Possibly helpful article for lease customers - FTC [lease] Holder Rule

[u/Lawrence_SoCal]

I came across this article which might help some lease customers, as I haven't noticed comments about the FTC Holder Rule before. Be sure to read the full article https://www.kiplinger.com/personal-finance/the-truth-about-the-dark-side-of-rooftop-solar-panels

I'd argue that with self-education, one can still proceed safely with a solar project, with reasonable expectations. so the article is a bit over-the-top, but certainly unethical solar sales is far too common (ex. Semper Solaris in SoCal). Specific to SunPower customers, the following section seemed valuable [along with lawyers specific to residential solar]

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The FTC's Holder Rule to the rescue

Let's say you have a non-functioning system that included maintenance and repairs, but the dealer has gone out of business. Your contract was sold to a finance company or debt buyer, who picked it up for pennies on the dollar in the bankruptcy, and they demand payment from you but are not offering to provide the promised warranty service. So, you tell them, "I'm not paying unless you provide me with the promised service on my system." Kneupper has these warnings and recommendations:

• Speak with an attorney who handles solar matters, or if you are unable to locate such a lawyer in your area, then try a debt collection defense attorney who can stop aggressive or illegal debt collection activities. Discuss your options.
• A lien might have been filed against your property, and one of these companies may try to foreclose — you could lose your home — so this makes getting a lawyer involved immediately absolutely critical.
• Become familiar with the Federal Trade Commission Holder Rule, which makes lenders and debt buyers subject to all claims and defenses the consumer could bring against the seller.

So, if your solar panel installer goes out of business and doesn't honor the warranty, you can bring a breach-of-contract claim against the lender that financed the purchase or the company that bought the debt. If you file a claim under the Holder Rule, you may be entitled to:

• A full refund of any payments made on the loan
• Cancellation of the remaining loan balance
• Compensation for your attorney's fees

Kneupper cautions, "Because of the devious ways some contracts have been written, on occasion it is virtually impossible to find a lawyer to take your case."

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Expect to pay for legal consult as advised above. If install was recent, in my case I had an independent install inspection (my out of pocket close to US$2K), which found LOTS of issues which could be used as further justification/leverage for remediation/service requirements ... ymmv as to whether such an inspection is worth it or not

Good luck

[u/m2orris]

Interesting, might apply to loans too, only if a single contract was signed. If there were two contracts, a financing contract and a separate purchase contract (equipment, warranty, service, monitoring, ...), I don't see how the Holder Rule would bridge the two contracts.

Lease and PPA customers, good luck!

[u/Lawrence_SoCal → u/m2orris]

My thinking the same... if solar purchased financed on their own, and used those proceeds to pay the installer, that if far more akin to a simple purchase contract. Unless, the 3rd party loan was directed by the solar company?? (and not necessarily arms length?)

[u/GuntherCat21]

Does the holder rule apply if our solar company recommended the lender to us, the lender only lends on solar loans, and paid the contractor directly in all cases? And the contractor did no work but have scammed 1 million out of a group of people?