Mark, get your lawyer to start charging them rent for their use of your solar space. Tell them they have 30 days to remove, or it will be removed by your solar installers, and they will be billed for the use of your dumpster. Further, warn in the title of your video about dealing with any of these scum. Further, they either restore the roof to pristine or you will sue.
Old owner was clearly in trouble and scammers still put that worthless crap on their house. Those solar companies should be prosecuted out of business.
Collections can go after former home owner. A judge needs to order company to REMOVE solar panels OR the lien is VOIDED. That solar company seems shady AF. The ceramic tile in bedroom is UGH yuk.
To everyone befuddled by why the company won't just come take the equipment and leave them alone: This is a big sales scheme, the equipment was never the end goal, the money is made in the markup, the installation and all the financing. The solar system is just this product that has a value the average person can't easily grasp. All you understand is the monthly payment and this promise of never paying a power bill. You are wholly unaware that you just financed $15K of a solar system for $35-40k. If you went and bought that equipment yourself and paid cash for it, and paid someone cash (cash as in money you had, not borrowed to do this) to install it, you'd pay a completely different kind of price. This scam works because people can't look at a solar system, say, how they might a car or an appliance, and accurately ballpark a value in any way.
@@geniferteal4178I install them. The thing that blows peoples minds is the panels only cost $100-$150 each.. average system is 20-30 panels. Inverter(s) and code compliance add cost but its nowhere near $200 for 25yr that i see people paying
I had a salesman come over and was in the same situation where I really did not know much the cost should be. Seemed to me the quoted price seemed to conveniently match the assumed electric savings of the the lifetime of the equipment (with the selling point that electric rates are expected to increase.) I did not go for the 45K price and then week later salesman called back saying he could take tbousands off. Obviously he was trying to maximize his proffits by overcharging. So I have no solar panels.
I would speak to a lawyer they are not going to budge because they know you need the lean removed to sell. They want their 40k you want the lean gone. Because the solar is owned by the company you might be able to get a legal notice written like "I don't want the company x's equipment on my property"
I think this is the right route. Court order to get their property off your property with clause saying you're going to charge them rent for their property is another route you might think about. I really do think this is best handled by your attorneys.
? Why you (flipper/owner) would be wasting all this time baffles me. Get a good lawyer to immediately start the process to discharge the lein, where you may need to allow the solar company to take back their product and you will have to deal with some roof damage/repair. Should have sent certified legal letter day one and hope to have it resolved in 60-90 days. That clock won’t start until you do.
According to Colorado state law, the solar lien is on the solar equipment itself and NOT on your home. The Colorado law also states that the lien holder is responsible for repossessing and removal of their solar equipment when the original borrower fails to make payment. It says nothing about future home owners being liable for non payment of solar liens. Remember, the lien can only last for 6 years in Colorado so the longer the lien holder drags their feet and refuses to remove their equipment, the more likely you'll end up with a working solar electric system you'll own free and clear! That would be a great selling feature when you do sell the property once the 6 year lien window closes and in the meantime your renters will have free electricity! Actually never mind, just don't say anything, keep the house as a rental until the 6 years expires and walk away with a free $40K solar electric system😉
Solar loans are always shady. We had an interesting situation where the previous owner never "finished" the installation before selling. We were paying on the loan, and then one day out of the blue they sent us an email stating they abandoned the installation. I dont think they realized it was completely installed and operating. I even managed to get the warranty in my name.
Apparently from the complaints on the BBB, Good Leap doesn't just do predatory loans for solar, they seem to do all sorts of home repair loans, and they seem to do other scummy loan practices. I guess their default response is just "pay us". Have you thought of contacting a local TV station? Embarrassing news stories always seem to get companies to act. Maybe the TV station can find other Good Leap victims...I mean customers, to interview?
Just keep in mind the panels cost $100 to $150 each. Every area is different so ill talk here in Texas. With our cheap electricity, they still save me $5 per month per panel. Not a bad deal I see people paying $200 a month for 25 years on these systems. Thats a horrible deal
@@26longlongtime Oh yea. I'm also in Texas. Our house had a system when we bought it that was costing us more than it saved. Sellers realtor told us that the solar company said it would cut 90% of our bill. It cuts 25%. Through a crazy turn of events, the company abandoned the entire installation which was a huge sigh of relief.
Clearly the "collections people" already paid some percentage for the right to collect this debt, and they are just not gonna "un-do" the deal. They are gonna make your life as difficult as possible until you pay them to "make this go away".
I got the impression that this "collections department" was in-house, but it could have been a discount sale of the note as you said. The main thing to consider IMO is when the lien was put on the house. If it was before the bankruptcy, then it presumably should have been discharged with the proceeds of the sale (assuming there were enough proceeds to pay off the lien after the first or later mortgage holders got paid). If the solar company did not file the lien before the sale, they might be out of luck. What gets me is the idea that the lien might have been timely filed, but was not disclosed at the sale.
hey i got a question. do you think solar lease/ppa also makes the house worth less than a comp without solar? the reason I ask is that solar payment affects buyer monthly payment so reducing the buyer pool.
I bought a home in Arizona for cash. The previous owner had a solar lease. If I had not assumed the lease the previous owner would have paid a significant fee to have the panels and inverter removed. The lease includes a maintenance contract. No lease, no contract. I pay about $135 a month for the lease. The average savings is at least twice tha on the electric bill for a 12 month period. I could pay off the lease at any time, but the maintenance contract goes away. The payoff would be less than paying every month. The system is from SunPower that recently went bankrupt. Another company has bought their assets which is of course the lease.
Start charging them a reasonable storage fee. Then when they dont pay sue them. Otherwise your law makers need to fix that issue. Its like a timeshare scam.
The foreclosure was not done properly- bank/title company neglected to apportion partof the auction proceeds to all lien holders in their lien hierarchy- usually below any equipment lien If this was a first mortgage foreclosure they should pay off the mortgage and then divert the residue to the solar company. If not enough for the first, the solar company lien is stripped by the auction process. Tha Bank should have given you a clean title
I have solar on my home. When I sell the house I have some choices. I can either pay off the panels or the new owner can assume the balance and make the payments. My system is almost paid off now. My situation is a lease. When my lease is up they can come and pick up the equipment. The solar company told me that they wouldn't be interested in doing that. The system would be 20 years old and they wouldn't have any interest in reclaiming it. In any case it doesn't really matter because I'm not going to be selling my house.
House looks good. A base cabinet or 2 to the left of the stove would have been nice. I'll trade you some non-working solar panels for your working ones:)
There are a few things. If you remove the panels yourself the solar lien holder might accuse you of damaging the system. If the panels are removed, I'd be willing to bet that the roof will need to be repaired. And, a lot of times, they also replace the main panel to the house to upgrade the capacity for solar. So they might also remove your main circuit breaker panel if you have them remove all their stuff.
How much value would the solar add to the house? Couldn't you have just offered to buy the system at a more reasonable cost perhaps. I mean it may not add 40k to the value of the house, maybe but it for sure is a nice selling feature.
I got the impression that the former home owner actually owns the panels. That would be concerning if the Solar Company did not take steps to reposses the panels, new owner paid for them and old owner took action to retrieve them. Not a lawyer but just wondering about this possibility?
Just an idea, but if they don't want the solar gear them make them a lowball offer on "used equipment" based on "used prices." Yeah, I'd like to purchase this (x years old) stuff for $1,000... and let them think on that for a few days. (my final offer) You can have my offer or chase the original guy. Would be cheaper than a lawyer.
How much value does the solar system add to the house ? If you remove it does it affect your asking price? Also what's the cost to repair any damage to the roof by removing the solar?
I don't see any scenario in which you get to keep the panels on the roof AND not pay anything, LOL. You need to start a solar lease- isn't that an option that they gave you? The other option is to have them remove the panels and move on with your life. No free lunches, etc.
If the solar company does the removal you can be sure they will damage the house. If you do the removal they will say you damaged the equipment and try to charge you as much as they can. As you know you are not currently party to the contract but touching their stuff is a liability trap. Their whole business model is shady as hell. It presents as more of a predatory loan program than anything else. Does your state have any law about charging for storage of previous tenants property left after they move out. Although I doubt this situation would actually be applicable to such a law sending them a registered letter stating they will be charged monthly for their equipment will get some attention. A lawyer would probably not want to draft that letter if the law does not apply but I am sure you could draft something that looks intimidating enough. As a real estate business owner I am sure you have received may legal notices and are familiar with the style.
I would take it off the roof and put it in the garage. It's odd they don't want their own equipment. Sounds like they want money more than they want their own property. My question would be, If the 40,000 was paid, are they going to keep it running under your name, as if you continue owing from that point on, or are they going to declare it settled after that, and release the equipment to you. That would be my question. But then with the run around they're giving you, even if they take the second part of my question, hopefully they don't back track on that.
Sounds to me like they're just the money guys. Getting the used equipment back is an option, but they would recover significantly less than if they either 1) settled the claim or 2) sold the debt to a collections company for pennies on the dollar. They're not in the solar business so they would have to then sell the panels to a solar company. Sounds like a complicated mess for guys who specialize in looking at numbers and analyzing risk. The best option for everyone is to reach a settlement and keep the panels on the roof. It's costing Mark money sitting on this house so there's definitely a financial middle ground to be found. Unfortunately this company is not negotiating in good faith, which is a shame because Mark is a professional and is probably their best option of recovering on their bad loan.
Hey Mark, I'm interested in studying law regarding real estate and this whole situation intrigued me. This is not legal advice but If the solar company has explicitly said they don't want their property. You would have a good case to use Colorado's abandoned property laws. If decided in your favor this could give the company so many days to remove their property. The days are usually determined by the value of the property. Definitely contact a lawyer for advice. @@investfourmore
@@investfourmore Hey Mark, I'm interested in studying law regarding real estate and this whole situation intrigued me. This is not legal advice but If the solar company has explicitly said they don't want their property. You would have a good case to use Colorado's abandoned property laws. If decided in your favor this could give the company so many days to remove their property. The days are usually determined by the value of the property. Definitely contact a lawyer for advice.
I have to ask, did you seek legal advice before contacting the collections? By communicating with them and sending your deed info, they may take action against you because you took possession of the property when you bought the house. Now, they have all of your information and can harass you and even take you to court.
Next time, have them email that agreement while still on phone. I bet if you told them their $40k panels are damaging your $500k home, they'll reconsider, maybe.
Send them a bill for storage of their equipment on your roof. Three days later, put a lein on their panels for unpaid storage fees. Have an internet auction on the panels, you or LLC pay $1.00 than the highest bid. If your lien is higher than what the solar company wants as suggested in other comments, no one is going to pay that much. If high bid is $10K you bid $10,001. And just leave them there. If your lien is $45K you now have a loss of $34,999 to talk to your tax advisor/cpa about.
40k sounds like possible tax fraud, I would look into the real cost of the system and see if that happened, maybe your lawyer can negotiate for that real cost. What happens is the company installing the solar will install a $15k solar system, but the loan amount will be much, much higher, the loan amount will be used for tax purposes to get rebates larger than the cost of the solar installation. In this case, the previous owner might have done that and instead of getting that rebate and paying down the loan, they just pocketed the extra loan amount and the extra rebate.
I don't know what state you're in but I know in my state it is 100% illegal to sell a home with a solar lien wherever you got that from whatever auction or sale happen they're actually the ones responsible for it. Really my question is what is your lawyer say about all this because that's who you really need to be involved in this just because it title company says oh it's not on the house it's on the equipment. They probably didn't understand because what happened shouldn't have happened most likely
Fergie: didn't we discuss this a few months ago....???......it takes a thousand or two in a legal fee, but you advise the lienholder that an "abandonment" action has been taken against them.......the lienholder has 30 days to take possession of the liened property, or it will be considered "abandoned".........and the lien is removed, by whichever, the state's sec'y of state, (the UCC) and the county recorder.....then, no lien and you keep the equipment.......PLAY HARDBALL, FERGIE...................
Dude, a million people have already been there and done that. Guess what? You're in for a long expensive ride. NOBODY will buy a house with a solar panel lien. Pay them what they ask to make it go away. I can't believe you bought a house with solar panels. Rookie mistake. It's like an in-ground pool. 75% of buyers don't want the hassle - and worse, you never checked to see if the panels were owned by the seller.
Why not just have the solar company come out and remove their equipment? Since the equipment is basically separate from the property - the lien on the equipment only - then have the solar company come collect their gear or start charging them storage fees. Clearly they'll quickly settle with you once you start charging them storage fees.
@investfourmore have your lawyer go into county court, and start charging them an astronomical amount of money as rent for there use of "your " dwelling as storage. I'm sure a judge would tell them to pay, or remove the equipment.Let the court know you want to bring the service back to it's useable condition with out the solar tap.
Well, good thing you have a power engineer in your audience! Technically, solar panels are illegal in the U.S. because all generation assets have to be registered with their local ISO. Just sell it as is. Liability transfers with owners, so let it be somebody else's mistake. You made a naive mistake by buying a solar panel house in the first place, which is expected you aren't very smart. Cut your losses, you will litigate this for years (I am also a legal expert) and get nowhere.
If the title to the home is clear ,at that point the equipment is abandoned . take owership of the proceeds from the electric company or disconnect and sell. Ownership is forfit when the home owners insurance was lapse , read there contract ,must have a policy that covers the home after its installed. The solar company wont tell you that ,most people pay the solar company for fear of a lost policy in the case of a fire. its all a scare you to pay scam ,everyones in on it . The banks, the insurance companies ,the equipment makers ,and even the electric companies . break even on the insensitive =electric bill . The panals always produce more in a lifetime that what you would use . The system puts out megawatts and they spin off a bogus bill of killawatts what you think,your getting a check in the mail. what you did when you sign a solar lease is pay them to take the roof of your home . good luck when that roof needs repairs
Here is what the property looked like when I bought it. I am on hold with them again now!! ruclips.net/video/dIJ1YETbLJU/видео.html
Mark, get your lawyer to start charging them rent for their use of your solar space. Tell them they have 30 days to remove, or it will be removed by your solar installers, and they will be billed for the use of your dumpster. Further, warn in the title of your video about dealing with any of these scum. Further, they either restore the roof to pristine or you will sue.
Old owner was clearly in trouble and scammers still put that worthless crap on their house. Those solar companies should be prosecuted out of business.
Collections can go after former home owner. A judge needs to order company to REMOVE solar panels OR the lien is VOIDED. That solar company seems shady AF. The ceramic tile in bedroom is UGH yuk.
You needed to send the solar company a bill for $40,000 , or make it $45,000 for storing their equipment on YOUR roof. 😅
To everyone befuddled by why the company won't just come take the equipment and leave them alone: This is a big sales scheme, the equipment was never the end goal, the money is made in the markup, the installation and all the financing. The solar system is just this product that has a value the average person can't easily grasp. All you understand is the monthly payment and this promise of never paying a power bill. You are wholly unaware that you just financed $15K of a solar system for $35-40k. If you went and bought that equipment yourself and paid cash for it, and paid someone cash (cash as in money you had, not borrowed to do this) to install it, you'd pay a completely different kind of price. This scam works because people can't look at a solar system, say, how they might a car or an appliance, and accurately ballpark a value in any way.
Good to know. If i decide to go solar, i'll do my research and buy it outright.
Nobody wants to buy a house with a solar contract to be paid.
@@geniferteal4178If you "do your research" on solar, you won't buy it at any price.
@@geniferteal4178I install them. The thing that blows peoples minds is the panels only cost $100-$150 each.. average system is 20-30 panels. Inverter(s) and code compliance add cost but its nowhere near $200 for 25yr that i see people paying
I had a salesman come over and was in the same situation where I really did not know much the cost should be. Seemed to me the quoted price seemed to conveniently match the assumed electric savings of the the lifetime of the equipment (with the selling point that electric rates are expected to increase.) I did not go for the 45K price and then week later salesman called back saying he could take tbousands off. Obviously he was trying to maximize his proffits by overcharging. So I have no solar panels.
I would speak to a lawyer they are not going to budge because they know you need the lean removed to sell. They want their 40k you want the lean gone. Because the solar is owned by the company you might be able to get a legal notice written like "I don't want the company x's equipment on my property"
I think this is the right route. Court order to get their property off your property with clause saying you're going to charge them rent for their property is another route you might think about. I really do think this is best handled by your attorneys.
? Why you (flipper/owner) would be wasting all this time baffles me. Get a good lawyer to immediately start the process to discharge the lein, where you may need to allow the solar company to take back their product and you will have to deal with some roof damage/repair. Should have sent certified legal letter day one and hope to have it resolved in 60-90 days. That clock won’t start until you do.
According to Colorado state law, the solar lien is on the solar equipment itself and NOT on your home. The Colorado law also states that the lien holder is responsible for repossessing and removal of their solar equipment when the original borrower fails to make payment. It says nothing about future home owners being liable for non payment of solar liens. Remember, the lien can only last for 6 years in Colorado so the longer the lien holder drags their feet and refuses to remove their equipment, the more likely you'll end up with a working solar electric system you'll own free and clear! That would be a great selling feature when you do sell the property once the 6 year lien window closes and in the meantime your renters will have free electricity! Actually never mind, just don't say anything, keep the house as a rental until the 6 years expires and walk away with a free $40K solar electric system😉
That is an option but I think they can refile the lien too.
Sucks you’re having to deal with that
Solar loans are always shady. We had an interesting situation where the previous owner never "finished" the installation before selling. We were paying on the loan, and then one day out of the blue they sent us an email stating they abandoned the installation. I dont think they realized it was completely installed and operating. I even managed to get the warranty in my name.
Apparently from the complaints on the BBB, Good Leap doesn't just do predatory loans for solar, they seem to do all sorts of home repair loans, and they seem to do other scummy loan practices. I guess their default response is just "pay us". Have you thought of contacting a local TV station? Embarrassing news stories always seem to get companies to act. Maybe the TV station can find other Good Leap victims...I mean customers, to interview?
$40,000 for solar? Owe.
The inside of the house turned out nice.
Every house in my neighborhood that got the panels seemed to go into foreclosure afterward, it was not a good deal.
Just keep in mind the panels cost $100 to $150 each. Every area is different so ill talk here in Texas. With our cheap electricity, they still save me $5 per month per panel. Not a bad deal
I see people paying $200 a month for 25 years on these systems. Thats a horrible deal
@@26longlongtime Oh yea. I'm also in Texas. Our house had a system when we bought it that was costing us more than it saved. Sellers realtor told us that the solar company said it would cut 90% of our bill. It cuts 25%. Through a crazy turn of events, the company abandoned the entire installation which was a huge sigh of relief.
Clearly the "collections people" already paid some percentage for the right to collect this debt, and they are just not gonna "un-do" the deal. They are gonna make your life as difficult as possible until you pay them to "make this go away".
I got the impression that this "collections department" was in-house, but it could have been a discount sale of the note as you said. The main thing to consider IMO is when the lien was put on the house. If it was before the bankruptcy, then it presumably should have been discharged with the proceeds of the sale (assuming there were enough proceeds to pay off the lien after the first or later mortgage holders got paid). If the solar company did not file the lien before the sale, they might be out of luck. What gets me is the idea that the lien might have been timely filed, but was not disclosed at the sale.
Be interesting to hear a follow-up on the lien and how that gets handled, sounds like a nightmare but a good learning experience.
@user-bp3vz1ge1r there is a reason it was such a good deal but i think I will get it figured out.
hey i got a question. do you think solar lease/ppa also makes the house worth less than a comp without solar? the reason I ask is that solar payment affects buyer monthly payment so reducing the buyer pool.
100%
I bought a home in Arizona for cash. The previous owner had a solar lease. If I had not assumed the lease the previous owner would have paid a significant fee to have the panels and inverter removed. The lease includes a maintenance contract. No lease, no contract. I pay about $135 a month for the lease. The average savings is at least twice tha on the electric bill for a 12 month period. I could pay off the lease at any time, but the maintenance contract goes away. The payoff would be less than paying every month. The system is from SunPower that recently went bankrupt. Another company has bought their assets which is of course the lease.
Start charging them a reasonable storage fee. Then when they dont pay sue them. Otherwise your law makers need to fix that issue. Its like a timeshare scam.
goodleap was tied to pink energy power home solar there was a multi state class action lawsuit but somehow goodleep weaseled out of it
Send the solar company an invoice for space rent for them to “store” their equipment on your property… 😂😂
Solar-such a promise and such a lie.
Tell that to the sun. This is fraudulent capitalism, not an issue with making electricity from sunlight.
The foreclosure was not done properly- bank/title company neglected to apportion partof the auction proceeds to all lien holders in their lien hierarchy- usually below any equipment lien
If this was a first mortgage foreclosure they should pay off the mortgage and then divert the residue to the solar company. If not enough for the first, the solar company lien is stripped by the auction process. Tha Bank should have given you a clean title
It depends on how or if lien was recorded or if there was a judgment.
@@aurizon the lien is not against the house. Only the equipment
File a lawsuit to remove it
From the roof
charge the solar equipment storage rent, then when they don't pay, follow through with the eviction process
I have solar on my home. When I sell the house I have some choices. I can either pay off the panels or the new owner can assume the balance and make the payments. My system is almost paid off now. My situation is a lease. When my lease is up they can come and pick up the equipment. The solar company told me that they wouldn't be interested in doing that. The system would be 20 years old and they wouldn't have any interest in reclaiming it. In any case it doesn't really matter because I'm not going to be selling my house.
What a pain, Mark.🤦🏻♀️ They will not resolve this. More expense added to the house when you add the lawyer🥺☹️🤷🏻♀️
Here's hoping Jenifer wasn't the cleaning lady.😆 The place cleaned up real nice though.
House looks good. A base cabinet or 2 to the left of the stove would have been nice. I'll trade you some
non-working solar panels for your working ones:)
There are a few things. If you remove the panels yourself the solar lien holder might accuse you of damaging the system. If the panels are removed, I'd be willing to bet that the roof will need to be repaired. And, a lot of times, they also replace the main panel to the house to upgrade the capacity for solar. So they might also remove your main circuit breaker panel if you have them remove all their stuff.
they said they won't remove it
How much value would the solar add to the house?
Couldn't you have just offered to buy the system at a more reasonable cost perhaps.
I mean it may not add 40k to the value of the house, maybe but it for sure is a nice selling feature.
I got the impression that the former home owner actually owns the panels. That would be concerning if the Solar Company did not take steps to reposses the panels, new owner paid for them and old owner took action to retrieve them. Not a lawyer but just wondering about this possibility?
Just an idea, but if they don't want the solar gear them make them a lowball offer on "used equipment" based on "used prices." Yeah, I'd like to purchase this (x years old) stuff for $1,000... and let them think on that for a few days. (my final offer) You can have my offer or chase the original guy. Would be cheaper than a lawyer.
How much value does the solar system add to the house ? If you remove it does it affect your asking price? Also what's the cost to repair any damage to the roof by removing the solar?
@katreid3482 hard to say. A paid off newer system may add a few thousand to.some buyers or be a negative to some buyers.
I don't see any scenario in which you get to keep the panels on the roof AND not pay anything, LOL. You need to start a solar lease- isn't that an option that they gave you? The other option is to have them remove the panels and move on with your life. No free lunches, etc.
Time for a lawyer. Watch how fast they resolve it then
Solar companies are horrible. Especially Vivent.
If the solar company does the removal you can be sure they will damage the house. If you do the removal they will say you damaged the equipment and try to charge you as much as they can. As you know you are not currently party to the contract but touching their stuff is a liability trap. Their whole business model is shady as hell. It presents as more of a predatory loan program than anything else. Does your state have any law about charging for storage of previous tenants property left after they move out. Although I doubt this situation would actually be applicable to such a law sending them a registered letter stating they will be charged monthly for their equipment will get some attention. A lawyer would probably not want to draft that letter if the law does not apply but I am sure you could draft something that looks intimidating enough. As a real estate business owner I am sure you have received may legal notices and are familiar with the style.
I would take it off the roof and put it in the garage.
It's odd they don't want their own equipment. Sounds like they want money more than they want their own property. My question would be, If the 40,000 was paid, are they going to keep it running under your name, as if you continue owing from that point on, or are they going to declare it settled after that, and release the equipment to you. That would be my question. But then with the run around they're giving you, even if they take the second part of my question, hopefully they don't back track on that.
Sounds to me like they're just the money guys. Getting the used equipment back is an option, but they would recover significantly less than if they either
1) settled the claim or
2) sold the debt to a collections company for pennies on the dollar.
They're not in the solar business so they would have to then sell the panels to a solar company. Sounds like a complicated mess for guys who specialize in looking at numbers and analyzing risk. The best option for everyone is to reach a settlement and keep the panels on the roof.
It's costing Mark money sitting on this house so there's definitely a financial middle ground to be found. Unfortunately this company is not negotiating in good faith, which is a shame because Mark is a professional and is probably their best option of recovering on their bad loan.
Can’t they just come & take their panels back?
They don't want them
Hey Mark, I'm interested in studying law regarding real estate and this whole situation intrigued me. This is not legal advice but If the solar company has explicitly said they don't want their property. You would have a good case to use Colorado's abandoned property laws. If decided in your favor this could give the company so many days to remove their property. The days are usually determined by the value of the property. Definitely contact a lawyer for advice.
@@investfourmore
@@investfourmore Hey Mark, I'm interested in studying law regarding real estate and this whole situation intrigued me. This is not legal advice but If the solar company has explicitly said they don't want their property. You would have a good case to use Colorado's abandoned property laws. If decided in your favor this could give the company so many days to remove their property. The days are usually determined by the value of the property. Definitely contact a lawyer for advice.
Can you share the solar company name so i can look into this?
Good leap
I told you this was going to be a nightmare.
😮Now what if the old owner is deceased what then?
I have to ask, did you seek legal advice before contacting the collections? By communicating with them and sending your deed info, they may take action against you because you took possession of the property when you bought the house. Now, they have all of your information and can harass you and even take you to court.
Always get in writing any promises before doing anything with collections.
They can take possession back if they want to. I never signed a contract with them or agreed to anything with them when buying the house.
Next time, have them email that agreement while still on phone.
I bet if you told them their $40k panels are damaging your $500k home, they'll reconsider, maybe.
Nice house now but the fireplace doors and frame look trashy!
Send them a bill for storage of their equipment on your roof. Three days later, put a lein on their panels for unpaid storage fees. Have an internet auction on the panels, you or LLC pay $1.00 than the highest bid. If your lien is higher than what the solar company wants as suggested in other comments, no one is going to pay that much.
If high bid is $10K you bid $10,001. And just leave them there. If your lien is $45K you now have a loss of $34,999 to talk to your tax advisor/cpa about.
Take off the equipment and repair the roof.
get a lawyer involved and take the company to court
Let them talk to your to get this resolved the problem
40k sounds like possible tax fraud, I would look into the real cost of the system and see if that happened, maybe your lawyer can negotiate for that real cost. What happens is the company installing the solar will install a $15k solar system, but the loan amount will be much, much higher, the loan amount will be used for tax purposes to get rebates larger than the cost of the solar installation. In this case, the previous owner might have done that and instead of getting that rebate and paying down the loan, they just pocketed the extra loan amount and the extra rebate.
Be willing to bet solar company got any rebates initially (and would not be surprised if they covered most of the actual system costs.)
Someone is going to have to pay it off.
You need a lawyer yesterday. Write up a bill including storage, administrative, and legal fees totaling up to over $40,000.
Cool beans
I don't know what state you're in but I know in my state it is 100% illegal to sell a home with a solar lien wherever you got that from whatever auction or sale happen they're actually the ones responsible for it. Really my question is what is your lawyer say about all this because that's who you really need to be involved in this just because it title company says oh it's not on the house it's on the equipment. They probably didn't understand because what happened shouldn't have happened most likely
I get the distinct impression the solar company is not very smart.
$2000 a month rent on the roof to the solar company
Turn it into a Rental.
Fergie: didn't we discuss this a few months ago....???......it takes a thousand or two in a legal fee, but you advise the lienholder that an "abandonment" action has been taken against them.......the lienholder has 30 days to take possession of the liened property, or it will be considered "abandoned".........and the lien is removed, by whichever, the state's sec'y of state, (the UCC) and the county recorder.....then, no lien and you keep the equipment.......PLAY HARDBALL, FERGIE...................
Record business phone calls
I was trying. My phone recorder wouldn't work while on a call
@investfourmore get old tape recorder with mic pickup.... old school kid it works
Wassup
Waz happening
Dude, a million people have already been there and done that. Guess what? You're in for a long expensive ride. NOBODY will buy a house with a solar panel lien. Pay them what they ask to make it go away. I can't believe you bought a house with solar panels. Rookie mistake. It's like an in-ground pool. 75% of buyers don't want the hassle - and worse, you never checked to see if the panels were owned by the seller.
Why are u not suing your lawyer for NOT doing his job when u bought this house?? He should have seen the lien when u hired him to buy it.
what he is saying is there's no property lien on the house so a title search comes up clean.
Why not just have the solar company come out and remove their equipment? Since the equipment is basically separate from the property - the lien on the equipment only - then have the solar company come collect their gear or start charging them storage fees. Clearly they'll quickly settle with you once you start charging them storage fees.
They don't want it
@@investfourmore get that part in writing and tell them to fly a kite... and bill the original guy. His bills are NOT your worry.
Ten bucks. They put a new lean on the home with the updated deed
THey can't. the lien was never against the house
If you cant handel this simple situation, your in the wrong line of work.
what would you do differently?
@investfourmore have your lawyer go into county court, and start charging them an astronomical amount of money as rent for there use of "your " dwelling as storage. I'm sure a judge would tell them to pay, or remove the equipment.Let the court know you want to bring the service back to it's useable condition with out the solar tap.
Well, good thing you have a power engineer in your audience!
Technically, solar panels are illegal in the U.S. because all generation assets have to be registered with their local ISO.
Just sell it as is. Liability transfers with owners, so let it be somebody else's mistake. You made a naive mistake by buying a solar panel house in the first place, which is expected you aren't very smart. Cut your losses, you will litigate this for years (I am also a legal expert) and get nowhere.
Did you stay at a Holiday Inn last night?
@@investfourmore No, you bigoted ass, what a disgusting thing to say.
If the title to the home is clear ,at that point the equipment is abandoned . take owership of the proceeds from the electric company or disconnect and sell.
Ownership is forfit when the home owners insurance was lapse , read there contract ,must have a policy that covers the home after its installed.
The solar company wont tell you that ,most people pay the solar company for fear of a lost policy in the case of a fire.
its all a scare you to pay scam ,everyones in on it .
The banks, the insurance companies ,the equipment makers ,and even the electric companies .
break even on the insensitive =electric bill . The panals always produce more in a lifetime that what you would use .
The system puts out megawatts and they spin off a bogus bill of killawatts
what you think,your getting a check in the mail.
what you did when you sign a solar lease is pay them to take the roof of your home .
good luck when that roof needs repairs