I Have a PACE Loan or a Solar Lease: Can I Still Sell My Florida House, or Do a Short Sale?

Yes. A PACE assessment or a solar lease does not stop you from selling your Florida house, and it does not rule out a short sale, but each one has to be handled before closing. A PACE loan is a property assessment collected with your property taxes and recorded against the house, so buyers’ lenders often want it paid off at closing. A solar lease is a contract with the company that owns the panels, and its transfer or buyout terms decide what happens.

What a Florida PACE assessment is, and why it is paid first

In Florida, PACE financing for a home is repaid through a non-ad valorem assessment on your property tax bill, and the recorded agreement gives notice that it is a lien of equal dignity to county taxes. Fla. Stat. 163.081(1)(e) lets the program administrator levy the assessment and collect it with your property taxes. The agreement, or a summary memorandum, is then recorded in the county’s public records (163.081(7)).

Two features matter for a sale.

• Priority. Florida taxes are a first lien, superior to all other liens (Fla. Stat. 197.122(1)). Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide describes PACE loans as typically having automatic first lien priority over previously recorded mortgages (B5-3.4-01).
• Collection. Assessments collected on the tax bill follow the tax collection rules, including tax certificates for nonpayment (Fla. Stat. 197.3632(8)(a)). The disclosure form the statute requires warns that failure to pay may lead to a tax certificate and loss of the property (163.081(4)(a)14).

The statute was rewritten in 2024 (ch. 2024-273), so read the agreement you actually signed.

Why the buyer’s lender usually wants it paid off

A buyer using a Fannie Mae or FHA loan will generally need the PACE balance paid off, so it is usually paid from your proceeds at closing. Fannie Mae will not purchase a mortgage secured by a property with an outstanding PACE loan unless the PACE program does not give it priority over first mortgages (Selling Guide B5-3.4-01). FHA stopped insuring forward mortgages on properties encumbered by PACE obligations in Mortgagee Letter 2017-18, and FHA’s Handbook 4000.1 requires an FHA buyer’s sales contract to state that the seller will satisfy the PACE obligation at or before closing.

Florida’s required disclosure form says the same thing: if you sell or refinance, a mortgage lender may require you to pay off the full amount owed (163.081(4)(a)11). The same form must state that the owner may repay the remaining amount at any time without penalty beyond nominal administrative costs (163.081(4)(a)10).

What Florida requires you to tell a buyer

If the assessment has an unpaid balance, Florida law requires the seller to give the buyer a written disclosure at or before signing the sales contract. Fla. Stat. 163.081(8) sets the wording, in the contract or a separate writing: the property is subject to an assessment for a qualifying improvement, the assessment is not based on the property’s value, and the buyer is encouraged to contact the property appraiser’s office. Tell your agent about the assessment on day one.

PACE in a short sale: it changes the net

In a short sale, a PACE payoff is paid from the sale proceeds, which leaves less for the mortgage lender, so the lender has to approve it. Fannie Mae’s list of allowable short sale costs covers real estate taxes and other assessments prorated to the date of closing; amounts beyond the listed costs are allowed only if Fannie Mae authorizes them, and the servicer reviews the settlement statement before closing (Servicing Guide D2-3.3-01).

FHA addresses PACE directly. In an FHA pre-foreclosure sale, the servicer must check whether title is impaired by a PACE obligation before approval, the sales contract must say whether the PACE obligation stays with the property or is paid by the seller at or before closing, and the owner-occupant compensation of up to $3,000 may be applied to resolve liens, including a PACE obligation (Handbook 4000.1, as revised by Mortgagee Letter 2025-12). See short sale relocation assistance and after short sale approval.

Solar leases: the panels belong to someone else

With a solar lease, the company owns the panels, and your lease contract decides whether the buyer takes it over, you buy it out, or another option applies. Find the transfer section, then ask the company in writing for its steps, its approval time, and any buyout figure.

The company may also have recorded a notice. Florida law lets a lessor file a financing statement using the terms “lessor” and “lessee” (Fla. Stat. 679.5051). A fixture filing covers goods attached to real property, is filed with the clerk of the circuit court, and must describe the real property (679.1021, 679.5011, 679.5021). When nothing is owed, a termination statement ends its effect (679.513). If you financed panels you own with a loan, the same filing questions apply. In a short sale, any buyout paid from proceeds also needs the lender’s approval.

Documents to find this week

1. Your latest property tax bill, which shows the non-ad valorem assessment line (how to read it).
2. The recorded PACE agreement or summary memorandum from county records, and the disclosure form you signed.
3. A written payoff letter from the program administrator, good through a likely closing date.
4. The solar lease or loan contract, plus any fixture filing recorded against the house.
5. Your mortgage statement and any second mortgage or HELOC statement.

Then run the free file checker to see what your loan program requires, or read the free Short Sale Guide. Short Sale Guide connects homeowners with agents who handle files like this; call 855-725-3898 for the real-estate side. Questions about the agreement itself belong with a Florida real estate attorney, and a free HUD-approved housing counselor can help you sort the numbers.

This page is general information for Florida homeowners and is not legal or tax advice.