Christina Mathieson Segura | Real Estate Education

Something is happening in markets across the country, and most real estate agents haven't connected the dots yet.

 

Attorneys general in Connecticut, New York, Minnesota, Texas, Florida, and Kentucky have all taken significant enforcement action against residential solar companies within the past two years. The Federal Trade Commission reported a 746% increase in solar-related consumer complaints between 2018 and 2023. More than 100 solar companies have entered bankruptcy since 2024. And the homeowners holding agreements with those companies — agreements that are still attached to their properties — are now entering the real estate market.

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They're your clients.

And the transaction they're walking into is more complicated than most agents realize.

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What the Regulators Are Telling Us

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Let's start with what's actually on the record, because the documentation is significant.

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In Connecticut, Attorney General William Tong has been building an enforcement record since 2022. His office has taken action against Solar Wolf Energy, Vision Solar, EnergyBillCruncher, Dividend Finance, SunRun, Bright Planet Solar, and Elevate Solar Solutions. In March 2026, he announced a $100,000 settlement with Spruce Power and opened a formal investigation into SunStrong Management LLC — a company now managing contracts transferred from the bankrupt estates of Sunnova and SunPower. Connecticut consumers report that SunStrong is failing to honor warranties, not responding to complaints, and charging a $10 monthly fee just to access data about their own solar system's production. Tong himself has called these "long-term, complex purchase and lease agreements" that homeowners need to understand before signing.

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In New York, Attorney General Letitia James filed suit in 2026 against Attyx — formerly operating as SUNco — and its lending partners, alleging a scheme that defrauded hundreds of homeowners, disproportionately elderly and low-income residents on Long Island and in New York City, through false promises of free solar. After the New York Public Service Commission ordered Attyx to cease operations in 2025, the company continued under the name LGCY Power, deceiving both consumers and regulators.

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In Minnesota, Attorney General Keith Ellison sued four of the leading solar lending companies — GoodLeap, Sunlight Financial, Solar Mosaic, and Dividend Solar — over hidden fees that inflated borrower costs by 15 to 30 percent, representing $35 million in harm across more than 5,000 loans. He also barred the founders of Sun Badger Solar from operating in the state after the company failed to install promised systems and collapsed into receivership.

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In Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton launched a major enforcement initiative in April 2026, issuing civil investigative demands to Freedom Forever, SunRun, Lone Star Solar, and CAM Solar. Solar-related complaints to the Texas AG's office increased 818% between 2018 and mid-2024. The state passed SB 1036 — comprehensive solar registration and consumer protection legislation — with full enforcement authority taking effect in September 2026.

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Florida and Kentucky have added their own actions against installers for abandoned contracts, home damage, forged applications, and fraudulent savings claims. And at the federal level, the FTC settled an enforcement action against Ygrene, a PACE financing company, for placing secret liens on homes — liens that are senior to the mortgage and can surface at title with no warning.

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This is not a regional story.

It is a national pattern.

And it is landing inside real estate transactions every day.

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The Part That Directly Affects You

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Here is where I want agents to slow down and really think about this.

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When a company like SunPower goes bankrupt — and SunPower did, affecting more than 500,000 systems — those solar agreements don't disappear. They get transferred to a servicing company. The homeowner didn't choose that servicing company. They woke up one day and their agreement was simply under new management. Maybe a company called Spruce Power. Maybe SunStrong. Maybe a company that is now under investigation, not honoring warranties, and impossible to reach.

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Now that homeowner is listing their property.

The solar agreement transfers with the deed.

The buyer inherits the obligation.

If it's a lease or a power purchase agreement, the buyer has to be approved by the solar servicing company before the contract can be assigned.

There are monthly payments.

There are often annual escalation clauses.

There are performance promises about energy production that may or may not be substantiated.

There are warranty obligations that may be held by a company that no longer functions as represented.

And there may be a UCC filing on the property — or a PACE lien senior to the mortgage — that nobody mentioned until the title search.

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All of that is inside the transaction.

And most agents are walking past it.

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I'm not saying this to be critical. I'm saying it because the training hasn't been there. Real estate education was built around a model that no longer reflects the full scope of what we're being asked to represent. Solar agreements are third-party contractual structures governed by energy regulations, written by attorneys who were not thinking about real estate transactions when they drafted them. Agents didn't create that complexity. But we are responsible for navigating it.

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What the NAR Code of Ethics Actually Requires

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Article 11 of the NAR Code of Ethics is not a suggestion. It requires that we operate within our area of professional competence — and that when we don't have that competence, we either develop it or disclose that limitation to our client.

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When you represent a listing and you don't know whether the solar agreement is a lease, a PPA, or a financed system with a UCC filing, you are operating outside your competence on a material component of that transaction. When you represent a buyer and you don't advise them to investigate who currently services the solar agreement — whether that company is stable, whether it's under investigation, whether the warranty is actually enforceable — you are not fully protecting your client.

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Article 1 requires us to protect and promote the interests of our clients. Article 2 prohibits misrepresentation of material facts. These aren't obscure corners of the Code. They're the foundation of everything we do.

And here's the part that matters practically: the risk doesn't stay with the solar company when something goes wrong after closing. It transfers. It moves to the listing agent who didn't fully disclose. It moves to the buyer's agent who didn't fully advise. The attorney general actions document the consumer harm. The E&O carrier will document the professional liability.

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What You Should Be Doing Right Now

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If you are representing a seller with a solar system, you need to know the answers to these questions before the listing goes live: Is the system owned outright, leased, financed, or under a power purchase agreement? Who is the current servicing company — not who installed it, but who holds the contract today? Is that company financially stable, or has it been the subject of complaints or enforcement action? What are the transfer requirements for the agreement? What are the monthly obligations and any escalation terms? Are there any open warranty claims or service issues?

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If you are representing a buyer, you need to make sure your client understands exactly what they are inheriting. That means getting the full agreement, not just a summary. It means understanding the approval process for transfer. It means verifying the current servicer's status independently. It means asking whether there is a UCC filing or PACE lien on the property. Home inspectors do not validate solar system performance or contractual output. That responsibility falls on us.

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For brokers, this is a supervision conversation. Your transaction checklists need to reflect the reality of what is in these deals. If your agents don't have a framework for identifying and disclosing solar-related risk, they are exposed — and so are you.

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A Final Thought

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I've been called the Solar Lady of Real Estate for a reason. This is the work I do, and I do it because I've seen what happens when agents are left without the tools they need to navigate these transactions. Deals fall apart. Buyers feel misled. Sellers get caught in post-closing disputes over agreements they didn't fully understand when they signed them.

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None of that is inevitable.

The information exists.

The frameworks exist.

What has been missing is the training — and the will to treat solar agreements as the core transactional element they have become.

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The attorneys general across this country are documenting a national crisis in residential solar accountability. They are doing it publicly, with names and dollar amounts and court filings. Every one of those documented cases involves a home. Every one of those homes is, or will be, a real estate transaction.

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The question isn't whether this issue is in your market. It is.

The question is whether you're prepared for it.

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Christina Mathieson Segura is a New York State licensed REALTOR® and Mortgage Loan Officer, LEED Green Associate, and the nationally recognized educator known as The Solar Lady of Real Estate®. She is the Director of Solar Property Solutions at Team Paley, Keller Williams Points North, and teaches continuing education courses nationally. She is the author of five published titles including Solar Agreements in Real Estate: A Realtor's Guide to Ownership, Disclosure, and Risk and The Solar SOS: What Homeowners Need to Know Before They Buy, Sell, or Sign.

For information about CE courses, speaking engagements, or solar transaction consulting: Hello@ChristinaEducation.com | ChristinaEducation.com | 631.413.0494