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We had the same situation this week. The solar was never disclosed and I only found out about it when we had already paid for the inspection and I noticed the Solar City box on the side of the house. As we were leaving we ran into the owners and our real estate agent asked her about the solar and she said it was leased but didn't know more about it. Her husband did but he had gone into the house.
We had already submitted the offer a week before and not a single mention of this. My agent said that these kind of things come out during inspections. NO THEY DON'T. This is a financial obligation tied to the house and has absolutely nothing to do with an inspection.
I told our real estate agent MULTIPLE times over that we were not going to assume any kind of a lease for solar. We didn't even have any details at the time but for us, it's an additional liability for someone else's poor judgement (at least that's my feeling about it).
The agent then must have spoken to the lender who is a friend of hers and I get a bullying phone call from the lender basically telling me I'm an idiot for not signing it. That she knows about all these leases (and btw, it's not a lease. it's a PPA which is even worse) and starts reading the contract to me. I explained to her that it's a liability, it goes on my credit report as owing this money, if I die it's passed on to my son and I'm simply not going to pay for someone to put their equipment on my roof. It was a VERY EXPLOSIVE phone call and I basically hung up on her. How dare the lender call me to tell me what I need to do and how to manage my finances.
I then went back to the agent asking who she is representing because it sure wasn't me. If this had been disclosed up front we wouldn't be here and I'm not sure why I'm having to defend myself for not wanting to take this lease on. Go back to the seller!!!
While I agree that the seller did have a responsibility to disclose the solar installation and subsequent lease from the beginning, it is commonly confirmed during the home inspection. It's kind of hard to miss from the ground level.
While I agree that the seller did have a responsibility to disclose the solar installation and subsequent lease from the beginning, it is commonly confirmed during the home inspection. It's kind of hard to miss from the ground level.
I read through the disclosure and it appears that it's required to be in the disclosure and then anything that is a lien against the property (which is the case with a PPA) you are required to provide the seller the contracts, invoices etc. within 7 days.
The only way I could have seen the panels is if I was all the way to the back of the property and looked up. And they are very close in color to the roof so I doubt I would have noticed. I only found it when I went down the side of the house during inspection and saw a box that said Solar City.
And then there's the fact that even if I could have seen them, it doesn't disclose if they are owned or leased. That is counted as a material fact just like any built in appliance.
Many people in California now have solar panel systems servicing their homes. If the solar panels on the seller's home are subject to a lease or are not paid for in full, the seller is required under California law to disclose in writing to all potential buyers this material fact well before close of escrow.
This would have saved so much trouble for both the seller and myself and I could have made a decision of even to do the inspection or not based on resolving this MAJOR issue.
The lender called me and couldn't understand why I don't want to take on a 15 year commitment that the seller signed up for. I'm all for solar, however I'm not for a 2.9% increase per year, have someone control my roof or if I plant a tree etc, and then after 15 years of what is remaining to have them come and take it back.
The City of Sacramento's power is fairly inexpensive and for sure less expensive then what it will be after all the increases.
The lender's behavior sounds worthy of a BBB complaint. That phone call you dealt with is absurd.
Agreed. I was soooooooooooooo upset after that call. Our realtor who is friends with her talked to her about my unwillingness to take on the sellers PPA so when she called and that's what it was about I was stunned. And the fact that she is basically telling me it's such a great deal blah blah blah and it got to the point of bullying.
I went back to the realtor asking her why I have to keep defending myself as to why I won't take this on and who is she representing? I've made it clear that we won't do it.
This whole thing has been so stressful and unnecessarily so.
I can tell you 100% that I will be asking for a ladder going forward to get up on the roof to look.
I don’t blame you for being mad. It should be a legal disclosure if solar panels are leased. I would never assume either. We bought ours and they do require annual cleaning or more. My husband does this himself but if using cleaning solar panel service, it can cost $1000 or so depending on number of panels, location, etc. He purchased cleaning brush etc through Amazon. The ones purchased can reach from ground without getting on the roof for most panels. Our house is single story.
We had a great solar panel installer co and it is hard to see our panels from the front at all. They are on the side and middle not easily visible when looking up from ground.
Agreed. I was soooooooooooooo upset after that call. Our realtor who is friends with her talked to her about my unwillingness to take on the sellers PPA so when she called and that's what it was about I was stunned. And the fact that she is basically telling me it's such a great deal blah blah blah and it got to the point of bullying.
I went back to the realtor asking her why I have to keep defending myself as to why I won't take this on and who is she representing? I've made it clear that we won't do it.
This whole thing has been so stressful and unnecessarily so.
I can tell you 100% that I will be asking for a ladder going forward to get up on the roof to look.
Change the realtor. Change the lender and file a complaint.
I don’t blame you for being mad. It should be a legal disclosure if solar panels are leased. I would never assume either. We bought ours and they do require annual cleaning or more. My husband does this himself but if using cleaning solar panel service, it can cost $1000 or so depending on number of panels, location, etc. He purchased cleaning brush etc through Amazon. The ones purchased can reach from ground without getting on the roof for most panels. Our house is single story.
We had a great solar panel installer co and it is hard to see our panels from the front at all. They are on the side and middle not easily visible when looking up from ground.
Unless you live in a very dusty area with little rain, panels should not really need cleaning.
Unless you live in a very dusty area with little rain, panels should not really need cleaning.
Not sure about dusty area, but we have very little rain in CA and it was recommended to us to keep them running tip top. Some neighbors clean and others don’t. Our area homes have about solar systems on half of the homes or more. I think all purchased and not leased.
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I just read the discloure - California
