California Homeowners Say Oakland Lender Scammed Them Out of $3M in Home Improvements

Dozens of California homeowners allege an Oakland-based lending company conspired with contractors to issue fraudulent loans for home improvement projects that were never completed.

Nearly 160 complaints have been filed against the financial lending platform, Solar Mosaic, since 2019, according to data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. And on Monday, a group of nearly 100 people drove from Los Angeles to protest outside Solar Mosaic’s headquarters in downtown Oakland, demanding to meet with the company and seek loan forgiveness and repayments.

An executive assistant for Solar Mosaic met the protestors on Monday, agreeing to set up a meeting or another resolution in the next week.

“Mosaic takes homeowner safeguards seriously. We strive to create a positive customer experience for every homeowner who chooses Mosaic to finance their sustainable home improvements,” a spokesperson for Mosaic told KQED in an email. “In the event a homeowner complains, we work with the homeowner to understand their concerns and seek to resolve such concerns.”

Julie Robles was among Monday’s demonstrators. The Los Angeles homeowner said Viridi Construction, a construction company working to build an accessory dwelling unit, or in-law apartment, on her property requested $75,000 from Solar Mosaic, which the lender allegedly granted without any prior authorization from her.

“I’m already retired, so if something happened, I wouldn’t be able to recover the money,” said Robles, who is trying to get out of a $75,000 loan, plus nearly $3,000 in interest and fees. “I trusted them.”

Mosaic is currently in litigation with Viridi Construction — which several of the homeowners at Monday’s protest said they had worked with — for breach of contract and “unjust enrichment,” a legal term referring to when one party receives a benefit at the expense of the other.

“Mosaic disbursed significant loan funds to Viridi Construction, yet Viridi Construction failed to complete the work it agreed to perform on all projects,” reads the complaint filed on April 22.

The homeowners are demanding that Solar Mosaic cancel more than $3 million in alleged fraudulent loans and reimburse families who have made payments. Mosaic has canceled some, but very few of the loans, homeowners alleged at Monday’s protest.

“These homeowners are grappling with the immense stress of fraudulent loans taken out in their names and being unwittingly involved in home improvement scams,” reads the groups’ demand letter, which they sent to Solar Mosaic executives. “With homes demolished and families facing the specter of foreclosure, the threat of losing their homes looms large, casting a shadow of uncertainty and anxiety over their lives.”

Robles and nearly 20 other families said they have filed multiple police and FBI reports against the lender. Many homeowners who have issued complaints against Solar Mosaic with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are based in California, as well as Florida, Texas and nearly 30 other states.

“I have requested a stop payment and refund from all three companies until the solar panels are working. They agreed to reimburse me. However, I have not heard from them in three months. They have, however, continued to deduct money from my bank account each month,” reads one complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from a homeowner based on the Peninsula.

In March, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison sued four solar lending companies, including Solar Mosaic, for allegedly misleading customers into taking out loans, hiding fees and other deceptive trade practices.

“The lenders I sued today seriously misled consumers by promising cheap credit for solar installation, only to charge huge upfront fees that consumers didn’t know about,” Ellison said in a press release announcing the lawsuit. “Let this lawsuit serve as a warning that I will not tolerate deceptive practices, particularly in an industry that is so important to our collective future.”

Maria Amaya drove from her home in Hollywood to Oakland to join Monday’s protest. She paid thousands of dollars for her loan in cash and now wonders if she’ll be able to recoup the money.

“They sent an email showing me blueprints of the plans they had finished, but when I went to the city, they had not received any plans or approved a permit or anything,” Amaya said through a Spanish translator on Monday. “That was my life savings, my retirement.”

Amaya found others were in her position after her daughter discovered a TikTok with other Solar Mosaic victims.

Members of the statewide community advocacy organization, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Action, organized Monday’s protest. Members said Solar Mosaic allegedly approved loans without proper inspections and paid money to contractors but not homeowners, whose names were on the loans.

“We will continue until they cancel the loans,” Robles said. She told KQED as the protest ended, “I hope we don’t have to come back. If not, you’ll see us more.”