HERO Program

A complete joke. I took a loan from the HERO program to have new windows and doors installed by PCHS in Anaheim. It has been over a year since PCHS has walked away from a botched job and I have a $ 20k bill added to my taxes. «Gentleman» who works at HERO has done nothing to help. And accused me of trying to get something for free. ??? Absurd. Please do not use this program.

It’s important that consumers BEWARE OF THIS PROGRAM. Contractors for this progream pasy a huge, mon-​returnable sum to get the HERO contract from the government, which passes the gouging (SCREWING) down the line to each and every consumer. I won’t go into details, just tell you the charges: A company involved with this program gave me a price of $ 10,000 for what I am paying another company $ 5,600. Oppportunists jump in and hire salesman who then delegate the work to real workers. The salespeople are in it for their commission. Many of these companies were not in the business until this program came along; they have no experience except in SELLING. As an incerntive they ofer the fact that when youo sell your house, you pass along your debt (spread out over 20 years) to the potential buyer, legally, a deal set up by the government. What buyer would be stupid enough to assume a debt they didn’t incur? It hampers or ends any good sale. The program is sneakily conceived and set up, and the people who sell it to you don’t do the work themselves bhut hire cheap companies who do a bad job. THIS IS AN IRRESPONSIBLE PROGRAM that can hurt you.

Absolutely one of the programs where Buyer Beware! While it does seem like a great program at first, it can truly bite you in the butt later. For those homeowners who may not have equity for a loan or other means, the no money down and include in taxes seems pretty good. However, in the long run, if you’re like me you may end up paying almost twice as much as the original project in interest and fees.
Mine worked like this: Needed a roof badly, and definitely looking at an easy $ 10,000. Did some research on different financing options and actually reviewed the HERO program and thought it sounded right up my alley. A few hundred dollars extra in my tax payments and I’d be set. However, what actually happened was my $ 11,915 roof will end up costing me $ 30,296.20 if I wait the full 20 years to pay it off. Yep…$ 18,381.20 in interest and fees. My first payment was just like a mortgage. They front load the interest, so that my first payment of $ 1514.81 is actually $ 1213.33 in interest and $ 266.48 in principal.
Needless to say, I will be trying anything in my power to get this paid off ASAP! I have better things to do with $ 18,000 than spend it on interest. There are a few other options out there, such as peer based lending. Anyone considering an upgrade would be better off going in that direction.
I will say the representative who I spoke with was very friendly and knowledgeable. It was my fault for not really reading the fine print and figuring out the true benefit vs. cost.
Hope this helps someone out there, as I am extremely frustrated that I didn’t do a bit more due diligence. Lesson learned!

If I could offer a word of advice to anyone considering using the HERO program to finance their solar panels… DON’T DO IT!
I was told by the solar sales company reps that having solar panels through the HERO solar lease program would increase the value of my property and can easily be transferred to the new homeowner. It isn’t so!
My mortgage broker can’t refi my property unless the HERO assessment is paid in full.
I listed my property for sale and the potential buyers won’t consider buying our house unless we pay off the assessment. I don’t think it’s fair that a homeowner must pay off a $ 25,000 assessment in order to sell their house and the new homeowner gets to enjoy free electricity!!! The solar panels added $ 0 to the value of our house, so it’s not like we get to re-​coup any of that money.
In addition, there is a prepayment penalty in the contract. I thought those were illegal in CA.
If HERO is such a great program, why is it currently under investigation by the DA? Is a class action lawsuit brewing???
See article link:

My interactions with the folks at HERO have been great! Their willingness to help, provide me the information I needed, and make sure I was comfortable left me beyond satisfied. Would highly recommend!

They referred me to the most incompetent installation and sales company — called We Care — they oversold me an overpriced HUGE heater A/​C that now sits atop my house and has had all sorts of problems. Now I’m just hoping that they didn’t break open any holes in my roof — I can’t deal with any leaks this rainy season.
Find other financing, or if you go with HERO, insist on your own installer.

It’s a scam! I live in Los Angeles. A guy name Carlos Garcia from ZERO energy came to my house and told me I could qualify for government incentive programs, rebates or low income programs etc if I qualify for it. HE handed me an iPad to put in all my information for the application form to see if I could qualify for anything. But! That was a lie. After I put in all my information for the application, he ran my credit without letting me know. It caught me off guard. I asked him why he ran my credit without letting me know. he said casually «oh I apologize». The company is trying to lend you money with interest rate and is about 6% or so.
How sneaky is that guy the way he ran my credit and acted like it’s no big deal. I wanted to kick him out of my house right away. SCAM!

My husband and I used the HERO program to put Solar Panels on our home last year. We decided to move this year and all the small print came back to haunt us. The fees and interest rates are outrageous. I have yet to see the tax break. We were told when we bought the system that it would be directly applied to the cost of the system, making our $ 18,000 system closer to $ 12,000. Meaning we assumed we were paying interest on $ 12,000 not $ 18,000. When we decided to list our house this month we were quite shocked to discover that we owed over $ 21,000. We also discovered that because the HERO program is a lien it makes it extremely difficult to sell. Even if a buyer wants to take on the loan, their financing may not allow it. Therefore our best bet on selling our house is to pay it off, SURPRISE! There is a 5% prepayment penalty. I thought those were illegal. This whole program should be illegal. You are better off going to your bank and getting a home improvement loan or refinance. At this point it probably would have been more cost effective to use my credit cards. If you are still interested in the HERO program make sure you read ALL of the small print and ask EVERYTHING you sign to be explained to you.

I love the Hero Program, it has helped so many homeowners who otherwise could not do energy efficient up grades to their homes get them done.
Yes there are fees and interest as with any financing but all with tax benefits and energy savings to really help the public.
The aray of products that they help you with is huge, and the payment stays with the home, so the new owners get the tax benefits too.
I Love The HERO program

We want to pay off this contract… we paid 11 200.00 for tex coating and a new sliding glass door… the payoff is 13 129,00…we have made 2 payments of 2800.00…how can a payoff be more than our original… this is wrong and their excuse was amortization of same kind that made ABSOLUTELY no sense… I never receive return phone calls… this is so wrong and very bad business dealings… watch out for this company… I would NEVER buy from them AGAIN. Judy Logan.