PACE / Ygrene

Stuck in a Ygrene or PACE Loan in Florida? Here's How to Fight Back

June 2, 2026 · 6 min read

If your property tax bill suddenly jumped after a contractor put solar panels or a new roof on your house, you may be in a PACE loan — and you are not imagining how bad it is. Across Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, and the Treasure Coast, thousands of Florida homeowners were signed up for PACE financing through companies like Ygrene without fully understanding what they agreed to.

What is a PACE loan, really?

PACE stands for Property Assessed Clean Energy. Unlike a normal loan, a PACE loan is not a personal debt — it's a special assessment attached to your property and repaid through your property tax bill. In Florida it was sold door-to-door by Ygrene, Renew Financial (now Home Run Financing), the HERO program (Renovate America / FortiFi), and others, usually to pay for solar, roofs, windows, or AC.

Because the repayment rides on your taxes, a PACE assessment behaves very differently from a credit card or a bank loan — and that difference is exactly what catches people off guard.

Why PACE loans trap Florida homeowners

Your taxes explode. A federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau study found PACE raised borrowers' property taxes by roughly $2,700 a year — about a 90% jump. Florida homeowners have seen tax bills go from a few hundred dollars to several thousand.
You can't easily sell or refinance. The PACE lien generally sits ahead of your mortgage, and most buyers' lenders won't close until it's paid off — sometimes with a prepayment penalty.
Foreclosure risk through your tax bill. Because PACE is collected as a property tax, falling behind can push your home into the tax-lien process. Seniors and fixed-income homeowners have been hit hardest.
You may have been told things that weren't true. Many homeowners say they were promised the assessment would simply transfer to the next owner, or were approved with no real review of whether they could afford it.

The FTC ordered Ygrene to pay $3 million to harmed consumers, and Florida's Attorney General logged more than 100 complaints — including claims that homeowners were misled about how the loan worked.

What you can do about a PACE or Ygrene loan

You are not necessarily stuck. The right order of steps matters, and most of the first moves are things you can start yourself:

Document everything — your PACE agreement, the work that was done, the permits, and what you were actually told when you signed.
If you have active roof leaks or water damage from a botched install, get the roof protected now so the damage doesn't get worse (and so your evidence is preserved).
File consumer complaints with the Florida Attorney General, the CFPB, and the FTC. A paper trail strengthens your position.
Talk to a Florida attorney who handles construction and consumer disputes before you stop paying anything — stopping payment on your own can hurt you.

We document your PACE assessment and the underlying work in a report your attorney can use — and we'll start protecting your roof if it's leaking.

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This article is general information, not legal advice. Every situation is different — talk to a licensed Florida attorney about yours.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get out of a PACE or Ygrene loan in Florida?

It depends on your facts, but many homeowners have grounds to challenge a PACE assessment — especially where they were misled about how it worked, the work was never finished or never permitted, or there was no real review of their ability to repay. The first steps are documenting everything and speaking with a Florida attorney before you stop paying.

Does a PACE loan have to be paid off when I sell my house?

Usually, yes. Although homeowners were often told the assessment would transfer to the buyer, in practice most buyers' mortgage lenders require the PACE lien to be paid off before closing, sometimes with a prepayment penalty.

Is Ygrene still operating in Florida?

Ygrene suspended its Florida residential PACE lending and reached a $3 million settlement with the FTC over its practices. If you have a Ygrene assessment, you can still pursue documentation and legal options regarding how it was sold to you.