Can I Sell My Florida House If It Has a PACE Loan on the Tax Bill?

PACE stands for Property Assessed Clean Energy. Florida’s statutes call it financing for “qualifying improvements.” For a home (residential property of four or fewer units), section 163.08 lists what qualifies: roof repair or replacement and roof strengthening, impact or hurricane windows and doors (including garage doors) and storm shutters, energy-efficient air conditioning, insulation and water heaters, a permanent generator, solar and other renewable energy, flood-resiliency work such as seawall repairs, and septic-to-sewer conversions.

The money comes from a program administrator, often working with a private company, not from a bank. You repay it through a non-ad valorem assessment on your annual property tax bill. Under section 163.081(7), the recorded agreement gives notice that the assessment “constitutes a lien of equal dignity to county taxes and assessments.” That is why lenders treat it differently from a second mortgage. Florida rewrote these rules in 2024 (chapter 2024-273), adding underwriting, disclosure and contractor requirements.

Look at your property tax bill or your TRIM notice, the notice of proposed property taxes. The Miami-Dade Property Appraiser says a PACE district “may appear on your TRIM Notice and Property Tax Bill in the form of a non-ad valorem assessment,” and you can check any parcel through its Property Search tool. The line usually shows the district’s name rather than the word PACE. Miami-Dade County lists four PACE districts it has agreements with for unincorporated Miami-Dade: Florida Green Finance Authority, Florida PACE Funding Agency, FRED, and Green Corridor.

New assessments can be easy to miss. Miami-Dade County notes that PACE assessments “often show up in the second tax cycle,” so a house that got new impact windows last year may not show the charge yet. The recorded financing agreement or notice of lien in the county’s official records is another place to look, and the closing agent will search for it too.

Section 163.081(8) says that at or before the time you sign a contract to sell a residential property that has a PACE assessment with an unpaid balance, you must give the buyer a written statement, either in the contract or in a separate writing. The statute supplies the wording: “The property being purchased is subject to an assessment on the property pursuant to s. 163.081, Florida Statutes. The assessment is for a qualifying improvement to the property and is not based on the value of the property. You are encouraged to contact the property appraiser’s office to learn more about this and other assessments that may be provided by law.”

Give it even if you plan to pay the balance off at closing, because the duty turns on the balance existing when you sign. Our checklist of Florida seller disclosure requirements covers the other notices that come with most sales.

Not under Florida law. The assessment runs with the property. The Palm Beach County Tax Collector says, “The PACE Program lien is automatically transferred to the buyer when you sell your home,” and the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser says the assessment usually continues on the tax bill after a sale. A buyer who keeps it takes over the remaining annual payments.

In practice, the buyer’s lender often decides. HUD’s Mortgagee Letter 2017-18 says that properties encumbered with PACE obligations “will no longer be eligible for FHA-insured forward mortgages.” Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide says it will not buy mortgage loans on properties with an outstanding PACE loan that has priority over the first mortgage. The Palm Beach County Tax Collector adds that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA and VA loans may not be available, and Florida law requires the disclosure an owner signs before taking a PACE loan to warn that a mortgage lender may require the full amount to be paid off on a sale or refinance (s. 163.081(4)(a)11). So if your buyer is financing, plan on a payoff. A cash buyer is not bound by those lender rules, and the two of you can agree either way.

The closing agent asks your PACE provider for a payoff amount and pays it from your sale proceeds, just like a mortgage payoff. Florida law bars prepayment fees or fines on residential PACE other than nominal administrative costs (s. 163.081(3)(a)3), and the Palm Beach County Tax Collector says you “have the right of pre-payment without penalty.” The City of Miramar notes that most providers accept an early payment only in full. Once it is paid, the Palm Beach County Tax Collector says, the lien is removed and the line drops off the tax bill.

Watch the calendar. The City of Miramar warns that if you pay off after that year’s assessment has been sent to the property appraiser, that year’s installment “will not have been included in the pay-off” and is still due with the property taxes. Miami-Dade County says a prepayment made between July and November could result in an inaccurate tax bill. Ask the provider and the closing agent whether the current year’s installment is in the payoff, and how it is split on the settlement statement along with the regular property tax proration. Our guide to what happens at a Florida closing explains payoffs and prorations in general.

Some sellers would rather leave the PACE on the house, especially when the improvement is something the buyer wants, such as new impact windows, a newer roof or a paid-for solar system. That only works with a buyer who agrees and whose financing allows it, which usually means a cash buyer. The price should reflect the balance the buyer is taking on, and the contract should say clearly who pays the current year’s installment.

Do not treat the balance as a reason not to disclose or as something to sort out later. Put the agreed treatment in the contract, along with the section 163.081(8) statement, and have the closing agent confirm the figures with the provider before closing.

Because the assessment is part of the tax bill, an unpaid PACE installment is an unpaid tax. Section 163.081(4)(a)14 requires PACE disclosures to warn that failure to pay may lead to penalties, fees and the issuance of a tax certificate that could cause the owner to lose the property. The Palm Beach County Tax Collector says an unpaid certificate can lead to a tax deed application after two years. If you are behind on the bill, our page on selling when you are behind on property taxes explains the options. Florida law also says a PACE lien cannot be enforced in a way that accelerates the remaining balance that is not yet delinquent (s. 163.081(7)).

If you did not sign the agreement, section 163.086(2) says a financing agreement may not be enforced, and may be removed and deemed void, when someone other than the property owner obtained it, when the owner canceled within the three business days allowed, or when the administrator or contractor obtained the funding through fraud in violation of the PACE statutes. Section 163.085 also bars contractors and administrators from implying that PACE is a government assistance program or free. If any of that happened to you, talk to a Florida attorney and contact the program administrator before you sell, because it can change what the closing agent has to pay.

PACE programs here are run by districts and private providers, not by the counties. Miami-Dade County says all PACE agreements “are between property owners and the PACE district, a non-County entity,” and Palm Beach County says that although its commissioners authorized PACE financing, “it is not a County program.” Questions about a payoff go to the provider named on your tax bill. In Palm Beach County, the Tax Collector also runs a PACE hotline at (561) 355-1126.

Broward cities say the same thing to their residents. The City of Miramar says that sellers, buyers or lenders may require a payoff as a condition of sale, and Pembroke Pines says owners must tell potential buyers about a PACE assessment before a sale. Many of these assessments paid for impact windows, roofs and solar on single-family homes, so they come up often when selling a house in Miramar or selling a house in Pembroke Pines.

Florida Cash For Home buys houses with cash, so no mortgage lender’s PACE rule applies to our purchase. We look at the PACE balance along with the mortgage and any other liens, and the closing agent at an independent Florida title company confirms every figure with the provider. We give a written offer within 24 hours of the walkthrough, pay the closing costs stated in that offer, and can close in about 10 days when title is clear, or on the date you choose. We buy as-is across Broward County and Miami-Dade County, in English or Spanish.