El Paso & Horizon City, Texas

El Paso Solar Loan and Solar Panel Fraud Lawyer

Still paying for solar panels that never worked or never delivered the savings you were promised?

You trusted a company to lower your electric bills—not leave you with years of debt and unanswered questions.

Across El Paso, homeowners have reported problems involving misleading sales promises, unfinished installations, systems that never worked as expected, and long-term financing that continued even after the project failed. Between January 2018 and June 2024, El Paso County recorded the highest rate of residential solar complaints among Texas's largest counties—about one complaint for every 10,000 residents.

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Solar Loan & Lien Disputes
Consultas en Español

Free review. No obligation. We will tell you honestly whether you have something worth pursuing.

Source: Texas Attorney General complaint data analyzed by Texas Appleseed, Dimming the Benefits of Residential Solar in Texas.

Start here

You probably came here with a question. Here are the answers.

Most El Paso homeowners who find this page are asking one of five things. We have answered them directly rather than making you read to the bottom.

Because a solar loan payment does not replace your utility bill. GoodLeap's own published FAQ and El Paso Electric's materials both confirm that a rooftop solar customer stays connected to the grid and keeps a utility account. If a salesperson told you the electric bill would disappear, that was not accurate — and if your system underproduces or was never authorized to operate, you may be paying a loan payment and a substantially unchanged electric bill at the same time.

More detail

Sometimes, depending on the documents and the facts. What matters is what you were told, what you actually signed, whether the system was ever properly connected and authorized, and whether required disclosures were made. Nobody can responsibly promise cancellation before reading your contract — but a review costs you nothing and tells you where you stand.

More detail

Usually yes — and that is often exactly the problem worth pursuing. The loan is a separate obligation to the lender, so it can survive the installer closing, going bankrupt, or simply stopping responses. The fact that nobody is left to finish or fix the system does not by itself cancel the financing, which is why homeowners in this position should get advice rather than wait.

More detail

Not on the house itself — on the panels. Solar financing is usually secured by a UCC-1 fixture filing covering the system. It matters because the panels are permanently attached to your home, so that filing surfaces when anyone runs title. In practice it makes selling, refinancing, or transferring the property difficult until the loan is paid off or the lien is released. Most El Paso homeowners we speak with only find out when a title company flags it in the middle of a sale.

More detail

Probably not, but timing genuinely matters. Deadlines, notice requirements, and preserving the electronic signing record all favor homeowners who get advice early rather than after a collection or credit-reporting problem has already started. If you are unsure, the review is free.

More detail

1 per 10,000

El Paso County residential solar complaint rate

Highest among Texas's largest counties

818%

Increase in solar complaints to the Texas Attorney General

2018 through 2023

80%+

Of reviewed Texas complaints alleged misleading sales tactics

Texas Appleseed review

Español

Solar loan reviews available in Spanish

El Paso and Horizon City

Texas Appleseed analysis of Texas Attorney General complaint data, January 2018 through June 2024.

What to bring

Have your paperwork? We can tell you where you stand

A real answer comes from documents, not from a phone description. Bring whatever you have — and if something is missing, we can usually tell you where to get it. Most homeowners are missing at least half this list, and that is not a problem.

  • The solar loan agreement and payment schedule
  • The installation contract and the original sales proposal
  • El Paso Electric bills from before and after installation
  • Interconnection application, inspection records, and permission-to-operate letter
  • The electronic signature completion certificate and audit trail
  • Any tax credit representations you were given
  • Texts, emails, and voicemails from the salesperson or installer
  • Your title report, if a lien has already surfaced

How we help

Why hire a solar panel attorney?

You can call the lender and the installer yourself, and many El Paso homeowners try that first. The usual result is months of transfers, a promise that someone will look into it, and no change to the monthly payment. Meanwhile the lender holds a signed contract, an arbitration clause, and a filing against your system.

A lawyer changes what the other side has to respond to. Here is the specific work that gets done on your behalf.

Find out what you actually signed

Most homeowners never received a complete copy. We obtain the full contract package and the electronic signature audit trail — timestamps, devices, IP addresses, completion certificates — and read what is actually in it.

Compare what was promised to what you got

The sales proposal, the production estimate, and your real El Paso Electric bills tell a story side by side. That gap between promise and performance is often the core of the claim.

Check whether the system was ever legal to operate

We pull the interconnection application, inspection records, and permission-to-operate documentation. Homeowners have been billed for years on systems the utility never authorized to turn on.

Go after the lien on your system

The UCC-1 fixture filing is what blocks a sale or refinance. Pursuing its release is a specific piece of legal work, and we treat it as part of the remedy rather than an afterthought.

Handle the arbitration clause

Your contract almost certainly forces arbitration instead of court. We file and run the arbitration, select the arbitrator, and press the lender to produce what it has.

Push back on collections and credit damage

If a lender has reported you to the credit bureaus or handed the account to collections, that becomes part of the matter rather than a separate problem you deal with alone.

Not sure whether you have a case?

That is exactly what the free review is for. No cost, no obligation, and a straight answer about where you stand.

The two-bill problem

A solar loan payment does not replace your El Paso Electric bill

This is the single most common surprise we hear from El Paso homeowners, and it is worth being precise about.

GoodLeap's own published FAQ confirms that solar customers may continue to receive a utility bill. El Paso Electric's materials say the same: a rooftop solar customer stays connected to the grid, stays on a utility account, and continues to be billed for the electricity the system does not generate, plus applicable service charges.

So if a salesperson told you your electric bill would disappear, that was not accurate. And if your system is underperforming, was never properly commissioned, or was never authorized to operate, you may be paying both a solar loan payment and a substantially unchanged El Paso Electric bill.

Sources: El Paso Electric interconnection and rooftop solar materials; GoodLeap Frequently Asked Questions. Utility requirements change — confirm current requirements with El Paso Electric.

Local context

Why El Paso homeowners are concerned

El Paso has drawn specific attention from local officials. In May 2026 the El Paso County Attorney publicly addressed rising solar panel scams, warning that seniors and homeowners on fixed incomes were being targeted.

Statewide, the pattern documented by Texas Appleseed is consistent: promises of free panels, inflated savings estimates, confusing financing terms, and false claims about government tax credits. That review found these practices disproportionately targeted older Texans and people who are not native English speakers — a large share of El Paso.

The lien is on the panels — and that is what makes it a problem

Solar financing is usually secured by a UCC-1 fixture filing covering the system itself, not a mortgage-style lien against your house. That distinction sounds technical until you try to sell.

Because the panels are permanently attached to your roof, the filing is recorded against a fixture that cannot simply be handed back — and it surfaces the moment anyone runs title. In practice that means selling the home, refinancing, or transferring the property to family becomes difficult or stalls outright until the loan is paid off or the lien is released.

Most El Paso homeowners we speak with had no idea any of this existed until a title company flagged it mid-sale. Public UCC-1 financing statements filed in Texas show roughly 8,271 active residential solar liens recorded in the El Paso metro area, with the heaviest concentrations in ZIP 79928 — Horizon City and far East El Paso — along with 79938 and 79936.

What to expect

Most solar disputes are resolved in arbitration, not in court

Solar loan and installation contracts nearly always contain a mandatory arbitration clause, and Texas courts generally enforce them. That means your matter will likely proceed through a private arbitration forum rather than an El Paso courthouse. That is not automatically bad news — arbitration is often faster than a crowded court docket, and most of the process is handled remotely and in writing, so it should not require you to travel.

The signing record is central evidence

Timestamps, IP addresses, device details, document-open times, and completion certificates all form part of the record. If what you signed is genuinely in question, that material needs to be obtained and analyzed properly.

Time matters

Deadlines, notice requirements, and evidence preservation all favor homeowners who get advice early rather than after a collection or credit-reporting problem has started.

How a matter typically moves

  1. 1.Free document review — the loan, the proposal, the utility records, the lien.
  2. 2.Demand to the lender, putting it on notice before anything is filed.
  3. 3.Statement of Claims filed with the arbitration forum.
  4. 4.Arbitrator selection, with input from both sides.
  5. 5.Exchange of information — the lender has to produce what it has.
  6. 6.Resolution, by settlement or hearing.

Timeline: several months to well over a year, depending on how the lender responds and how quickly an arbitrator is appointed. Anyone who gives you a firm date is guessing.

What we hear

Common solar loan complaints

The loan cost far more than the system was worth

In March 2024 the Minnesota Attorney General sued GoodLeap, Sunlight Financial, Solar Mosaic, and Dividend Solar Finance, alleging that substantial dealer fees were embedded in system prices across more than 5,000 Minnesota loans, raising borrower costs by 15% to 30%. These are allegations under Minnesota law, the companies deny misconduct, and no findings have been made as to Texas transactions.

Paying a solar loan and a full electric bill

A loan payment does not replace a utility bill. Underperformance, incomplete commissioning, or a system that was never authorized to operate can leave a homeowner carrying both.

The system was never finished, or never turned on

Often traces to a missing interconnection approval, a failed or skipped inspection, or no permission to operate from the utility.

The installer stopped responding or closed

The financing obligation can survive the installer's disappearance, leaving the homeowner paying for work nobody is left to complete.

Signature or application details you do not recognize

An unfamiliar email address, an income figure you never gave, several documents completed within minutes, or a salesperson who held the tablet the whole time.

A tax credit that never applied to you

Eligibility depends on your actual tax situation. Homeowners are frequently promised a credit nobody ever checked they could claim.

A lien that surfaces at sale or refinance

A UCC-1 fixture filing covering the system, discovered by a title company at the worst possible moment.

Resultado reciente
$170,000recuperados

Una propietaria. Un préstamo solar.

Este es el resultado que Bennett Legal obtuvo para una propietaria en un asunto contra Sunlight Financial.

$113,000

Préstamo solar cancelado por completo

Sunlight Financial

$58,000

Efectivo pagado a la clienta

Además de la corrección del crédito

$170,000

Recuperación financiera total

Gravamen UCC sobre su vivienda retirado

Sunlight Financial acordó:

  • Cancelar por completo el préstamo solar de $113,000 de la clienta
  • Retirar el gravamen UCC sobre su vivienda
  • Corregir su crédito
  • Pagarle $58,000 en efectivo

Los resultados anteriores no garantizan resultados futuros. Cada caso se evalúa de forma individual.

Your attorney

Charles A. Bennett

Texas State Bar No. 24086454 · Bennett Legal · Dallas, Texas

Charles Bennett is the attorney responsible for every solar matter this firm handles. He represents Texas homeowners in consumer arbitration against solar lenders and installers, with an active docket of solar financing matters.

Questions

El Paso solar loan questions

Stopping payment has consequences, including negative credit reporting, and it is not a decision to make without advice. Talk to a lawyer about your specific situation before you change anything about how you are paying.

Depending on the documents and the facts, an attorney can evaluate potential claims, defenses, and remedies. Nobody can responsibly promise cancellation before reading your contract, your sales proposal, and your utility records.

On the panels. Solar financing is typically secured by a UCC-1 fixture filing covering the system rather than a mortgage-style lien on the house. Because the panels are permanently attached, that filing still shows up on a title search and can block or complicate a sale, a refinance, or a transfer of the property until the loan is satisfied or the lien is released. Pursuing that release is part of what we do.

Usually not. The loan is a separate obligation owed to the lender and it can survive the installer's closure. That gap between who took your money and who is left to answer for the system is frequently the heart of the case.

Almost certainly not. Solar loan and installation contracts nearly always contain a mandatory arbitration clause, and Texas courts generally enforce them. Most of the process is handled remotely and in writing, so it should not require you to travel.

It can. Which language a document was presented in, whether it was explained to you, and whether you were given a complete copy are all relevant facts. Bennett Legal handles these matters in Spanish as well as English.

Yes. ZIP 79928 — Horizon City and far East El Paso — carries one of the highest concentrations of residential solar liens in Texas. We represent homeowners in El Paso and Horizon City.

The case review is free. If we take your matter, the fee arrangement is explained to you in writing before you commit to anything.

Where we work

Serving El Paso and Horizon City

We represent homeowners across the El Paso metro area. These are the ZIP codes where residential solar liens are most heavily concentrated.

79928

Horizon City / Far East El Paso

79938

East El Paso

79936

East El Paso

79912

West El Paso

79932

Upper Valley

79934

Northeast El Paso

Socorro homeowners: a dedicated page covering Socorro is in progress. In the meantime, call us or read more about solar panel financing fraud.

Find out what you actually signed

Bennett Legal can review your solar loan agreement, the electronic signing records, your El Paso Electric documents, and what the salesperson told your family.

Free review No obligation Consultas en Español

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Bennett Legal
12770 Coit Road, Suite 720
Dallas, Texas 75251
(972) 972-4969

Charles A. Bennett, Esq. — Texas State Bar No. 24086454. Principal office: Dallas, Texas. Bennett Legal serves clients in El Paso and Horizon City.

Consumer complaints and allegations discussed on this page have not necessarily been proven in court. Prior cases, regulatory actions, and reported complaints do not guarantee a similar result in any individual matter. Each solar financing dispute depends on its specific contracts, communications, electronic records, and applicable law. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Sources: Texas Appleseed, Dimming the Benefits of Residential Solar in Texas; KVIA ABC-7, El Paso County Attorney Addresses Rising Solar Panel Scams; Office of the Minnesota Attorney General, solar lender lawsuit announcement (March 2024); GoodLeap, Frequently Asked Questions; El Paso Electric interconnection and rooftop solar resources; U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, El Paso City, Texas.