SURPRISE, AZ — A Surprise man waited for months to get answers from his solar lease company.
He sold his home and said he transferred his solar lease to the new homeowners, but he was still getting a bill at his new address.
It sounds like a simple fix, switch the address and change the account but it took months to resolve, and that's when he reached out to Let ABC15 Know.
Paul sold his Surprise home in August 2024.
“We had a real estate agent involved, he was very helpful in guiding me with what I need to do,” Paul said.
Paul transferred his SunPower solar lease to the new homeowners as part of the home sale, but a few months after he closed on the sale.
Paul said he started receiving in the mail, a bill from the solar company.
The bills for solar panels at his old home were being sent to his new home address.
“I thought there was a problem here,” said Paul. “Anything can break, in this process or they could still be coming after me for the balance due.”
Paul thought it was taking a few weeks for the solar company to catch up, but the next month a new bill arrived. He said he just wanted his name to be removed from the account.
Paul said, “The last thing I wanted to get in front of a collection agency over a bill they think I still owe them so that my fear, my worry there.”
Paul said he made calls to the company every month, he stated he spoke with a different person each time. He said they never disputed or argued with what he had to say, the documentation was all there.
“This is crazy, it’s been four months going on five months I need help with escalating this,” said Paul.
He reached out to Let ABC15 Know for help and Let ABC15 Better Business Bureau Volunteer, Andrew stepped in. Paul said within a couple of weeks the case was resolved.
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“It was about two weeks after Andrew got involved so that’s pretty quick,” said Paul. “I did get an email confirmation from the company saying the account has been paid they will take my name off of it that’s exactly what I was looking for.”
Let ABC15 Know reached out to SunStrong Management, the company that took over SunPower after the company filed for bankruptcy in 2024.
Statement from Brendon Merkley, CEO, SunStrong Management:
“Unfortunately, I would say a perfect storm conspired against the timing for this issue with (redacted name).
Sunpower declared bankruptcy in August 2024 and they had neglected several customer issues leading up to that. Additionally, Sunpower had decided to transition these servicing activities to a third-party vendor and that transition culminated the same month in August 2024.
SunStrong Management was not formally authorized to takeover servicing until a couple months after the bankruptcy. Unfortunately, we saw several customer issues that got interrupted during the transition and the bankruptcy chaos.
We worked through a large backlog of Customer requests, but things are getting pretty stable recently.
Customers with a solar lease or loan who plan to sell their home are advised to contact us early to review the process and understand the requirements. It’s a potentially complicated process with realtors, mortgage brokers, title companies, etc that may not always have the full picture. Contacting us early gives us the best opportunity to support the homeowner most effectively and avoid confusion."
Solar United Neighbors, a non-profit organization, that specializes in providing homeowners solar assistance recommends homeowners and/or realtors put together an FAQ or summary sheet ahead of the sale. It should include details about how the installation works, what savings to expect, and any other details. This will help make the transition smooth as buyers will likely have lots of questions that realtors are not always prepared to answer.
When selling a home that has solar that they own and is paid off (i.e., not a leased system), it is a pretty simple process.
The panels are included in the home sale and there's not much the new owner has to do, other than call their homeowner's insurance company and let them know their new home has solar panels.
If the original owner is still making monthly payments on a loan for the cost of the solar system, there are two options: 1) pay off the balance of the solar loan with the proceeds of the home sale or 2) transfer the balance of the solar loan to the new owner.
With a solar system lease, the agreement gets transferred to the new homeowner. The seller must be transparent about what the lease payments are, what the average monthly savings is, and if there are any price escalators in the lease agreement.
Sometimes sellers will pay a fee to end the lease agreement early (this is not always an option) just to make the process of selling the home easier.
If you have any questions or need help with your solar, Solar United Neighbors a free Help Desk.
