Foreclosed home REO PPA lease oh no again!!

[1975api2488]

Hi
my wife and I are in escrow on a house in California.
the bank now owns the house and is selling it to me with all attached fixtures.

title can not find any UCC filing of any type.
there is a contract on the title search but no lien.
the contract attached to the title is signed by the last owner that foreclosed on the home.
the solar company has no forceable contract as this point.
has anyone ever been through this mess?
i am telling the bank I will not assume the contract and that I will not close unless I have clear title.
thank you

[foo1bar]

i am telling the bank I will not assume the contract and that I will not close unless I have clear title.

Are you getting a mortgage? If so you'll almost certainly be getting title insurance.
Even if you don't get a mortgage, you probably want title insurance.
The title company will provide you with documentation of any liens/etc. And if the lease/PPA isn't listed, the title insurance should cover you. You can/should even ask the title insurance company to confirm that. "Hi. I'm in contract to purchase the property at 123 E. 2nd St., Castroville, CA. I have heard that the solar panels on the property were installed by Sungevity and there was a lease. Is there any lien in place for those? If they come to me after I finish this purchase and they're demanding to be paid for the solar panels, will the title insurance handle the potential lawsuit from them? Thanks. Sincerely, 1975api2488"

[1975api2488]

I am in escrow with a bank loan
in the title it states
“independent solar energy producer contract
recorded dec 2014 instrument no xxxxx

then

note 1
the solar energy system on the land being owned by a independent solar producer.

Title can not find an actual lien only that the contract is attached to the title thus making this not enforceable to me or the bank selling it to me.
the contract states that if the new owner will not assume the contract the original signer is on the hook for it.
the house was foreclosed and auction off to a holding company
that’s who I am buying it from.
they want me to clean the mess up and give me the credit or price reduction in the amount of payoff which is $26k.
i don’t want to get in someone else’s bad financial decisions.

i am telling the bank they need to deal with it.
with the solar company have no enforceable contract maybe a $.50 or $1 a gigawatt is worth it to them
any way I don’t want the hassle really.

[1975api2488]

Further more
there is no real lien on the title
title could not find any ucc-1 filing any where.

[Ampster]

Further more
there is no real lien on the title
title could not find any ucc-1 filing any where.

You are in a great position. Once you close escrow you could try to fire up the system. There is probably a tag on the meter giving you some information about a Permission to Operate. If there is one then you probably have a NEM agreement with the power provider. On your final inspection take some photos of the inverter or if there is none visable then the communications box, which might give you a clue as to the size of the system. Good luck.

[1975api2488]

The system is 7300 kWh system 5 years ild

[1975api2488]

Here is another strange thing about this
the house was in the mans name he foreclosed, the solar PPA is in his wife’s name and she is still paying it.
but doesn’t own the house any longer, like she is waiting for a buyer to possibly take over the lease and save her credit???

[ButchDeal]

The system is 7300 kWh system 5 years ild

Do you mean it is 7.3kW.. they generate kwh over time and likely a lot more than you listed but definitely not 7.3MW in size.

[Ampster]

Here is another strange thing about this
the house was in the mans name he foreclosed, the solar PPA is in his wife’s name and she is still paying it.
but doesn’t own the house any longer, like she is waiting for a buyer to possibly take over the lease and save her credit???

Wow, the plot thickens. Depending on the details it might be worth $1 a Watt. It would depend on electricity rates and your consumption. Most likely in California with one of the three IOUs your peak rate could be $0.50/ kilo Watt hour in summer. If it is 7.3 kW system it is a large system. Is the home all electric?

[1975api2488]

Sorry for the mis quote on the gigawatts.
I had a 5.3k watt sunpower as my last system, I bought it.
it was 19 panels, this is 28 I would guess 280 watt panels.
The lease company said it was 7340 or something like that.
the lease is a rip off.
power is very expensive here.
its a 3600 sq/ft house
in east San Diego.
pool dual a/c units etc.

[1975api2488]

The furnaces are both gas and need to go
the pool pump is an old single speed pump, needs to go.
the hot water heater is to small for the house, needs to be all changed to electric

[Mike90250]

The furnaces are both gas and need to go
the pool pump is an old single speed pump, needs to go.
the hot water heater is to small for the house, needs to be all changed to electric

This is based on what? you don't like gas ? Wait till you see what all electric is going to cost. Maybe expensive, high eff Heat Pumps will pay off in 10 years in a mild climate.

[foo1bar]

. Most likely in California with one of the three IOUs your peak rate could be $0.50/ kilo Watt hour in summer.

I don't think any of them are quite that bad. I see SCE is $.40/kwh for peak - which might actually work in his favor if he's producing enough during peak. I know for PG&E you're likely better off with producing fewer net kwh - BUT by having enough production during peak and enough consumption during off-peak (or even partial-peak) you wind up with net-zero bill.

If it is 7.3 kW system it is a large system.

Interesting - I see 7.3kw as a middle sized system. I wouldn't consider it to be large unless it was 9kW+

For the OP - if it's 7.3kW now, I wouldn't look to change anything to electric from gas.
Gas is (usually) cheaper than electric - even with solar.
I did just change my pool pump from a single speed to a variable speed - it's much quieter. I don't know that it's significantly cheaper compared to the cost of the new pump.

[Paul Land]

Here is another strange thing about this
the house was in the mans name he foreclosed, the solar PPA is in his wife’s name and she is still paying it.
but doesn’t own the house any longer, like she is waiting for a buyer to possibly take over the lease and save her credit???

If she's paying it's not in default, at sale contract becomes yours to pay for 15 more years. Time to move on if you can't get a copy of signed contract from bank.

[Ampster]

I don't think any of them are quite that bad. I see SCE is $.40/kwh for peak - which might actually work in his favor if he's producing enough during peak. I know for PG&E you're likely better off with producing fewer net kwh - BUT by having enough production during peak and enough consumption during off-peak (or even partial-peak) you wind up with net-zero bill.

The operative phrase was COULD be $0.50 per kWh in summer. You are correct that there are less expensive rates also.

Interesting - I see 7.3kw as a middle sized system. I wouldn't consider it to be large unless it was 9kW+

You are probably right. In California, the average system size of a solar panel system installed in the first six months of 2017 was 6.1 kW – a significant increase over the average 5.5 kW of 2015 and 5.8 kW of 2016. I couldn't find any more recent statistics.