Newsroom
Residential Solar Financing Fraud:
A Resource for Journalists
Background, sourced data, and interview availability for reporters covering the residential solar financing crisis. If you are on deadline, email us and say so — we will prioritise it.
About Bennett Legal
Bennett Legal represents homeowners who believe they were misled during the purchase or financing of a residential solar system.
The firm's solar practice focuses on the financing side of these transactions — the loan, the lease, the power purchase agreement, the lien, and the arbitration clause — rather than on installation and workmanship disputes alone. That distinction matters for reporters: most homeowner harm in this market is created at the moment of financing, and most of it is resolved in private arbitration rather than in open court.
Bennett Legal is based in Dallas and is led by attorney Charles Bennett, who is licensed in Texas. Because the great majority of residential solar contracts contain binding arbitration clauses, these matters are typically heard by JAMS or AAA arbitrators rather than by a local court — which is why homeowner representation in this area is not geographically limited the way conventional litigation is.
Areas of focus
Data and sources
Free to reuse with attribution. Every figure is traced to a government agency, a published research report, or a court filing — and each has its own anchor so you can cite a single number.
Solar Financing Fraud: Key Statistics
Complaint volumes, hidden dealer fees, loan terms, state enforcement actions, and installer insolvencies, 2018–2026.
One homeowner. One solar loan.
Sunlight Financial relied on this homeowner not knowing her rights. Here's what Bennett Legal recovered when she called us.
$113,000
Solar loan cancelled in full
Sunlight Financial
$58,000
Cash paid to our client
Plus full credit repair
$170,000
Total financial recovery
UCC filing released
What Sunlight Financial agreed to:
- Cancel our client's $113,000 solar loan entirely
- Release the UCC filing covering the solar equipment
- Repair her credit
- Pay her $58,000 in cash
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Each case is evaluated individually.
Interview topics
Charles Bennett is available for background or on-record commentary on the following subjects.
Background on Charles Bennett
Charles Bennett leads Bennett Legal's solar financing practice. He is licensed in Texas (State Bar No. 24086454) and is a cum laude graduate of SMU Dedman School of Law. He was recognized in Super Lawyers in 2025 and 2026 and by The National Trial Lawyers as a Top 100 Civil Plaintiff Lawyer. Before entering consumer and injury practice he secured international arbitration awards on behalf of professional athletes and agents — relevant background on a beat where nearly every dispute is resolved in a private arbitral forum rather than a courtroom. Full biography.
Media contact
All media inquiries, interview requests, data requests, and podcast bookings.
Amy Rivera
Marketing Lead · Bennett Legal
12770 Coit Road, Suite 720
Dallas, Texas 75251
Amy coordinates press access and asset requests. Substantive legal questions are routed to Charles Bennett; Amy does not provide legal commentary.
What we can turn around quickly
- ·On-record or background interviews with Charles Bennett
- ·Explanation of a specific loan, lease, or PPA document you are working from
- ·Sourced data and citations in a usable format
- ·High-resolution logos, headshots, and infographics
- ·Referral to independent sources — consumer advocates, researchers, agencies
Response times
Same day for deadline requests received before 3:00 p.m. Central. Next business day otherwise.
Information on this page is provided for journalistic reference and is not legal advice. Contacting Bennett Legal does not create an attorney-client relationship. Allegations described in third-party enforcement actions are unproven unless a court or tribunal has found otherwise.