We Need to Enhance Property Assessed Clean Energy Instead of Bringing It to a Standstill

RMI opposes the Protecting Americans from Credit Exploitation bill, arguing that regulating Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) as a mortgage product would undermine its unique structure as a property-attached assessment. RMI advocates for national consumer protection standards tailored to the nature of PACE, citing California's existing regulatory framework as a successful model for balancing consumer protection with the promotion of energy efficiency and renewable energy retrofits.

• The Protecting Americans from Credit Exploitation bill, introduced by Senators Tom Cotton, Marco Rubio, and John Boozman, proposes amending the Truth in Lending Act to require PACE lenders to adhere to the same regulations as mortgage lenders and banks.
• RMI argues that treating PACE as a mortgage product is ill-informed and could jeopardize the mechanism's ability to align payment obligations with benefit realization, undermine existing consumer protections in California, prevent local economic development, and inhibit homeowners from making energy and safety improvements.
• PACE is described as a unique green financing instrument that addresses market failures by removing upfront costs for water efficiency, renewable energy, and energy efficiency investments. Unlike mortgages, PACE is an assessment attached to the property rather than the individual, offering longer payback terms and transferable repayment costs.
• RMI suggests that lawmakers should look to California's regulatory approach, which has used robust consumer protection norms for nearly a decade that exceed the disclosure requirements of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and the Truth in Lending Act while accounting for PACE's specific attributes.

APA

RMI (2017). We Need to Enhance Property Assessed Clean Energy Instead of Bringing It to a Standstill. https://rmi.org/resources/need-enhance-property-assessed-clean-energy-instead-bringing-standstill/

Chicago

RMI. We Need to Enhance Property Assessed Clean Energy Instead of Bringing It to a Standstill. 2017. https://rmi.org/resources/need-enhance-property-assessed-clean-energy-instead-bringing-standstill/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=RMI |title=We Need to Enhance Property Assessed Clean Energy Instead of Bringing It to a Standstill |date=11 April 2017 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/need-enhance-property-assessed-clean-energy-instead-bringing-standstill/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{rmi2017need, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{We Need to Enhance Property Assessed Clean Energy Instead of Bringing It to a Standstill}}, publisher = {RMI}, year = {2017}, month = apr, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/need-enhance-property-assessed-clean-energy-instead-bringing-standstill/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }