Renovate America Inc. has filed for bankruptcy protection after tighter regulations and lawsuits chased it out of the business of assessments for energy improvement financing, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Renovate America bowed out of the assessment business in October, according to papers filed Dec. 22 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. by Chief Financial Officer Christopher Powell, who blamed the company’s exit from the market on tighter underwriting rules and growing litigation. The loans backed by Renovate’s assessments, which allowed consumers to update their properties with the latest green-energy gadgets, wound up complicating efforts to refinance mortgages or sell homes. Local governments that authorized these financing deals got peppered with complaints from consumers about what they were told about the assessments and the loans, which were linked to property taxes.
