Comments Submitted for FHFA Rulemaking on PACE Financing
The Alliance to Save Energy, along with several co-signatories, recently submitted comments to a Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) rulemaking regarding Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) residential financing programs. We reported on FHFA's advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) in February and the ongoing impasse regarding the FHFA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac several times over the past two years.
In August 2011, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the FHFA had to undertake this rulemaking. Its July 2010 statement blocking residential PACE was determined to be insufficient and a formal rulemaking process was necessary for this sort of decision.
The FHFA will now consider the several-thousand comments that have been submitted and propose a rule on PACE. That proposed rule will be followed by a second rulemaking period before an final rule is issued. However legal challenges are ongoing: the FHFA has appealed the court decision that required them to initiate this rulemaking; the rule could not go into effect until the appeal is resolved. If the FHFA's appeal is successful, it would invalidate the rulemaking.
The Alliance will continue to report on this issue. Parallel efforts to address the FHFA's opposition continue in Congress.
Further Resources:
Regarding the rulemaking:
- Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register (January 2012)
- Decision from the US District Court for the Northern District of California (August 2011)
- Federal Housing Finance Administration Lenders Letter (July 2010)
Regarding PACE:
- Property Assessed Clean Energy, a factsheet
- The Inception of PACE Financing, its Support, and its Potential, an overview
- The PACE Assessment Protection Act, bill summary
