A lawsuit alleged recently that solar panel companies have targeted Latino homeowners and Spanish speakers in Oakland in a finance scheme fraud. 

Among those identified in the lawsuit were Green Pace Financial, Pace Funding Group, and Complete Sola.

The firms, as indicated in the lawsuit, misrepresented facts and hid information from "hundreds, or even thousands of homeowners" who purchased or leased solar panels for their homes.

The lawsuit, according to The Mercury News, was filed by Cotchett, Pitre and MacCarthy, a law firm from Burlingame, and the Housing and Economic Rights Advocates in Almeda County Superior Court.

Clients Unaware of the Agreement

The lawsuit claimed that homeowners were persuaded to enter into agreements, specifically Property Assessed Clean Energy or PACE.

In relation to the agreement, news reports said that some of the customers did not know that "they were signing up for loans," and that, if they defaulted, the agreement allegedly stated, "Their homes would face foreclosure."

The companies involved reportedly contacted the homeowners in Spanish through phone, email and text messages. However, when the contract and other legal documents were delivered to them, they were written in English. 

This so-called "bait-and-switch" scheme caused customers to sign contracts and terms which they, the lawsuit alleged, were unaware of.

Agreement They Thought was a Federal Program

In a statement, a lawyer at the Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, Alison Cordova said, "Purposefully targeting communities that are non-English speaking," to deceive or defraud them "is disgraceful."

Moreover, the homeowners were apparently steered to believe that what they were entering into was government project developed during the time of former President Barack Obama. 

They believed too, and the said contract necessitated all homeowners in California to install solar panels by 2020.

Several homeowners, the lawsuit indicated, had also believed that in exchange for the amount they would be paying for the solar panel installations, they would be given a discount on their utility bill.

Also, according to the lawsuit, clients were not informed that they the loan they were signing up for was with interest payments and that their home "would be assessed" because of the agreement.

Allegedly too, the homeowners would be fined interest and other fees on top of the solar panels' installation expenses.

It was unclear too, and the lawsuit stated that these customers would be signing up an agreement that allegedly changed their rights to property "by placing a priority lien on their homes." 

Meaning, should there be a default on their loans, the solar panel finance firms mentioned in the lawsuit are allowed to foreclose on the property of the homeowners.

Meanwhile, the main petitioner, an Oakland homeowner named Gloria Sanchez, signed up for the agreement in 2018. She claimed that she was given some information in Spanish and orally. 

However, she added, when the documents were provided to her, they were written in English. The solar panel finance companies identified in the lawsuit were not available when asked on Tuesday, to comment on the issue.

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