Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Los Angeles Times

    After booming for years, a controversial home improvement loan is on the decline

    by Andrew Khouri, Los Angeles Times Dec 24, 2018 6 minutes

    A controversial form of financing for environmentally friendly home improvements in California has plunged after reform legislation kicked in.

    So-called PACE loans grew in recent years as a way to pay for solar panels and energy-efficient air conditioners. Homeowners in the state took out more than $1 billion worth of them in 2017. However, critics say unscrupulous contractors frequently signed up borrowers with loans they neither understood nor could afford. That helped lead to state legislation that sharply tightened underwriting standards.

    In the first half of 2018 - the latest data available - PACE lending plunged by 32 percent from a year earlier, according to the state treasurer's office, which tracks the vast majority of the loans.

    Lenders blame much of the recent drop-off on a new underwriting law they say blocks too many qualified applicants. Consumer groups say it's too early to know the exact effect. But they don't deny regulation is having an

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from Los Angeles Times

    Los Angeles Times5 min read
    There's A New Highly Transmissible COVID-19 Variant. Could FLiRT Lead To A Summer Uptick?
    Two new COVID-19 subvariants, collectively nicknamed FLiRT, are increasingly edging out the winter's dominant strain ahead of a possible summer uptick in coronavirus infections. The new FLiRT subvariants, officially known as KP.2 and KP.1.1, are beli
    Los Angeles Times3 min read
    Alleged Violin Thief Also Robbed A Bank, Prosecutors Say, With Note That Said 'Please' And 'Thx'
    LOS ANGELES — The violins were expensive — and very, very old. They included a Caressa & Francais, dated 1913 and valued at $40,000. A $60,000 Gand & Bernardel, dated 1870. And a 200-year-old Lorenzo Ventapane violin, worth $175,000. For more than tw
    Los Angeles Times2 min readWorld
    Facing A 'National Emergency,' South Korea President Urges Citizens To Have More Babies
    SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced this week that he would create a new government ministry to tackle the country's low birth rate, which he called "a national emergency." The ministry will serve as a specialized "con

    Related Books & Audiobooks