Section 67.2818

Title VI COUNTY, TOWNSHIP AND POLITICAL SUBDIVISION GOVERNMENT

Chapter 67

Effective - 28 Aug 2021   

  67.2818.  Federal law applicability — contracts not entered into, when — disclosure form, contents — board duties prior to execution of contract, verbal confirmation. — 1.  Any requirements and consumer protections established by federal law and regulations, and any amendments thereto, applicable to property assessed clean energy financing, shall apply to residential assessment contracts made pursuant to sections 67.2800 to 67.2840.  Additionally, the clean energy development board shall consider the financial ability of the property owner to repay the assessment contract.

  2.  The clean energy development board shall not enter into an assessment contract or levy or collect a special assessment for a project if the cash price of the residential project is more than twenty percent of the true value in money, as determined by the assessor pursuant to chapter 137, plus ten percent of such amount.

  3.  The clean energy development board shall not enter into an assessment contract or levy or collect a special assessment for a project if the PACE assessment contract combined with any existing and outstanding indebtedness secured by the property exceeds ninety-seven percent of the true value in money, as determined by the assessor pursuant to chapter 137, plus ten percent of such amount.

  4.  The clean energy development board shall provide a disclosure form to homeowners that shows the financing terms of the assessment contract including, but not limited to:

  (1)  The total amount funded and borrowed, including the cost of the installed improvements, the program fees, and capitalized interest, if any;

  (2)  The annual tax assessment, billing process, and payment due date;

  (3)  The annual payment amounts;

  (4)  The term of the assessment;

  (5)  The fixed rate of interest charged;

  (6)  The annual percentage rate;

  (7)  A payment schedule that fully amortizes the amount financed;

  (8)  The improvements to be installed;

  (9)  A statement that if the property owner sells or refinances the property that the owner may be required by a mortgage lender or a purchaser to pay off the assessment as a condition of refinancing or sale;

  (10)  A statement that no penalty shall be assessed or collected for prepayment of the assessment and the specific amount of any fee or charge by a lender or loan servicing agent to obtain the total balance due in a pay-off letter and the recording of a release of the assessment which shall be recorded within thirty days of the receipt of the amount identified in the pay-off letter;

  (11)  That the PACE annual assessment shall be collected along with property taxes and that any taxes and annual assessment not paid on or before December thirty-first shall result in a lien on the improved property for the unpaid taxes, unpaid annual assessment, interest, and penalties as provided by law;

  (12)  That if the owner pays property taxes and insurance through his or her mortgage payment and an escrow account, that the special assessment will cause the owner's monthly escrow requirements to increase and increase the owner's monthly payment to the lender or the loan servicer and that if the special assessment results in an escrow shortage that the owner shall be required to pay the shortage in a lump-sum payment or catch-up the shortage over twelve months;

  (13)  That failure to timely pay the annual assessment and taxes will result in a tax lien and penalties and fees being assessed and added to the annual assessment and taxes, and that if the delinquency is not paid, the property could be sold at a tax sale resulting in issuance of a tax certificate or collector's deed to a purchaser that could result in the property owner losing his or her home; and

  (14)  That the property owner should seek professional tax advice if he or she has questions regarding tax credits related to a PACE project or the tax matters presented by the assessment contract or financing agreement and payments thereunder.

  5.  The clean energy development board shall be required to present the disclosure form to a property owner for acknowledgment prior to the execution of an assessment contract.

  6.  Before a property owner executes an assessment contract, the clean energy development board shall do the following:

  (1)  Make a verbal confirmation that at least one owner of the property has a copy of the assessment contract documents with all the key terms completed, the financing estimate and disclosure form, and the right-to-cancel form with a written copy available upon request; and

  (2)  Make a verbal confirmation of the key terms of the assessment contract, in plain language, with the property owner, or to the verified authorized representative of the owner, and shall obtain acknowledgment from the property owner or representative to whom the verbal confirmation is given.

  7.  The verbal confirmation shall include, but is not limited to, all the following information:

  (1)  The property owner has the right to have other persons present, and an inquiry as to whether the property owner would like to exercise the right to include other individuals.  This inquiry shall occur immediately after the determination of the preferred language of communication;

  (2)  The property owner is informed that he or she should review the assessment contract and financing estimate and disclosure form with all other owners of the property;

  (3)  The qualified improvement being installed is being financed by an assessment contract;

  (4)  The total estimated annual costs the property owner will have to pay under the assessment contract, including applicable fees;

  (5)  The total estimated average monthly amount of funds the property owner would have to save in order to pay the annual costs under the assessment contract, including applicable fees;

  (6)  The term of the assessment contract;

  (7)  That payments on the assessment contract shall be made through an additional annual assessment on the property and paid either directly to the county tax collector's office as part of the total annual secured property tax bill or through the property owner's mortgage escrow account, and that if the property owner pays his or her taxes through an escrow account, he or she should notify his or her mortgage lender to discuss adjusting his or her monthly mortgage payment or otherwise providing additional funds to avoid a shortage in the owner's mortgage escrow account;

  (8)  That the property shall be subject to a lien during the term of the assessment contract for any delinquent assessments;

  (9)  That before the owner may sell or refinance the property, a purchaser or lender may require the obligation under the assessment contract to be paid in full;

  (10)  That the clean energy development board, its agents contractor, or other third party does not provide tax advice, and that the property owner should seek professional tax advice if he or she has questions regarding tax credits related to the project or the tax matters presented by the PACE assessment or assessment contract; and

  (11)  The date the first payment shall be due.

­­--------

(L. 2021 H.B. 697)