A young man reading a document closely at home

The federal rule for sales at your home

The FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule covers most sales of $25 or more made at your home. When the sales presentation was mainly in Spanish or another language, the rule requires the seller to give you the contract or receipt in that same language, along with the notice explaining your right to cancel. The cancellation notice must also be in the language of the contract.

If you never received a cancellation notice you could read, your three-day window may not have started. See how to cancel a solar contract.

California’s translation law

California Civil Code section 1632 requires a business that negotiates mainly in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean to give you a translation of certain contracts before you sign. Covered contracts include many consumer loans that are not secured by real estate and retail installment contracts. If the business does not provide the translation, the law lets the consumer rescind, meaning cancel, the contract.

California’s solar law goes further for solar specifically. Since 2019, every residential solar contract must start with the state’s Solar Energy System Disclosure Document, and the contract and disclosure must be in the language the salesperson mainly used with you (Business and Professions Code section 7169).

Not every solar agreement is a covered contract under section 1632, and home improvement contracts are treated separately. Whether section 1632 applies to your loan or agreement is a question for a California attorney, but it is worth asking.

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Other states

Outside California, start with the federal rule above and your state’s laws against deceptive sales practices. A contract you could not read, explained in a language different from the one it was written in, can support a complaint that the sale was misrepresented. See misled by a solar salesperson and your state on our state solar laws page.

What to save now

  • Anything you received in Spanish or another language: brochures, proposals, business cards, texts, and emails.
  • Notes on the visit: the date, how long it lasted, who was there, and which language was spoken.
  • The names of any family members who were present or translated for you.
  • Every page you signed, and whether you signed on paper or on the salesperson’s tablet or phone.

Next steps

File a complaint with your state attorney general and keep a copy. Our complaint guide shows where. If you want someone to look at your paperwork, tell us what happened. We also have this guide en español.

Common questions

I speak some English. Does the rule still apply?

The federal rule looks at the language principally used in the sales presentation, and a California appeals court has applied section 1632 based on how the deal was negotiated, not on whether the buyer could speak English.

A family member translated for me. Does that change anything?

It can. Write down who translated, what they were told, and what they told you. It may help show which language the sale was really made in.

The cancellation notice was in English. Is my window still open?

Possibly. If the seller had to give you the notice in Spanish and did not, the window may not have started. Send a written cancellation anyway and keep proof.

Sources

  1. 16 CFR 429.1 (Cooling-Off Rule). Contract and cancellation notice in the language of the sales presentation
  2. CSLB: Solar requirements (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §7169). Documento de divulgación y contrato en el idioma de la venta
  3. California Civil Code section 1632. Translation requirement, covered contracts, and the right to rescind

General information, not legal advice.

This guide can’t tell you whether a right applies to your agreement. For that, talk with a licensed attorney in your state.