The City of Portland will begin issuing fines this month to home sellers who do not include Home Energy Score information in their home’s public sales advertisements. Here's a quick rundown of how the process works and how home sellers can avoid a noncompliance notice.
If a home is observed to be advertised for sale without Home Energy Score information, the seller will receive a Warning Notice. The City attempts to send a courtesy email to the listing agent as well, but this is only possible if an email address for the agent can be located online. The Warning Notice starts a 90-day window for the seller to correct the noncompliance issue
At the end of that window, if there is no evidence that the compliance issue was corrected, the seller will receive a Violation Notice including a $500 fine. The penalty will apply even if the home has sold during the 90-days.
Getting a Home Energy Score and Report from an authorized assessor and adding that information to public advertisements for the home is less costly than paying the $500 fine. For more information on how to get and display a Home Energy Score, check out our website.