“Elements of solar financing products and sales processes are identical to those used by predatory subprime lenders in 2007,” according to a report by the Center for Responsible Lending.
Anneliese Lederer, a senior policy counsel at the organization, described cases in which aggressive sales tactics targeted lower-income homeowners.
“Certain financial companies and poor actors were working in ways to strip people’s wealth,” Lederer said. “They walked into minority neighborhoods, knocked on doors and said, ‘Hey, you want a loan?’ That urgency that you must sign now — that’s what happened with subprime.”