HERO and PACE financing (including Ygrene and similar programs) funds solar, HVAC, windows, and roofing through a special assessment on your property tax bill. The pitch was easy approval based on home equity rather than credit. The reality many California homeowners discovered later: interest rates well above mortgage rates, a lien that sits in first position ahead of your mortgage, tax bills that jumped by thousands, and buyers' lenders that refuse the property until the assessment is gone.
The main exit: refinance it away
The most common solution is a refinance that pays off the assessment and rolls it into your mortgage at a far lower rate. Whether that is a full cash-out refinance or a second mortgage that leaves your existing first loan untouched depends on your current rate; if you are sitting on a low first mortgage, the second-lien route usually protects it. Either way the assessment is paid off through escrow, the lien releases, and your property tax bill returns to normal.
What the exit is worth
Three things, typically: a lower total monthly outlay once the high-rate assessment becomes low-rate mortgage debt; a clean title that makes your home sellable to any buyer with any loan; and interest that may be treated more favorably at tax time than assessment payments (confirm with your tax professional). The math is a fifteen-minute call: current mortgage terms, assessment payoff amount, and today's options side by side.