Solar power, even apartment owners can benefit

We are the New Jersey title insurance agent that does it all for you. For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us, Vested Land Services LLC. We can help.

We have previously looked at Solar Panels from a title insurance perspective and how they can impact the sale of your home.  I came across the below article in the New York Times on how solar panels can benefit those who live in apartment buildings.

Now Even Apartment Dwellers Can Use Solar Power 

More New York homeowners have tapped into solar power in recent years, as regulations have eased and prices have dropped. But apartment dwellers, for the most part, have been kept in the dark.

Starting this summer, though, renters and homeowners who live in buildings that don’t, or can’t, have solar panels on the roof can join something known as a community solar group. Simply put, these groups allow someone in a Manhattan apartment to lower their electricity bill by connecting to solar panels that happen to sit on the rooftop of, say, a Bronx warehouse.

“I think community solar gives equal access to solar power for those of us in the city,” said Taka Juba, an owner of a Manhattan condominium apartment, who joined the city’s first community solar group run by IPPsolar, a Manhattan-based solar firm. “Anything to offset your bill is great, but there’s a social and environmental impact too.”

To me, the implications are fascinating.  First, from a financial point of view, will the apartment owners benefit financially, and, second, from the title agent's point of view, how to create an agreement that doesn't tie up the title to the real estate.

You can read the full Times article here.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow@vested.com

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Solar panels and title insurance

We are the New Jersey title insurance agent that does it all for you. For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us, Vested Land Services LLC. We can help.

With the demand everywhere for renewable energy, homeowners can have their own electrical generating system on the roof.  In fact, solar panels can be seen in just about any neighborhood in New Jersey.  But there are some issues that have to be understood.

From a title insurance perspective, does the homeowner own or lease the system?  The answer to this question can impact you when it comes time to sell or refinance your mortgage.

In addition, system leases can also seem to be unfair as this story from the Asbury Park Press reveals:

Nearly five years ago, Karen Coon signed up to put solar panels on her Lacey home without any upfront cost. She was attracted to the advertising and sales pitch that promised big savings on her monthly energy bills.

Coon said she didn't realize that when she signed the contract to lease the panels from Tredegar Solar Fund the agreement had a built-in rate hike that boosted the cost for her solar-generated electricity by 2.9 percent every year for 20 years.

With compounding, a $200-a-month bill today could top $340 a month at the end of the two decades — a 72 percent increase over the life of the contract.

Now, Coon said she made a mistake in signing up for solar power.

Read the full article.

If you have a question about the title aspects of solar panels, contact me, Stephen Flatow.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow@vested.com

Sphere: Related Content