If you financed your solar system with a loan secured by your home, the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) might be your way out. When a lender fails to deliver the right disclosures at signing, federal law gives you up to three full years to rescind — voiding the loan, killing the lien, and walking away clean. This is one of the most powerful and underused tools in solar contract law.

Solar Freedom's attorneys use TILA rescission against financed solar deals routinely. If a UCC-1 fixture filing is on your title and a lender is collecting payments, this guide is for you.

What Is TILA Rescission?

The Truth in Lending Act is a federal consumer-protection law that requires lenders to disclose specific information — APR, finance charges, payment schedule, total of payments, security interest, and more — before you sign a loan secured by your primary residence. The law also requires the lender to provide two copies of a Notice of Right to Cancel, telling you exactly how and when you can rescind.

If the lender did everything right, you have 3 business days to rescind. If the lender missed any material disclosure or failed to deliver the rescission notice properly, that 3-day window stretches to 3 full years. That's not a typo. Three years.

Does TILA Apply to Your Solar Loan?

TILA applies if all four of these are true:

• You signed a loan (not a lease or PPA)
• The loan is secured by your primary residence — typically via UCC-1 fixture filing or mortgage
• The loan is for consumer (not business) purposes
• The lender is a covered creditor under TILA (most solar lenders are)

If you have a UCC-1 fixture filing on your property tied to your solar system, TILA almost certainly applies. Common solar lenders covered include Mosaic, Sunlight Financial, GoodLeap, Dividend Finance, Loanpal, Sunnova Energy Loan, and the financing arms of Sunrun, Tesla, and SunPower.

The 11 Most Common TILA Violations We Find in Solar Loans

1. Missing or defective Notice of Right to Cancel — wrong dates, wrong addresses, only one copy provided instead of two
2. Inaccurate APR disclosure — buy-down fees and dealer fees not properly included
3. Inaccurate finance charge — origination fees, dealer fees, or yield-spread premiums excluded from the disclosure
4. Missing itemization of amount financed
5. Improper disclosure of variable-rate features on adjustable solar loans
6. No disclosure of the security interest in your home
7. Missing late-payment disclosure
8. Failure to disclose prepayment penalties
9. Inaccurate payment schedule — wrong number of payments or wrong amounts
10. Failure to deliver disclosures before consummation of the loan
11. Improper electronic delivery without proper E-SIGN consent

Even one of these — if material — can extend your rescission window. We routinely find three or four violations per loan we audit.

What Rescission Actually Does for You

When TILA rescission is properly invoked and the violation is established, three things happen in sequence:

1. The loan is voided. You owe nothing further on it.
2. The lender must release the security interest within 20 days — meaning the UCC-1 fixture filing comes off your title.
3. The lender must refund all finance charges and fees you've paid.

You may have to return the loan principal (the actual cash amount loaned, not the inflated total of payments), but courts have routinely allowed offsets for the value of the system, removal costs, and damages. In many cases, homeowners owe nothing at all after the offsets.

How the Rescission Process Works

The mechanics matter — botched rescission notices get dismissed.

1. Pull all loan documents. Gather every paper you received at signing — promissory note, security agreement, TILA disclosures, Notice of Right to Cancel, closing checklist, dealer agreements.
2. Audit against TILA's checklist. A consumer attorney compares each document to TILA's requirements line-by-line. We identify every violation.
3. Send a written rescission notice. The notice must be sent to every party with an interest in the loan — original lender, current servicer, and any assignee. Certified mail with return receipt is standard.
4. Lender has 20 days to respond. They must either accept and unwind the loan, or contest the rescission. If they ignore the notice, additional damages accrue.
5. Litigate if necessary. Most lenders settle once a properly documented rescission notice arrives. The few that contest face fee-shifting under TILA — meaning they pay your attorney fees if they lose.

Why Lenders Settle TILA Cases

TILA has teeth. If a lender contests a valid rescission and loses, they face:

• Forced unwinding of the loan
• Refund of all interest and fees paid
• Statutory damages of up to $4,000 per violation
• Mandatory payment of your attorney's fees
• Discovery into their disclosure practices across all loans

That last one is what really moves them. No solar lender wants a TILA case to expose systemic disclosure failures across thousands of loans. Settlement is almost always faster and cheaper.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if my solar loan is covered by TILA?

If you have a loan (not a lease or PPA), it's secured by your home (typically via UCC-1 fixture filing), and you're a consumer (not a business), TILA almost certainly applies. We'll confirm in your free audit.

Can I rescind a TILA-covered solar loan myself?

Technically yes, but the procedural rules are strict and lenders dismiss DIY notices that miss any element. Hiring a consumer-protection attorney costs you nothing under TILA's fee-shifting provision if your case has merit.

What if my solar loan was sold to another lender?

Rescission rights survive assignment. The current holder is bound by the original lender's TILA violations. You send the notice to all parties with an interest in the loan.

Does TILA rescission remove the lien on my home?

Yes. The lender must release the security interest — including any UCC-1 fixture filing — within 20 days of valid rescission. This is often the most valuable outcome for homeowners trying to sell.

What if I'm past the 3-year mark?

TILA rescission generally caps at 3 years. But other tools — fraud, state UDAP claims, elder abuse statutes, unlicensed contractor defenses — have no such limit. We'll review your situation for every available angle.

This article is educational and not legal advice. Solar Freedom connects homeowners with licensed consumer-protection attorneys who handle TILA rescission cases on contingency or under fee-shifting statutes.