Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024
(a)
A program administrator shall not advertise PACE financing in a manner that is
untrue, deceptive, or likely to mislead a property owner. A program
administrator shall condition remaining enrolled as a PACE solicitor or PACE
solicitor agent on a PACE solicitor or PACE solicitor agent refraining from
advertising a PACE program, directly or indirectly, in a manner that is untrue,
deceptive, or likely to mislead a property owner. The following is a
non-exclusive list of actions that constitute advertising of a PACE program in
a manner that is untrue, deceptive, or likely to mislead a property owner:
(1) Suggesting that the full assessment
payment may be tax deductible as a state or local real estate tax, unless the
statement is consistent with representations, statements, or opinions of the
Internal Revenue Service or applicable state tax agency with regard to the tax
treatment of PACE assessments or otherwise true.
(2) Representing that the program is a free,
subsidized, or government program, unless the program in fact has these
characteristics.
(3) Representing
that the program is a government program that provides a subsidy or benefit to
property owners because of the property owner's limited resources or income,
unless the PACE program includes a benefit or subsidy that is available to a
property owner because of the property owner's limited resources and
income.
(4) Representing that the
property owner will not be obligated to pay the assessment obligations, unless
the property owner will not be contractually obligated to pay the assessment
obligations.
(5) Suggesting an
efficiency improvement will pay for the PACE assessment, unless the
representation is supported by evidence, including being consistent with the
Public Utilities Commission's inputs and assumptions for calculating electric
utility bill savings under Public Utilities Code section
2854.6.
(6) Advertising PACE financing through a
method that violates the Federal Trade Commission's Telemarketing Sales Rule
(16 C.F.R. §§
310.1-310.9).
(7) Representing that the advertisement of
PACE financing is from a government entity unless the advertising is in fact
from a government entity or the representation is authorized by a government
entity.
(8) Advertising that the
program has an ending date, is available for a limited time, or is available to
a limited number of property owners, unless the program has these
characteristics.
(9) Engaging in
blind advertising for a PACE program by failing to identify the program
administrator or the PACE solicitor responsible for the
advertisement.
(10) Making any
written or oral communication in advertising that includes an untrue statement
of a material fact about a PACE program, or omitting to state a material fact
necessary to make the statements made about a PACE program, in the light of the
circumstances under which the statements were made, not
misleading.
(b) Every
written advertisement by a program administrator shall disclose that the
program administrator is not a government agency. The written advertisement
shall disclose that the installation or construction of property improvements
financed with a PACE assessment is provided through a home improvement
contractor or other third-party provider, and not by the program administrator
or a government entity.
(c) A
program administrator may not advertise, on its website or otherwise,
businesses or individuals approved by the program administrator to solicit
property owners for PACE financing, unless the business or individual is
enrolled by the program administrator as a PACE solicitor or PACE solicitor
agent or not required to be enrolled.
(d) A program administrator shall include a
reference to the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation and its
license number in its written advertising.
(e) A written advertisement on an electronic
advertising platform that is limited to 300 or fewer characters need not comply
with subdivisions (b) or (d) of this section, as long as an electronic
advertisement contains a link, and the linked location contains the information
required by these subdivisions.
(f)
(1) A program administrator may not evade the
prohibition in subdivision (a) by obtaining leads from a third party who the
program administrator knows solicits property owners for participation in a
PACE program through untrue, deceptive, or misleading advertising set forth in
subdivision (a).
(2) A program
administrator shall not enroll or continue the enrollment of a PACE solicitor
who the program administrator knows obtains leads from a third party that
solicits property owners for participation in a PACE program through untrue,
deceptive, or misleading advertising as set forth in subdivision (a).
(3) A program administrator shall not arrange
an assessment contract with a property owner if the program administrator knows
that the property owner was solicited by a third party that solicits property
owners for participation in a PACE program through untrue, deceptive, or
misleading advertising set forth in subdivision (a), unless before the start of
the home improvement and before entering into an assessment contract, the
program administrator does all of the following.
(A) Notifies the property owner of the
untrue, deceptive, or misleading representation by the third party.
(B) After correcting the misinformation,
obtains and documents the affirmative response that the property owner seeks to
proceed with the transaction.
1. New
section filed 8-5-2021; operative 10-1-2021 (Register 2021, No. 32).
Transmission deadline specified in Government Code section
11346.4(b)
extended 60 calendar days pursuant to Executive Order N-40-20 and an additional
60 calendar days pursuant to Executive Order N-71-20. Filing deadline specified
in Government Code section
11349.3(a)
extended 60 calendar days pursuant to Executive Order N-40-20 and an additional
60 calendar days pursuant to Executive Order
N-71-20.
Note: Authority cited: Section
22150,
Financial Code. Reference: Sections
22161,
22162,
22163,
22164,
22165 and
22166,
Financial Code.
