RIVERSIDE – Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin joined with District Attorneys from four other California counties to announce a $4.3 million settlement with Vivint Solar, Inc., Vivint Solar Holdings, Inc., and Vivint Solar Developer, LLC in Riverside County Superior Court case number CVRI2506720.

The settlement resolves alleged consumer protection violations involving Vivint Solar Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for residential solar photovoltaic systems entered between Aug. 3, 2016, and Oct. 8, 2020. On Oct. 8, 2020, Vivint Solar became a wholly owned subsidiary of Sunrun, Inc. Sunrun is not a party to this law enforcement action.

The complaint alleges that in advertising and promoting its solar energy systems and PPAs, Vivint Solar materially misrepresented certain terms of the agreements or failed to make adequate disclosures, resulting in consumers being misled. Specifically, the complaint alleges that Vivint Solar:

• Misrepresented its relationship with local utility companies;

• Misrepresented projected energy savings or costs; and

• Misrepresented consumers’ ability to cancel PPAs.

Under the terms of the stipulated judgment, entered without an admission of liability, Vivint Solar is prohibited from engaging in the unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business practices described in the complaint. The company is also prohibited from:

• Obtaining a consumer credit report or creating solar-related accounts without written consent;

• Failing to provide written translations of solar contracts in the language in which the contract was negotiated prior to execution; and

• Enforcing liquidated damages provisions that do not comply with California Civil Code section 1671 and related case law.

Vivint Solar will pay $1.3 million in civil penalties and investigative costs. In addition, the company will establish a $3 million restitution fund to compensate eligible California consumers who entered into Vivint Solar PPAs between Aug. 3, 2016, and Oct. 8, 2020.

Notification to eligible consumers regarding how to submit restitution claims, including applicable deadlines, will be provided by Vivint Solar and will be available on the consumer-facing websites of Vivint Solar and Sunrun.

Along with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, the District Attorneys’ Offices of Alameda, Fresno, San Diego, and San Francisco counties participated in the investigation. This case was handled in Riverside County by Deputy District Attorney Evan Goldsmith of the DA’s Consumer Protection Unit.