The PACE and Ygrene financing programs were marketed to Florida homeowners as a low-risk way to pay for solar with no upfront cost. For thousands of families they've turned into a 20-year secured debt obligation on a system that never worked, never got Permission to Operate (PTO), or was installed by a company that has since vanished. If you're one of those homeowners, the practical starting point is the paper trail: what the contract and the financing documents actually say, and what the public record shows about the installation.

How PACE and Ygrene actually work

PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) and the Ygrene financing program place the debt directly on your property tax bill as a special assessment. That assessment has lien priority over your mortgage and survives a sale. This is what makes it so dangerous: even if you sell the home, the new buyer inherits the assessment (or you have to pay it off at closing). The lender's risk is near zero because their lien is bolted onto the tax roll.

Common failure scenarios

  • Installer bankrupt or vanished: the workmanship warranty is now worthless. The system itself may have a manufacturer warranty, but no one is honoring the labor or installation side.
  • No PTO from the utility: the system was installed but never approved to feed the grid. You're paying the loan and your full electric bill.
  • Underperforming system: actual production is a fraction of what was modeled in the sales pitch.
  • Roof leaks reported after the install: water intrusion a homeowner first notices after panels and roof penetrations go on. Whether the two are connected is an engineering question, and a records file does not answer it.
  • Sale to an older homeowner: the homeowner reports that they did not understand the paperwork they signed, or that they signed at a time when they were unwell.

What a Florida homeowner can gather, and the public complaint channels

  1. Document everything: photo the system, the inverter status, the meter readings, every contract page.
  2. Florida Department of Financial Services: complaint against the lender for unfair practices.
  3. Florida Office of Financial Regulation: complaint against the installer or finance broker.
  4. Permit and inspection record: the county or city building department keeps the permit file for the installation — what was pulled, under which licensed contractor, and which inspections were signed off. Those records are public and you can request them yourself.
  5. Florida Attorney General's office: consumer protection complaint, especially for senior-targeted sales.
  6. An attorney of your own choosing: whether any of this adds up to a legal claim is a question for a Florida attorney you select and retain. We are not a law firm, we do not give legal advice, and we do not recommend or select attorneys for anyone.
  7. Your own contract and finance file: the signed agreement, the financing disclosures, the production estimate you were shown, and any texts or emails from the sales rep. Keep a complete, legible copy of every page.

The Florida Solar Exit Program

The Florida Solar Exit Program is a documentation and records service of Collaborative Concept LLC. It provides records services to Florida homeowners who report problems with a rooftop solar system or with PACE financing. It is not a law firm, and nothing it provides is legal advice.

More at floridasolarexit.com.