Solar company sent you
to collections?

Your first steps

Do not ignore the letter or call, and do not pay anything yet. Ignoring collectors can make things worse, but paying or agreeing to pay before you understand the debt can cause its own problems.

1. Find the validation notice. A debt collector must give you key information about the debt, usually in a letter called a validation notice. Find the dispute deadline on it and write it on your calendar.
2. Confirm the collector is real. The CFPB warns about debt collection scams. Ask for the collector’s name, company, and mailing address, and the name of the original creditor. Look the company up yourself rather than using a number they give you.
3. Gather your solar papers. Your contract, any cancellation notice and mailing receipt, emails and texts with the company, loan or lease statements, and any complaints you have filed. Our document checklist lists what to pull together.
4. Start a log. Write down the date, time, and name for every call, and what was said. Keep copies of every letter.

Figure out who is collecting

The CFPB describes a debt collector as a person or company that regularly collects debts owed to others. Creditors may use their own in-house collectors, refer debts to outside agencies, or sell them to debt buyers that collect themselves or through other collectors.

With solar, the chain can be long: the sales company, the installer, the lender or leasing company, a loan servicer, and now a collector. Ask the collector, in writing, who the original creditor is and who owns the debt now. If the debt came from a lender or leasing company that changed hands, see who services my solar loan and our solar company bankruptcies tracker.

The federal rules described below, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the CFPB’s Regulation F, apply to debt collectors. If the solar company or lender is contacting you directly about its own account, ask a lawyer or your state attorney general which protections apply. Your state may have its own collection laws too.

Read the validation notice carefully

A collector must give you validation information in its first communication or within five days after it. The notice must state the amount of the debt and the name of the creditor it is owed to. Under Regulation F, it must also show an itemization date and how the balance changed since that date, and it includes dispute prompts you can check off.

Your dispute period runs until 30 days after you receive the notice. The CFPB says the end date will be specified on the notice, so use that date. Do not wait until the last day.

Dispute in writing within 30 days

If you dispute the debt in writing within the validation period, the collector must stop collecting the debt, or the disputed part, until it mails you verification. You can also ask in writing for the name and address of the original creditor, and collection must pause until it provides that. Federal law also says that not disputing a debt cannot be treated by a court as an admission that you owe it.

How to send it:

• Use the dispute section on the validation notice, a letter, or both.
• Send it by certified mail with a return receipt, as the CFPB suggests. Keep a copy.
• Include copies, never originals, of your proof.

Example wording for a canceled contract: “I dispute this debt. I canceled the contract with [company] on [date], within the cancellation period, by certified mail. A copy of my notice and the mailing receipt are enclosed. Please provide verification of the debt and the name and address of the original creditor. Until then, stop collection.”

Example wording if you were misled or never agreed: “I dispute this debt. I did not agree to the terms you are trying to collect. Please send verification of the debt, a copy of any contract you say I signed, and the name and address of the original creditor.”

The CFPB publishes sample letters you can adapt. Keep the letter short and factual.

What to say, and what not to say

You have the right not to talk to a debt collector. Asking them to put everything in writing is often the safest approach. If you do talk, keep it brief.

Safe to say: “Please send me everything in writing.” “I dispute this debt.” “What is your mailing address?” “Who is the original creditor?”

Avoid:

• Saying you owe it. Do not say “yes, that is my debt” or agree to the amount. The CFPB warns that acknowledging an old debt may restart the time limit for a lawsuit.
• Making a small “good faith” payment. A partial payment can have the same effect, according to the CFPB. Check your state’s time limit first.
• Giving bank account or card details on the call. Do not authorize any payment while the debt is in dispute.
• Agreeing to a payment plan on the spot. Ask for any offer in writing.

Your rights when they contact you:

• Calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. your local time are generally treated as inconvenient and off limits.
• A collector may not contact you at work if it knows your employer prohibits it.
• If you have a lawyer for this debt, the collector generally must deal with your lawyer instead.
• Regulation F presumes a collector is calling too often if it calls more than seven times in seven days, or within seven days after a phone conversation with you.
• You can tell the collector in writing to stop contacting you. It may still tell you it is ending collection or that it may pursue specific remedies, such as a lawsuit. Stopping contact does not erase the debt.

If the contract was canceled or disputed

Collections often follow a cancellation the company never processed, or a contract the homeowner says was misrepresented. Your dispute is stronger when you can show the record.

• You canceled on time. Send your cancellation notice and proof of mailing with your dispute. For sales covered by the FTC Cooling-Off Rule, the seller had to refund payments and end any security interest within 10 business days of your notice. See solar company won’t let me cancel.
• You were misled. Write down what you were told and by whom. If a lender financed the sale, federal rules can let some claims against the seller be raised against the holder of the credit contract. Read misled by a solar salesperson.
• Your signature or income was changed. Say so plainly in your dispute. See wrong income on your solar loan application.

File a complaint with your state attorney general as well. Find yours in our state solar laws hub.

Dispute errors on your credit report

A collection account or late payment from a canceled or disputed solar contract can show up on your credit reports. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) gives you two ways to dispute it, and you can use both.

1. Dispute with each credit reporting company that shows the error: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The CFPB suggests explaining in writing what is wrong and why, marking the item on a copy of the report, and including copies of your proof. The company generally has 30 days to investigate, which can be extended by up to 15 days if you send more information during that time. It must notify the company that supplied the information within 5 business days, and send you the results within 5 business days after it finishes.
2. Dispute directly with the company that reported it, called the furnisher. The CFPB says furnishers generally must investigate and respond within 30 days.

If the information is inaccurate, incomplete, or cannot be verified, it must be deleted or corrected. Once you dispute with a furnisher, it may not keep reporting the item without noting that it is disputed. If the dispute is not resolved, you can add a brief statement to your file.

Only errors can be removed. The CFPB says most accurate negative information can be reported for seven years, and you do not need to pay anyone to file a dispute for you.

Be careful with statute of limitations

States limit how long a creditor has to sue over a debt. The CFPB says most states set this between three and six years, though some are longer, and the period can depend on the type of debt, where you live, and the state law named in your contract.

Under Regulation F, a debt collector must not sue or threaten to sue over a debt once the statute of limitations has expired. But a time-barred debt does not simply disappear, and in a lawsuit you usually have to raise the time limit as a defense yourself.

The biggest trap: the CFPB warns that a partial payment, or admitting you owe an old debt, may restart the clock. If the debt is more than a couple of years old, talk to a lawyer or legal aid office before you pay or promise anything.

If you are sued, and where to complain

If you get court papers, respond by the deadline in them, yourself or through a lawyer. The CFPB says responding does not mean you admit the debt, and it makes the collector prove its case. If you do not respond, the court may enter a default judgment. A judgment may let the creditor garnish wages, place a lien on property, or freeze bank account funds, depending on your state.

Get legal help quickly. Nonprofit legal aid may help for free or at reduced cost. See do you need a solar lawyer.

To report a collector that ignores your dispute or crosses the line, submit a complaint to the CFPB and to your state attorney general. Our solar complaint guide and complaint letter builder can help. If you want someone to look at the whole picture, tell us what happened.

This guide is general information, not legal advice.

Related guides

• Solar company won’t let me cancel
• What happens if you stop paying
• Who services my solar loan
• How to file a solar complaint
• Document checklist