Remember PACE, the innovative local energy financing program that ran into a roadblock in the form of the Federal Housing Finance Agency? Well, bipartisan legislation has been introduced in Congress to fix the situation and bring PACE back from the dead.

HR 2599, the "PACE Assessment Protection Act of 2011," establishes strict underwriting criteria and lender protections for PACE programs.  The bill guarantees that PACE assessments will only be allowed for credit-worthy participants, and that improvements must be revenue positive (details on the bill here).

In return, FHFA and other federal agencies simply have to back off, and let the 27 states that have passed enabling legislation for PACE programs get to work reducing energy use, saving homeowners money, and creating jobs.

It really works: jurisdictions with existing PACE programs report higher construction and green job activity (Links here, here (pdf), and here). At the same time, of those 2,565 homes with PACE assessments in place around the country, we know of only 2 defaults.  As expected, that's significantly less than the national average default rate. 

This bill doesn't cost money, doesn't impose any government mandates, or touch non-participants' taxes.

This bill does restore states rights, leverage private capital, and put America to work saving homeowners money.

In fact, the National Journal listed PACE as one of 11 ways to jumpstart economic growth without adding to the deficit.  What's not to like?

What's not to like? Take action here to ask your Representative to co-sponsor HR 2599 and get PACE back on track.