HERO & Ygrene PACE Financing: What Happened, and Your Roof Now
You paid for that roof through your property taxes. The program is gone. The roof is still yours.
If you financed a roof, solar, or HVAC project in San Diego County through the HERO program, the company behind it — San Diego's own Renovate America — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2020. Ygrene, the other big PACE name of that era, stopped funding new residential projects in 2022. PACE financing was everywhere here for a decade, which means thousands of local roofs and solar systems were installed under programs that have since shut their doors.
McKay Roofing and Solar is not affiliated with Renovate America, HERO, or Ygrene, and this is general information — not legal, tax, or financial advice.
What the shutdowns mean for your assessment. PACE obligations ride on your property tax bill, and industry and court reporting was consistent: the bankruptcies did not erase outstanding assessments. They continue to be collected and serviced by successor entities through your county tax bill. Separately, court-supervised settlement programs exist for certain HERO borrowers — if you believe you were mis-sold, that's a question for the settlement administrators or an attorney, not your roofer.
One thing this is NOT saying: PACE itself isn't dead. Active, regulated PACE programs still operate in California today — we work with Renew Financial ourselves, alongside a full bench of loan and lease partners, and we'll tell you honestly when PACE fits a project and when it doesn't. What ended was HERO and Ygrene's era — not the category.
What it means for your roof or system. The practical orphaning is the same story we see with failed installers: the contractor who did the PACE-financed work is often long gone, nobody has inspected the roof since, and small problems have had years to grow. If you're still paying an assessment on a roof no one has looked at since 2018, an inspection is overdue — especially before adding solar or a battery to it.
What we do: a roof inspection with a written report — $399, credited in full toward any work if you hire us · repair or replacement for tile, shingle, and flat roofs · solar and battery service on one license (B, C-10, C-39) · detach-and-reset when a PACE-era roof needs work under a solar array.
Frequently asked questions
Renovate America went bankrupt — do I still owe my HERO assessment? The bankruptcy didn't cancel homeowner assessments; they continue via your property tax bill. Questions about your specific balance go to your county tax assessment records or the servicer named on your bill.
Can I still get PACE financing for a new project? Yes — active programs exist, and we offer PACE through Renew Financial where it genuinely fits, with the trade-offs explained plainly.
The company that installed my PACE-financed roof is gone. Is my workmanship warranty dead? A workmanship warranty is only as alive as the company behind it. What you can control now is documented condition — that's what the written inspection gives you.
Estimates are always free. Call (858) 541-1097.
