Property assessments: requirements and disclosures.

(1) Existing law, commonly known as the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program, authorizes public agency officials and property owners, as provided, to enter into voluntary contractual assessments, known as PACE assessments, to finance the installation of distributed generation renewable energy sources or energy or water efficiency improvements that are permanently fixed to real property. Existing law, the California Financing Law (CFL) , requires a program administrator who administers a PACE program on behalf of, and with the written consent of, a public agency to comply with specified requirements relating to the PACE program. The Department of Business Oversight is responsible for the licensing and regulation of program administrators. The CFL prohibits a program administrator from executing an assessment contract, prohibits any work from commencing under a home improvement contract that is financed by that assessment contract, and prohibits the execution of that home improvement contract, unless the program administrator ensures that certain criteria related to that assessment contract are satisfied. This bill would include within the criteria that an assessment contract is required to meet that the contract does not contain a penalty for early repayment, and the property that will be subject to the assessment contract is not subject to a reverse mortgage, as defined. (2) Existing law requires a specific financing estimate and disclosure document to be completed and delivered to a property owner under certain circumstances before the property owner consummates a voluntary contractual assessment for purposes of financing the installation of distributed generation renewable energy sources or energy or water efficiency improvements, certain seismic safety improvements, electric vehicle charging infrastructure improvements, wildfire safety improvements, or a special tax for community facilities, as specified. Existing law requires the disclosure form to be provided to the property owner as a printed copy unless the property owner agrees to an electronic copy. This bill would instead require the disclosure to be provided to the property owner as a printed copy in no smaller than 12-point type, unless the homeowner opts out of receiving a paper copy. The bill would require an electronic copy of the disclosure to be provided to a homeowner who opts out of receiving a paper copy. (3) Existing law requires a program administrator to provide an oral confirmation of the key terms of an assessment contract with the property owner on the call, or the property owner's authorized representative, and to retain a copy of a recording of that confirmation for a period of 5 years after the recording is made. Existing law requires that oral confirmation to contain specified information, including that at least one owner of the property has a copy of a specified financing estimate and disclosure form. The bill would require a program administrator to include in that oral confirmation that the property owner may repay an amount owed pursuant to an assessment contract before the date that amount is due under the contract without early repayment penalty. The bill would also make nonsubstantive changes. (4) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 5898.17 of the Streets and Highways Code proposed by AB 2471 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2471 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.