Refinancing a home with a Vivint Solar system
Congratulations on your decision to refinance your home. Got questions about how buying solar panels may factor into the refinance process? We can help with those. In this article, we’ll help you understand the home refinance process, what you need to know when refinancing a home with a Vivint Solar system, the turnaround time for a home refinance with a Vivint Solar system, and what you need for a borrower’s authorization. Let’s get started.
What’s a home refinance?
Hopefully, you already understand the basic concept of home refinance (seeing as you’re already going through it). But just in case you’re looking into it, Experian explains refinancing in a truly eloquent way: “Refinancing a mortgage involves taking out a new loan to pay off your original mortgage loan. In many cases, homeowners refinance to take advantage of lower market interest rates, cash out a portion of their equity, or to reduce their monthly payment with a longer repayment term.”1 We agree with that definition. Refinancers traditionally want a lower interest rate on their home mortgage loan, and so they go through a refinance to try and secure said rate. That’s basically it.
What do I need to know when refinancing my home with a Vivint Solar system?
Part of the refinance process includes reviewing your credit history and other public records in your name, to ensure you’re not a potential risk. While going through the process of locking in your lower interest rate, it’s possible that other lenders and/or third-parties may tell you that we have placed a lien on your home—this is incorrect. A notice filing is not a lien and should never be mistaken for one. If you signed a Solar PPA or Solar Lease Agreement, after we installed your solar energy system on your home, we contacted your county clerk and had them place a notice regarding the system (commonly referred to as a UCC or PUC filing). This notice basically says to other third-parties, “Hey, just an FYI, the solar energy system on this home belongs to Vivint Solar.”
Why do we do this, you may be wondering? The simplest answer is because we own the system and want to ensure we’re notified if you ever choose to sell your home in the future.
If you recall from your discussion with your Sales Manager, one of the benefits of a PPA or Lease Agreement is that we agree to own, install, activate and maintain the solar energy system at no cost to you. In return, you agree to monitor the solar energy production and have the opportunity to benefit from the clean energy your system generates.
Because we still own it, we also want to keep track of the solar energy system, so we always know where it is and how it’s working. As an extra measure of security, we contact your local county and pay a fee to place a public notice filing with them. If you ever go to sell your home, you, your agent and/or title company will see the record and know to contact us about the process of selling a home with a Vivint Solar system.
How long will it take Vivint Solar to finalize their part in the refinance process?
Not long at all. In order to temporarily lift that notice on record, we ask that you advise us of your intent to refinance at least three business days in advance. When you contact us, simply tell us that you’ve started the refinance process, so you can quickly and easily lift your notice filing. We’ll take care of the rest and email you a copy of your digital temporary release as well as the tracking number (if applicable).
Endnotes:
- “How to Refinance Your Mortgage Loan.” Experian. Published April 13, 2020. Accessed July 24, 2020. https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/how-does-refinancing-a-mortgage-work/