SACRAMENTO, Calif.–California Gov. Jerry Brown blasted Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for their “silly” reservations over a federal loan program for home energy improvements.
“They’re stubborn, they’re unreasonable, they’re acting like East Coast bankers,” Brown said during a White House call with reporters. “I can say that, because the other politicians can’t.”
Brown’s remarks were offered as part of a goal set by the Obama Administration to bring one gigawatt of solar energy to low- and moderate-income families by 2020, which marks dramatic expansion of the administration’s existing goals. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs have released new guidance to ease financing surrounding the sale of homes with improvements funded by the Property Assessed Clean Energy program, or PACE. The program lets homeowners make loan repayments for energy upgrades along with their property taxes.
The California Bee reported that 70,000 California property owners participate in the program, according to the California Solar Energy Industries Association, saving homeowners $2.5 billion in utility bills.
Brown’s criticism of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is based on reservations by both the mortgage market giants related to mortgages on properties involved with PACE, in which the loans are secured by priority liens on the property. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have said they will no longer purchase mortgage loans secured by properties with outstanding PACE loans, hampering people’s ability to refinance or to sell to buyers who need a mortgage.