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Fannie and Freddie to clean-energy program: Drop dead
On Tuesday, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ended their radio silence nine weeks after sending cryptic letters warning lenders against permitting the use of Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) -- but it wasn't the follow-up PACE advocates were hoping for.
The government-chartered mortgage giants are sticking with their puzzling opposition to the finance tool, effectively killing PACE programs around the country, at least for the time being. A letter from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the regulator and spokes-agency for Fannie and Freddie, claims PACE programs "present significant safety and soundness concerns that must be addressed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks."
FHFA's letter amounts to a middle finger to PACE, which has drawn excitement from clean-energy advocates, home-improvement contractors, and homeowners who want to use the system to pay for projects like rooftop solar arrays and retrofits that cut energy waste.
Bottom line: It's now up to Congress to break through the impasse, as PACE creator Cisco DeVries suggested last Friday. Which means don't hold your breath for a quick resolution.