months and years to build a powerful residential PACENation!
- David Gabrielson