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Ygrene Energy Fund Inc. and Ygrene Energy Fund Florida LLC are facing a class action lawsuit alleging they engage in deceptive sales practices to entice consumers into obtaining Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loans.
According to the Ygrene Energy class action lawsuit, PACE loans are a type of financing structure that allows residential property owners to opt in to a special assessment district to receive financing for energy improvements and retrofits. These loans are reportedly repaid through a yearly assessment on the owner’s property tax bill.
The Ygrene class action lawsuit was filed by plaintiffs Grachian L. Smith and Mary Jane Smith of Broward County, Fla., and Alejandro Marcey and Felicia Marcey of San Diego County, Calif. The plaintiffs claim that the Ygrene Energy defendants enlist ill-trained and self-interested home improvement contractors to sell PACE loans to homeowners.
“Ygrene aggressively markets PACE loans through a network of 3,200 home improvement contractors,” the PACE loan class action lawsuit states. “It provides little to no training to these individuals before they are set loose on unsuspecting customers.”
According to the Ygrene class action lawsuit, once the contractors receive their Ygrene certification, they are pressured to maximize their own profits.
“Through this sales force, its marketing, and loan documents, Ygrene deceives consumers into believing the PACE loan is a risk-free, no-strings-attached program, backed by government support that allows immediate energy efficiency improvements to a home in exchange for nothing more than increased tax assessments,” the Ygrene class action lawsuit says.
The plaintiffs allege that, as part of its sales efforts, Ygrene markets its PACE loans as a “smart alternative” to traditional loan products, such as a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC).
“In reality, the loans act just like second or third mortgages,” the Ygrene class action lawsuit claims.
According to the Ygrene Energy class action lawsuit, the defendants also conceal important information about the PACE loans, including prepayment penalties and/or fees assessed by Ygrene to avoid prepayment penalties. The Ygrene Energy class action lawsuit alleges Ygrene’s marketing materials and other sales approaches inform consumers that the loan will remain with the home and not the borrower.
However, the PACE loan does not actually remain with the home, and the PACE loans “make it impossible or nearly impossible for consumers to sell their homes without first paying off the loan and incurring a large prepayment penalty,” the Ygrene class action lawsuit says. Therefore, the PACE loan is an encumbrance that allegedly functions much like a HELOC.
The plaintiffs claim that they would not have entered into an agreement through Ygrene if they had known that the PACE loan was effectively no different than a second mortgage.
By filing the Ygrene class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs seek to represent themselves and other consumers who entered into a PACE loan facilitated by Ygrene.
The PACE loan class action lawsuit asserts claims against Ygrene for violation of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, violations of California business law, violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, fraudulent inducement, negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment and negligence.
The plaintiffs are represented by Kenneth S. Kasdan, Graham B. LippSmith and Jaclyn L. Anderson of Kasdan LippSmith Weber Turner LLP and Jeffrey D. Kaliel of Tycko & Zavareei LLP.
The Ygrene PACE Loan Class Action Lawsuit is Grachian L. Smith, et al. v. Ygrene Energy Fund Inc., et al., Case No. 3:17-cv-01258, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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139 thoughts onYgrene Class Action Says PACE Loans Are Bad For Homeowners
I had this type of loan, and finally, one bank helped me to refinance and paid the scam PACE loan that made to lose houses to some elderly.
And after 6 years, I can hear you still with this issue where the authorities are doing zero.
For over a year now I have emailed and phone Ygrene to find out what my payout is. I received one email last year after I went right to a supervisor and they refused to acknowledgement a payment that was made out of my property taxes for 2021. Over $2000. When I disputed this, they shut off all contact with me. They refuse to answer my emails or phone calls, which are now a few times a month as they are literally ripping me off. I will be joining the class action lawsuit.
I needed a roof badly county was on my back could not afford companies prices told me about this government program that could fix my roof nothing about a lien on my property would go to my taxes now trying withdraw whole amount from my checking account and my roof started leaking a month later had to put tar and another patch not did right
The slabs of roof were falling into my home i needed help quick and now i see this letter in the mail. What do i do?? This wasnt a home improvement, this was a necessity and now i cant pay my taxes which doubled. I given certain amount and now i see the cost was tripled with no notification. There was never a converstation about a lien. Please i need help.
Please i need help. i have the documents that were given to mother and i which states a certain amount and i see it was tripled. The slab of roof were falling into my home i needed help quick and now i see this letter in the mail. What do i do?? This wasnt a home improvement, this was a necessity and now i cant pay my taxes which doubled. Please i need help.
Please, does anyone know something about the form that we received this month, all those affected by the Ygrene scam??.. In my opinion, it is made to remove responsibility from Ygrene??.. I think it is another scam from them.
I was told by the salesperson that I can make payments towards my why green account whenever I wanted that I could pay it off early if I wanted he even charged me an extra $150 so that I could be able to make payments or pay it off when I wanted they never told me there be a lien on my home they just told me my taxes will be a little bit higher and then when I sold my house the new homeowner would take over the loan. My taxes went up from $800 a year to $2,500 a year I am barely able to pay those taxes on the verge of losing my home the company that did my roof did a terrible job the back part is all coming apart they put two so-called hurricane windows in the front of my home and come to find out they are illegal because there is no Escape Route so it’s basically a fire trap. Now I am unable to sell my home because I am stuck in this huge loan with the lien on my home I so need help I am 64 years old I worked all my life for this house and I believe I can’t continue paying these large taxes I feel like why green has stolen my home.
We were told when we sell our house the balance of the air conditioner would transfer over to the new owners. This is not the case! We can’t pay off this “lean” prior to selling our house. We’ve lost our jobs! We were not even told this was a “ LEAN” but a program added to our taxes to make payments! Now we find out it’s a LEAN!! On top of this we were mislead, the contractor signed to papers for us , if we knew about this we would have never have gone through with this! We can’t sell our house now! This is unacceptable! I want my money back and this lean removed asap.
My husband, who passed away in 2020 signed with Ygrene for a new and front windows. Now I’m charged with this not sure what to do. He was told it was transferable.
Por favor,yo me quiero sumar a esa demanda,he sido completamente engañada con Ygrene .Dónde puedo buscar información???
How can I joint to the lawsuit? Please i need information!
I got something in the mail this week for fill out
Please add me to this lawsuit..
Put me on it please
I too was told my payments would only go up 130. a month and my propertytaxes doubled. Single mother of 3 and now fighting to afford my monthly payments.
I want in on lawsuit before i loose my house