Ygrene PACE Lien in California: What the FTC and Attorney General Settlement Means for Your Home

Ygrene PACE Lien in California: What the FTC and Attorney General Settlement Means for Your Home

A homeowner decides to sell. The escrow officer pulls a title report and finds a lien the owner doesn't remember agreeing to. It came from a PACE financing agreement, signed years earlier at the kitchen table for solar panels. Sometimes the owner remembers signing. Sometimes they don't think they ever did.



That's the situation the Federal Trade Commission and the State of California went after when they sued Ygrene Energy Fund, one of the biggest residential PACE financiers in California.

What the FTC and California alleged

The case is FTC and People of the State of California v. Ygrene Energy Fund Inc. (C.D. Cal. No. 2:22-cv-07864), filed in October 2022 with California Attorney General Rob Bonta as a plaintiff. According to the FTC, the complaint alleged that Ygrene and the contractors it used as a sales force:

• Falsely told homeowners the financing wouldn't interfere with selling or refinancing their homes. In reality, a PACE lien sits in first position and typically has higher priority than a mortgage.
• Used high-pressure sales tactics.
• In some cases forged homeowners' signatures on Ygrene's finance agreements.
• Recorded liens on homes without the homeowners' consent.

Those are allegations in a lawsuit that settled by stipulated order. They're not findings after a trial.

What the settlement required

The proposed order, as the FTC describes it, required Ygrene to stop the deceptive practices and to meaningfully oversee the contractors who sold its financing. It also required Ygrene to dedicate $3 million to relief for certain consumers whose homes are subject to its liens.

What happened next

• January 2023: The FTC and California began mailing surveys to people with outstanding Ygrene liens to determine whether they qualified for lien release or other monetary relief, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs.
• July 2025: The FTC sent 960 checks totaling more than $2.9 million to eligible customers.

One line on the FTC's refund page matters more than the dollar figure: the settlement did not remove Ygrene's liens, and they remain outstanding until paid.

What a PACE lien does when you sell or refinance

PACE is repaid through your property tax bill, so the lien belongs to the house and not to you personally. California's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, which oversees PACE administrators, says plainly that PACE is not a free government program, that assessments can make it harder to sell or refinance because the lien stays until the contract is paid off, and that homeowners who can't afford the added property taxes can lose their homes through foreclosure.

Because the lien sits ahead of a mortgage, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have long refused to buy loans on homes with a PACE lien, and FHA and VA programs have their own restrictions. In practice, many sales end with a payoff at closing. That's why the "it won't affect selling your home" claim at the center of the FTC case mattered so much. The National Consumer Law Center has collected homeowners' stories, including Ygrene customers, about discovering a lien only when they tried to sell.

How to find out whether you have a Ygrene lien

• Look at your property tax bill. PACE shows up as a special assessment line item, and the program name, such as Ygrene or Ygrene Works, is usually on it.
• Call your county tax collector and ask what special assessments are on your parcel.
• Order a title report or preliminary report if you're selling or refinancing.
• Ask for a payoff statement from the administrator, so you know the real balance, not just the annual payment.
• Check your mail from 2023 and 2025. If you received an FTC or California survey or a settlement check, keep it with your records.

If the way it was signed doesn't add up

If you think you didn't sign, or you were told something false about selling or refinancing, gather:

• The original finance agreement and signature page, including any e-signature record showing when and on what device it was signed.
• The contractor's name and any sales materials.
• Anything in writing about what you were promised.
• Your property tax bills from before and after the work.

The signature questions in these cases are the same ones that decided Jones v. Solgen Construction, which we explain in Solar Loan Signed in 38 Seconds?. For the older HERO program story, see our Renovate America settlement guide, and for how PACE differs from a standard solar loan, see our PACE guide. The documentation checklist covers how to organize it, and you can file complaints through the routes in our solar complaint agencies guide.

Questions about Ygrene and PACE liens

Did the settlement cancel my Ygrene lien?

Not as a rule. The FTC says the settlement did not remove Ygrene's liens and that they remain outstanding until paid. Relief went to eligible customers after the survey process, mostly as payments.

Is a PACE lien the same as the UCC-1 filing on a solar loan?

No. A PACE lien is a property tax assessment collected through your tax bill. A UCC-1 is a security filing against the equipment. They show up in different places and are paid off differently, and our solar lien guide covers the UCC-1 side.

Can I still get money from the settlement?

The FTC issued its checks in July 2025. If you think you were eligible and didn't receive one, check the FTC's Ygrene settlement page, and keep your own records either way.

Have a Ygrene or other PACE lien you don't understand, or paperwork that doesn't look right?

Send us your property tax bill and the original agreement and we'll tell you where you stand, usually in one 15-minute call.

Call (213) 579-5156 or visit californiasolarexit.com.

Daniel Merritt is a Senior Solar Contract Analyst at California Solar Exit. This article is general information, not legal advice.