The Pasco County Tax Collector’s Office and the Pasco County Property Appraiser’s Office announce that as of July 3, 2018 two PACE providers will be the only providers authorized to do business in Pasco County. The PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) Program is a government sponsored program that is used in Florida to finance energy efficiency home improvements, renewable energy improvements and wind resistance improvements. The two approved providers are Renew Financial and Florida Resiliency & Energy District (FRED). These providers are the only two approved to do business in Pasco County because they are the only two that agreed to abide by stringent customer protections that Tax Collector Mike Fasano & Property Appraiser Gary Joiner drafted.
For many people, a loan through the PACE Program may be the only option they have to fund needed home improvements. However, the industry has been riddled with shady businesses who have dealt unfairly and even fraudulently with customers.
News accounts throughout the state document people left owing huge sums of money that they never agreed to pay nor asked for. Contracts with any PACE vendor signed prior to July 3 are still in force. However, going forward, all companies except for Renew Financial and Florida Resiliency & Energy District are effectively banned from doing business in Pasco County.
Before entering into an agreement with a PACE provider customers’ needs to ask themselves some basic questions: Is the PACE program free for me? How do I qualify for the loan? Do I pay interest for the loan? For answers to these and other questions about the PACE Program, please visit the Pasco Tax Collector’s website at http://www.pascotaxes.com/faqs/pace-program.