Rules could slow storm loans
Added paperwork makes applications more complicated
Home improvement financing now offered in Florida with no money down and no minimum credit score requirement could become more difficult to get under a new federal law recently signed by President Donald Trump.
The law directs the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to write new rules requiring consumers nationwide to undergo an “ability-to-pay” analysis before they could be approved for Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing for storm hardening and energy efficiency improvements.
PACE industry officials lauded the new law when it was introduced as legislation back in November, saying it was modeled after a package of reforms, including an ability-to-pay law, passed last year by the California Legislature to protect consumers in that state.
But after the California abilityto-pay law took effect on April 1, applications and approvals for PACE financing dropped sharply in the state, and PACE officials blame an unexpected increase in additional documentation of income, expenses and debt required by the new law.
PACE officials say they’re working with California legislators to make the application process simple again, and they plan to work with federal officials in Washington to make sure the same problems aren’t repeated in Florida and states where they plan to introduce PACE in the future.