Miami-Dade commissioners approve safeguards for residents who finance home improvement through PACE program – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports

MIAMI (WSVN) – Miami-Dade leaders have taken action to try and ensure homeowners who use a popular lender to finance home improvement work through one county program are better protected, months after a Help Me Howard trouble profiled a homeowner who found herself in dire financial straits.

The new law, passed unanimously on Tuesday, aims to help Miami-Dade residents be more protected if they choose to finance home improvement through the county’s Property Assessed Clean Energy program, or PACE.

The commission’s vote comes months after homeowner’s Elli Fink’s story was highlighted on Help Me Howard, back in November.

“You can go and find it on WSVN, the Help Me Howard video, of plenty of people that this happened to,” said Miami-Dade Commissioner Kevin Cabrera. “They were told, ‘We have pulled out of Florida. You have to find alternate financing. That’s not OK.”

“I think it’s a disaster. I know that I’m not the only one,” Fink told Patrick Fraser in the Help Me Howard segment.

Her situation prompted Cabrera, who represents District 6, to act.

“To make sure we have safeguards in place that apply to every company as part of this PACE program, so that no one is ever left in a situation similar to Elli and her family,” he said.

Fink financed a new roof through Ygrene, utilizing the county’s PACE program, which is a way to pay for pricey projects without a down payment.

“If you’re not familiar with Ygrene, they add it into your tax roll, so it’s affordable, the rates were good, and it’s a monthly payment,” she said.

The bank uses a person’s home as collateral. The monthly payment is then added to the homeowner’s county tax bill.

“The woman on the phone said, ‘Yes, we’re pulling out of Florida,’” said Fink. “I said, ‘No, but you don’t understand, I’m already approved, you contacted my contractor, we’re good to go.’ I have a contractor I do, I do.”

But that contract would be worthless. Ygrene didn’t disburse Fink’s money.

She was on the hook with the roofer for $40,000, which was money she didn’t have, and other banks wanted to charge double.

“Eighteen percent and, of course, that wasn’t doable,” she said.

With help from Fraser and 7News legal expert Howard Finkelstein, Fink was able to find a new bank at the same rate.

Now, there’s a new law on the books to make sure homeowners know what they’re signing and that they’re protected from bad actors.

“The term on the loan, how much who is the contractor, are there prepayment penalties of any sort?” said Cabrera. “So what we want to make sure is, you have that form, it has to be filled out, it has to be given to you with a certain size, so you have all of that information so you’re making an informed decision.”

As of early this year, Ygrene returned to Florida and Miami-Dade, but that may not be for long

“We’ve proposed additional pieces of legislation. One would dissolve Ygrene’s ability to work in our county,” said Cabrera. “I think, of you’ve done something along these lines, you’re definitely not a good actor.”

Ygrene is lender whose days may be numbered in Miami-Dade and one who’s reportedly under investigation by the state.