{"id":177,"date":"2018-10-31T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/protect-yourself-solar-scams\/"},"modified":"2020-03-13T19:32:29","modified_gmt":"2020-03-13T19:32:29","slug":"protect-yourself-solar-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/protect-yourself-solar-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"Protect Yourself from Solar Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We hear from a lot of people these days who fear they might be the victim of a solar scam.\u00a0There&#8217;s a knock on the door, a fast-talking salesman, and, before they know it, they&#8217;re bound to a lengthy and costly contract for solar panels they did not want or need.<\/p>\n<h2><!--more-->BEWARE!<\/h2>\n<p>Many consumers learn only much later that they have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/hard-inquiry-and-soft-inquiry-whats-difference-your-credit-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hard inquiry on their credit reports<\/a> made without permission, that their names have been forged on documents, and that they&#8217;ve been placed into a lengthy contract binding them to buy or lease solar panels or energy at high\u00a0prices.\u00a0The solar panel scammer hides the fraudulent electronic contract until it appears that it&#8217;s too late to cancel it.<\/p>\n<h2>Signs of a Solar Panel Sales Fraud<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>There&#8217;s an unexpected knock at your door, or an eager salesman meets you in your yard.<\/li>\n<li>He might say he spoke to your neighbor who&#8217;s getting solar, and heard that you might be interested too.<\/li>\n<li>It&#8217;s common for the salesman to say that he&#8217;s with your electric company or with the local government, and needs to inspect your roof, circuit box, or another part of your house to see if you qualify for a special rebate, tax credit, or program.<\/li>\n<li>He may pressure you into making a hurried decision claiming that the tax credits or rebates are due to end soon.<\/li>\n<li>He may offer you cash incentives simply for determining if you qualify, and ask you for a blank check so that your incentive can be deposited into your account.<\/li>\n<li>Lastly, he&#8217;ll ask you to sign his iPad or tablet to check if you&#8217;re qualified.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How to Protect Yourself<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Slow things down.There is no rush for you to enter into a deal.\u00a0If you feel rushed, it might be a solar scam.<\/li>\n<li>Get a straight answer about who the salesman works for.\u00a0Get his business card and tell him you&#8217;ll call back after doing your own research on his company.<\/li>\n<li>Be cautious about big promises of energy savings, referrals, rebates, or tax credits.\u00a0Go online and do your own research.<\/li>\n<li>Shop around.\u00a0There are many solar companies to choose from.\u00a0 Compare quotes from the\u00a0inquirer with local and national companies to figure out what works best for you.<\/li>\n<li>Read the contract.\u00a0Get a copy before you sign anything.\u00a0Solar contracts are long and complex.\u00a0You need to know what you are getting into.<\/li>\n<li>Never give out personal information &#8211; bank account numbers, birth dates, Social Security Number &#8211; to a stranger you just met. (This goes for anyone, not just door-to-door salesmen).<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/get-know-your-credit-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Monitor your credit.<\/a>\u00a0It is illegal for a solar company to make a hard inquiry on your credit report without a permissible purpose.\u00a0 You must provide authorization for someone to access your credit file.<\/li>\n<li>Visit websites for the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for advice on protection from solar energy scams.<\/li>\n<li>Research news articles for stories about solar scams in your area.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Seek Legal Advice from an Experienced Consumer Protection Law Firm.<\/h2>\n<p>Flitter Milz is a consumer protection law firm that has pursued matters for consumers around the country against solar panel companies fraudulent sales tactics.\u00a0 If you feel that you have been the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/victim-solar-panel-scam\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Victim of a Solar Panel Scam<\/a>, have seen a suspicious hard inquiry on your credit report, or have been ripped off by a door-to-door salesman,\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/contact-us\/\">contact us<\/a><\/strong> for a free legal evaluation.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/contact-us\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"ss-htmleditorfield-file image align-center\" src=\"http:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Botton-of-Blog-CTA-Solar-Scam_2.png\" alt=\"Click here if you think you've been the victim of a solar panel scam.\" width=\"\" height=\"\" data-id=\"22\" data-shortcode=\"image\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We hear from a lot of people these days who fear they might be the victim of a solar scam.\u00a0There&#8217;s a knock on the door, a fast-talking salesman, and, before they know it, they&#8217;re bound to a lengthy and costly contract for solar panels they did not want or need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[47],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1581,"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177\/revisions\/1581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.consumerslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}