West Palm Beach, Fla. – Constitutional Tax Collector Anne M. Gannon announced today that she has joined Palm Beach County, Polk County, and the Polk County Tax Collector in filing a lawsuit in Leon County requesting relief from a final judgement issued on behalf of Florida Pace Funding Agency (FPFA).
FPFA offers home improvement financing to consumers through the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program, where payments to repay the debt are added to the property tax bill. The lawsuit stems from the fact that neither Polk or Palm Beach Counties were ever made parties to or served with a Florida Pace Funding Agency 2022 bond validation proceeding. The lawsuit further contends that Florida PACE Funding Agency no longer has an agreement with Palm Beach County to offer financing through the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program after having unilaterally withdrawn from the agreement that was put in place to protect consumers. “This agreement requirement is in place to ensure companies offering PACE financing in Palm Beach County are doing so in accordance with county ordinance. The fact that FPFA terminated its agreement with the County in January 2023 is cause for consumers to use caution when entering into PACE financing agreements with FPFA. This lawsuit should prevent FPFA from issuing those financing agreements without the County’s protections in place,” said Gannon.
Palm Beach County has a pending lawsuit against FPFA in Palm Beach Circuit Court to stop it from placing liens on properties without an interlocal agreement.
###
For more information, please contact:
Anne M. Gannon
Constitutional Tax Collector
(561) 355-2805
jvortolomei@pbctax.com