Solar Panel Liens and UCC Filings: What Homeowners Need to Know

Is there a solar panel lien on your house?

A solar panel lien on your house is usually a UCC filing that claims only the panels, though a title search finds it when it is recorded in the county land records. Three other records do reach the house itself: a PACE assessment, a mortgage or deed of trust that secures a solar loan, and a mechanic’s lien from an unpaid contractor or supplier. These filings do not have the same legal effect, so start by finding out which are on record and what each claims.

What are the five solar filings?

A UCC-1 financing statement is a public notice, filed under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, that a lender or lessor claims an interest in specific property of yours. New York’s Department of State describes it as a notice that “one person claims an interest in someone else’s property, usually as collateral for a debt.” Unless it is filed as a fixture filing, it goes to the state’s central filing office (UCC 9-501), which in Minnesota and Vermont is the secretary of state. The CFPB says “Lenders commonly file UCC liens on the solar panels themselves.”

A fixture filing is a UCC financing statement that covers goods that are or will become fixtures, recorded in the office where mortgages are recorded and describing the real property (UCC 9-102(a)(40), 9-501(a)(1)(B), 9-502(b)). Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide explains why it matters: “Filing in the land records provides notice to third parties, including title insurance companies,” and a properly filed one “has priority over the lien of a subsequently recorded mortgage.” Lessors file a version of it too. Fannie Mae calls that a “precautionary” filing, one “that lessors often file to put third parties on notice of their claimed ownership interest.”

A mortgage or deed of trust is a lien on the real estate itself, the house and the land under it, securing a loan. Some solar is financed this way, through a home equity loan or a HELOC. A loan secured by the home you live in generally carries a three-day Truth in Lending right to rescind, extended up to three years if the required notice or key disclosures were never delivered (12 CFR 1026.23); a home purchase mortgage is an exception.

A PACE assessment is home improvement financing repaid through your property tax bill and secured against the property like a special tax assessment. Regulation Z defines a PACE transaction as financing “that results in a tax assessment on the real property of the consumer” (12 CFR 1026.43(b)(15)). Treasury warns that “A property tax lien for PACE financing takes priority over your mortgage.”

A mechanic’s lien is a claim against your property that an unpaid contractor, subcontractor, supplier or worker can record under your state’s law. California’s contractor board calls it “a legal claim against, or security interest in, your property that, if unpaid, allows a foreclosure action.” Georgia’s attorney general warns that in some cases you can pay in full “and then still be hit with a lien claim by someone you never even heard of.” Federal truth-in-lending commentary describes these liens as interests that “arise solely by operation of law,” meaning the law creates them, not your signature.

Filing	Where it is recorded	What it claims	How it ends
UCC-1 (not a fixture filing)	State central filing office	The panels as personal property	Termination statement, or lapse
Fixture filing	County land records	The panels as fixtures	Termination statement, or lapse
Mortgage or deed of trust	County land records	The house and land	Release or satisfaction when paid
PACE assessment	Property tax records	The property, through the tax bill	Payoff
Mechanic’s lien	County land records	The property	Payment, release, or a court order under state deadlines

Does a UCC filing on solar panels put a lien on the house?

Its terms usually claim only the panels, and it can still slow a sale or refinance. The Center for Responsible Lending, quoted in the CFPB’s 2024 solar report, says a UCC lien is “technically not on the property, but it can muddy the title because some jurisdictions view the lien as applying to the whole property.” GoodLeap says its filings “are not a lien against your home,” and Tesla says the same of its UCC-1.

The mortgage agencies look at what the filing claims. Fannie Mae accepts a lessor’s precautionary filing “When the only property described in the UCC filing as collateral is the solar equipment,” calling it “a minor impediment to title.” Freddie Mac’s 2020 bulletin made title exceptions for solar UCC-1s acceptable “provided the exception is for a lien or lease that lists only the solar panels as the collateral.” Read your filing’s collateral description: one that names the house or land is a different problem from one that names only equipment.

Priority is where a panel-only filing still bites. A fixture filing recorded before a new mortgage outranks it (UCC 9-334(e)(1)), and a purchase-money fixture filing made before, or within 20 days after, the panels go up can outrank an earlier mortgage (9-334(d)). That is why Fannie Mae says a senior fixture filing “must be subordinated”; our refinance guide covers the fix.

The contract’s wording counts as well: reading one loan’s terms in 2023, a New Mexico bankruptcy court held that “the solar panels are not fixtures, so the purchase money security interest does not encumber the house.” That ruling binds no other court.

On default, a lender with priority over everyone holding an interest in the real estate “may remove the collateral” (9-604(c)). It must pay for removal damage only to owners and lienholders of the real estate “other than the debtor” (9-604(d)), so the UCC does not promise the borrower a roof repair.

How do you find what is filed against your house?

1. County land records. Search the recorder or clerk’s index under every owner’s name. A fixture filing is indexed under the names of the debtor and each owner of record “as if they were the mortgagors under a mortgage” (UCC 9-519(d)), and mortgages, deeds of trust and mechanic’s liens are recorded in the same office.
2. The state UCC index. UCC 9-523(c) requires the central filing office to tell anyone who asks whether a financing statement names a particular debtor, with its filing date and contents.
3. Your property tax bill. A PACE assessment is collected with your property taxes.
4. Your own papers. Your security agreement describes the collateral, and signing it authorizes a financing statement covering that collateral (9-509(b)). If you never signed anything, see solar liens filed without consent.
5. The company. GoodLeap takes UCC questions at [email protected]. Tesla tells customers whose systems were “financed by Mosaic or Sunlight” to contact those lenders “to lift any UCC-1 fixture filing.”

How does each filing come off the record?

UCC filings end with a termination statement. Once filed, the financing statement “ceases to be effective” (9-513(d)). For consumer goods, the secured party must file it within one month after nothing is owed, or within 20 days after it receives your signed demand if that is sooner (9-513(a), (b)). It must also terminate a filing “the debtor did not authorize.” If it doesn’t, you may authorize and file the termination yourself (9-509(d)(2)) and recover $500 in statutory damages plus any loss (9-625(b), (e)(4)); get an attorney’s help first. A filing that is never terminated lapses five years after filing unless it is continued, and a continuation can be filed only in the six months before it lapses (9-515).

A UCC-5 does not end anything. An information statement lets you record that a filing is inaccurate or wrongful, but it “does not affect the effectiveness of an initial financing statement or other filed record” (9-518(e)). Vermont’s secretary of state says the office files it with the original record and “no information in the initial filing is changed.”

A mortgage or deed of trust comes off when the lender records a release or satisfaction after payoff. If you rescind a home-secured loan under the Truth in Lending Act, “the security interest giving rise to the right of rescission becomes void” (12 CFR 1026.23(d)).

PACE comes off with payoff. The CFPB says “The PACE loan is tied to the property, not the property owner,” so it stays with the house through a sale unless it is paid.

A mechanic’s lien ends under state deadlines. In California, the contractor board says a claimant generally must record within 90 days of completion (less if you record a notice of completion) and sue to foreclose within 90 days of recording, or you can petition a court to remove the lien. Georgia’s attorney general says these liens expire within 12 months unless the claimant sues.

Terminations can be part of an enforcement remedy. In a September 16, 2026 consent judgment in Tennessee and Kentucky’s case against Ideal Horizon Benefits, a Knoxville solar seller (E.D. Tenn. No. 3:23-cv-00046), lender Solar Mosaic agreed to terminate covered borrowers’ fixture filings within 60 business days, without admitting liability.

What should you do if a filing is wrong or won’t come off?

Use the order from our guide to getting out of a solar contract.

1. Inside a cancellation window? Cancel in writing now, by the method the contract and the law require, and copy the lender the same day. After a valid cancellation under the FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule, the seller has 10 business days to “terminate promptly any security interest created in the transaction.” State windows vary and can be longer; see the state table and the deadline tool. Cancellation is never automatic.

2. Identify your contract and every company. Match the secured party on each filing to your papers. The installer, lender, loan servicer and warranty provider can be four different companies, and the one that filed may not be the one you pay.

3. Ask in writing, and complain for free. Send the secured party a signed demand that cites UCC 9-513 and lists each filing number. The CFPB’s complaint page asks first, “Have you tried reaching out to the company?” Then file with the CFPB for a loan and with your state attorney general. For leases and PPAs, Treasury, the CFPB and the FTC “encourage consumers that believe they have been a victim of unfair or deceptive practices to file a complaint with CFPB, FTC, or their relevant state consumer protection office.”

Disclosure: Candid Yak works with Titan Advocacy Group, a solar consumer advocacy firm, and may be paid when readers hire it.

4. If they refuse, get a free case review.

A review fits when the company won’t fix the record and your documents show a gap between what you were promised and what you signed, such as a filing that claims your house when you were told it covered only equipment, or a filing on a loan you never signed. Michigan’s attorney general is seeking the “release of liens or Uniform Commercial Code filings” in its 2026 suit against Climax Solar and its lenders; those are allegations, and the case is pending. A firm that offers a free case review should read your filings before quoting a fee, tell you if the free routes above are still open, name the attorney licensed in your state who will handle the file, put the fee in writing, never tell you to stop paying, and never guarantee a result or claim a tie to your lender.

5. Other routes. Paying off a loan starts the termination clock (payoff and refinance); a lease can end in a buyout. If you are selling, see the guides for a solar loan and a solar lease.

Disclosure: Candid Yak works with Titan Advocacy Group, a solar consumer advocacy firm, and may be paid when readers hire it. This page’s author, Kira Fairbank, is a manager at Vacation Ownership Consultants, a timeshare exit firm.

This is general information, not legal advice. What a filing covers depends on its exact collateral description and on your state’s version of the UCC and its lien statutes, so have an attorney licensed in your state read the recorded documents before you file a termination, sign a release, or change any payment.