WRCOG HERO Program Frequently Asked Questions

The WRCOG HERO Program is offered through a partnership between Western Riverside Council of Governments (WRCOG) and Renovate America, Inc. The Program’s purpose is to provide relatively low interest rate financing to spark the local economy by creating jobs and reducing utility costs, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Program provides HERO Financing for permanently affixed energy efficiency, water efficiency, and renewable energy products (Eligible Products). HERO Financing is repaid through an assessment on your property tax bill over 5-20 years, based on the useful life of the products, and upon sale of the property, the balance generally stays with the property.

You, your property, and products must all be “eligible” in order to qualify for HERO Financing. You can review specific eligibility requirements by reviewing FAQ #16 below, the Residential Eligibility Criteria Details page or by downloading the WRCOG HERO Program Handbook.

You may apply online or by submitting the hard copy application form. Or, a contractor can call in your application. Most applications submitted online can be approved instantly, and others may take up to one business day. Once approved, homeowners or contractors call in to identify which of the 150,000+ Eligible Products they are interested in and the Financing Docs are immediately sent to the Property Owner for signature.

General questions about the WRCOG HERO Program can be answered by calling the WRCOG HERO Program’s toll free number at 1-877-747-4889, or visiting the WRCOG offices located at the Riverside County Administrative Center Annex, 4080 Lemon Street, 3rd Floor, Riverside, CA 92501. Questions can also be answered by clicking ‘Chat Now” at the top of any WRCOG HERO Program webpage.

Currently, there is no application fee.

Today's interest rates for HERO Financing are posted on twitter.com/HEROFinancing. The interest rate varies by financing term (5, 10, 15, or 20 years). Your interest rate will be set at the time your Financing Documents are issued.

Financial Impact = Savings - Costs

Savings = Energy Savings + Tax Credit + Tax Write Offs

Energy Savings: The WRCOG HERO program finances products which consume less energy, consume less water or produce clean renewable energy. Energy savings is based on the product you select and how much you spend on electricity and gas. Please speak to your contractor to estimate how much energy you will save.

Tax Credits: Certain products qualify for tax credits which may reduce your federal and state income taxes. Please speak with your tax advisor to see if you are eligible for any tax credits.

Tax Write Offs: HERO Financing is a property tax assessment and repaid on your property tax bill. Payments may reduce your federal and state income tax. Please speak with your tax advisor to determine if your annual payments will lower your federal and state income taxes.

Costs = Product + Interest + Program Expenses

Product: The cost of the product will be provided to you by your contractor.

Interest: Is based on the term of the financing you select. Note: Your first payment is not due until November 2012. The interest on the HERO Financing from when you receive the money until your first payment will be added to the total amount borrowed, unless you wish to make the payment upfront.

Program Expenses: Include a one-time Administration Fee equal to 6.35% and recording and assessment fees. In addition, an annual assessment administration fee of $25 will be added to cover the cost of managing the assessment on the property tax rolls every year.

A complete listing of HERO Financing costs and terms are listed in the Financing Costs and Terms section of the WRCOG HERO Program website.

The maximum financing amount is up to 10% of the value of your property. The minimum financing amount is $5,000. For most residential properties, the value of the property will be the market value based on an automated valuation model (AVM) value provided by a third party independent vendor.

The assessment term will be for 5, 10, 15 or 20 years, depending on the useful life of the particular Eligible Product installed.

A complete listing of HERO Financing costs and terms are listed in the Financing Costs and Terms section of the WRCOG HERO Program website.

Tax incentives or rebates may be available for certain Eligible Products. If a local government or utility rebate is available and is assigned to your contractor, the rebate amount must be subtracted from the total requested financing amount. Tax credits or incentives and production based rebates (e.g., CSI PBI rebates) are not required to be subtracted from the total requested financing amount.

For most solar PV systems and other renewables, there is a federal tax credit of up to 30% of the eligible equipment cost through December 31, 2016. Federal tax credits for energy efficiency products, while reduced from 2010 amounts, still exist for certain products. Please see the EnergyStar listing of Federal Tax Credits for more information.

Southern California Edison residential customers with detached single family homes may install energy efficiency products making them eligible for Energy Upgrade California rebates between $1,000 and $4,000.

California Solar Initiative (CSI) rebates are also currently available for solar PV and solar thermal water heaters.

Non-Southern California Edison customers may also have rebates for solar PV and certain energy or water efficiency products available. For more information, please contact your utility company.

The WRCOG HERO Program cannot give tax advice. We recommend that you consult a CPA or tax professional to assess your own ability to deduct the interest portion of the tax payment as it will be determined by your personal filing information.

An allocation between annual payments of interest and principal is provided at the time of disbursement.

You can apply online or by submitting a hard copy application. Contractors can also call in your application. Most applications submitted online or over the phone can be approved within 30 minutes.

If your application is approved, you will receive an email indicating your maximum approval amount and information about the next steps.

Once approved, you must work with a licensed contractor to determine what Eligible Products to Install. Your contractor (or you, if you are self-installing) will need to call a Program Representative to obtain approval for your specific Eligible Products.

After you call in your products, we will send you your Financing Documents, which you will need to sign, notarize, and return. You can then begin installing Eligible Products.

Once all Eligible Products are installed, you will need to submit your signed Completion Certificate with all final invoices, permits, and other required attachments. After Completion Certificate is reviewed and approved, Program Representatives will issue payment to your contractor.

No Energy Audit is required. While a residential energy/water audit is not required to participate in the WRCOG HERO Program, it is recommended in certain cases particularly when you are looking to do whole home improvements for the purpose of maximizing you energy and water cost savings. An energy audit by a certified auditor may be the best way for you to determine which Eligible Products are needed in a home. In addition, the cost of the audit is eligible for HERO Financing along with the Eligible Products themselves.

In order to qualify for SCE’s Energy Upgrade California Advanced Level rebates ($1,250-$4,000), a BPI-certified audit is required, including supervision of installation of the energy efficiency products.

The HERO Program only requires that you comply with the building permit requirements for your city or county, whichever has jurisdiction over your property. If required, you (and your contractors) are responsible for obtaining permits and completing inspections, including final inspection sign-off, from the appropriate City or County building department. You should speak with your contractors to determine if their products require a permit and/or inspection.

WRCOG may also make an on-site validation visit to verify HERO Financed products have been installed.

When you apply, your application is approved for a maximum amount. You will need to pay for any project costs over this maximum. An Eligible Product is approved for a certain amount when a contractor or self-installing property owner calls in the Eligible Product. In addition, Eligible Product costs must be reasonable within industry cost guidelines.

Property taxes typically stay with the property when it is sold and the same is true with assessments. Under the WRCOG HERO Program, when you sell or refinance your property, WRCOG and the County will permit your assessment to stay with the property; however, the buyer's lender in some cases may require that the balance be paid off out of escrow. The same applies to refinancing.

Yes, the assessment can be paid off early, but there is a sliding scale prepayment penalty of up to 5% for the first five years. In addition, there is a prepayment calculation service fee of $500, which includes the calculation, the processing of the payment, and all of the lien filings necessary to modify the assessment lien records. Please see the Financing Costs and Terms page for more information.

Homeowners who meet minimum criteria are eligible for HERO Financing. Specific eligibility requirements for residential properties include the following:

• Must be the property owner(s) of record
• Current on their property taxes for the prior twelve (12) months
• Property owner(s) must certify that the property taxes for this property have not been paid late more than once during the prior three (3) years (or since purchase if owned for less than three (3) years)
• No late payments on property debt for the past twelve months (through funding)
• No liens on the property
• No bankruptcy in the past seven years and property is not currently an assest in a bankruptcy proceeding
• Eligible Product costs cannot exceed 10% of the property’s market value
• Mortgage-related debt on the property may not exceed 90% of the property’s value
• Manufactured and mobile homes must be attached to the property, own the underlying land, and pay real property taxes (not DMV fees)

For more information, please see the Eligibility Criteria page of the website or download the WRCOG HERO Program Handbook.

No. Total mortgage loans on your property must not exceed 90% of the value of your property.

Mobile homes (and manufactured homes) are eligible if they are permanently attached to the real property and pay real property taxes (not DMV fees) and the mobile home owner is also the owner of the underlying land. Since an AVM value is often not available for mobile or manufactured homes, the tax assessed value or recent appraisal value may need to be used for the debt to value and Eligible Product costs maximum calculations.

Condominiums may be eligible depending on the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&R’s) of the complex as well as the physical design of the unit. Condominium owners who apply for HERO Financing will need to obtain written authorization from condominium management stating that the property owner is allowed to install the proposed Eligible Products.

Trust property is eligible for HERO Financing if adequate documentation of the Trust and the applicants’ authority under the Trust is provided with the application. All Trustees must sign all WRCOG HERO Program documents, including the Financing Documents.

Commercial properties are eligible for commercial HERO financing. Please contact WRCOG at (951) 955-7985 for more information.

Generally, permanently fixed energy efficiency, water efficiency and renewable energy products are eligible for HERO Financing. Please see the Eligible Products section of the website for more information. If you wish to install a product that is not on the list, you may submit a Custom Product Application.

Appliances and light bulbs, for example, are not eligible because they are not permanently fixed to the property. Also, products that were installed before applying for HERO Financing are not eligible.

If you want to install an energy or water product or system that is not listed on the Eligible Products List, you should first apply for HERO Financing to determine if you are eligible and what maximum amount is available to you.

After you are approved for financing, you must then submit a completed Custom Product Application. All Custom Product Applications must be approved by the WRCOG Executive Committee.

The WRCOG HERO Program can generally only finance retrofitting of the existing structure for energy or water efficiency Eligible Products. You should obtain separate bids for the Eligible Products and the rest of the construction work. Eligible Products could include solar for the entire structure, upgrades to windows and insulation in the existing structure, and system wide improvements to HVAC and water heating. Water products could include upgrades to water efficiency in the existing structure and system wide improvements to single hot water recirculation systems and gray water systems that benefit the entire structure.

No. California law (AB 811) does not allow financing for products that are already installed, are in the process of being installed, or for refinancing. You may, however, finance a product if you have only signed a contractor’s bid or pulled a building permit, but not started any work. However, you must obtain approval of your application and the Eligible Products you wish to install before proceeding with the work.

Only contractors registered with the WRCOG HERO Program or a property owner who has signed a Self-Install Agreement may install HERO Financed Eligible Products. Contractors can register instantly assuming they have a valid California State Business License..

Yes, however, you will not be paid for your own labor and must sign a Self-Install Agreement. If you are a contractor who has registered with the Program and are installing products on your own house, you may be reimbursed for the labor costs of your work crew, but not for your own personal time and labor. Also, even if you use your work crew, you must still sign the Self-Install Agreement.

To choose a reputable installer, we recommend that you interview at least three potential contractors and obtain bids. The California Department of Consumer Affairs, Contractors State Licensing Board has valuable information about hiring and working with contractors.

All HERO Eligible Products must be installed by contractors registered with the Program, who have the appropriate, active Contractors State Licensing Board (CSLB) license(s), unless you are self-installing. Contractors can register instantly assuming they have a valid California State Business License by clicking here.

Contractors who wish to install Eligible Products financed by the WRCOG HERO Program, must register with the WRCOG HERO Program. For more information on Contractor Registration, please click here.