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SunRun Deceptive Marketing Class Action Moves Forward
By Anne Bucher
A California judge has refused to dismiss a putative class action lawsuit accusing SunRun Inc. of making misleading claims about the cost-effectiveness of their solar panels.
On June 20, 2013, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge John Shepard Wiley Jr. ruled that plaintiff Shawn Reed had made an adequate claim that he relied on SunRun’s misstatements when he purchased solar panels from the company. He alleges that had he known that SunRun had made misleading claims, he never would have purchased the solar panels.
Reed initially filed the SunRun deceptive marketing class action lawsuit in January 2013.
In his class action lawsuit, Reed accused SunRun of making misleading claims about rising electricity costs in order to promote their solar panels. San Francisco-based SunRun finances and leases solar panels. The company has customers in 10 states.
While SunRun argued that Reed was not injured by their marketing, Judge Wiley acknowledged that Reed suffered an injury.
Reed accused SunRun of developing a marketing campaign that promised that consumers who installed the SunRun Solar System would experience savings on their energy bills, a statement which Reed claims is “inherently unknowable.” In his class action lawsuit, he indicated that media outlets such as CNN and The Economist had cited the rise of shale gas exploration as a factor that helped to lower the cost of electricity.
SunRun’s website indicated that there had been a national increase of approximately 6 percent per year for the last 30 years. However, according to graphs from Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. showed that California’s rates plateaued and dipped after 2008.
“Whether the cost disadvantage is experienced or not, the promise of a system sure to result in cost advantage was false when made and likely to deceive consumers into leasing a system they would not otherwise have,” Reed argued in his class action lawsuit.
According to the class action lawsuit, SunRun only obtained its license to lease and install solar panels on residential homes in February 2012. However, the company had been installing the panels since 2007.
Reed is seeking a refund on customer fees from contracts that were entered into prior to February 2012. In his class action lawsuit, he claims that the company’s agents claim that SunRun customers can terminate their contracts if they move. However, the contract is confusing in this regard. In one section of the SunRun contract, the company claims that it will remove the solar panels at the end of the agreement without charge. Another section of the contract indicates that some customers may be faced with a termination fee.
At the hearing, Judge Wiley urged both sides to attempt to settle the dispute. A recent Supreme Court decision has made it easier for corporations to use arbitration to avoid certain class action lawsuits.
The SunRun Deceptive Marketing Class Action Lawsuit case is Reed v. SunRun Inc., Case No. BC498002, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.
Reed is represented by Steve W. Berman, Elaine Byszewski and Craig R. Spiegel of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP.
Updated June 29th, 2013
All class action and lawsuit news updates are listed in the Lawsuit News section of Top Class Actions
24 thoughts onSunRun Deceptive Marketing Class Action Moves Forward
the same happen to me it took 4 months to get the 500 dollars now i fighting for the rest 63. dollars ring fee and battery what a ripe off
i wound love to get on this law suit now
I have a lease with Sunrun for Solar Panels installed April 2022. I was also told by the Sunrun sales consultant that if I moved they can remove the panels if the new owners do not want them. I live in Southern California (Southern California Edison). The panels have not made much difference in my electric bills. I want to join the class action lawsuit.
Is it too late to join the class action? We also were lied to by SunRun
Exactly where can we sign up? We were also lied to
I have sunrun previously called vivint I pay atlantic city electric and sunrun. I am in contract and I wasn’t told by vivint that I would be in this for 20 years. I see no savings. Did not get a big enough system to cover the electric bill. How to get out of it? Anyone help me email me at ALaib11233@aol.com
I have sunrun previously called vivint and I dont see myself saving anything. I pay atlantic city electric and sunrun. I am in contract and I wasn’t told by vivint that I would be in this for 20 years. I see no savings. Did not get a big enough system to cover the electric bill. How to get out of it? Anyone help me email me at ALaib11233@aol.com
Please add me. SunRun reps mislead me in Arizona and now I feel trapped!
When the Sunrun rep. came to my door in 2011 I told him I was not interested because I heard about all the leases people were getting stuck with.Sunruns rep. assured me that I would not be in any lease and I and if I was not happy I could have the solar system removed. He also said if I wanted more panels all I had to do is call them. I asked the rep. what if I sold my house he said not a problem all I had to do was to have the system turned off and they believed the new owners would want to save money and have the system turned back on. The rep also said that sunrun would maintain the system for 15 years and have insurance on my newer roof. After several visits the rep. convinced us to go with sunrun. It sounded like a good thing. No lease and they took care of everything. All I had to be was happy with the system. I asked him several times before the system was installed that making sure I was not in a lease. He assured me I would not be in a lease. Even after the solar system was installed I called the phone # he gave me and the woman I talked to backed up everything the rep. told me. Well in 2014 after hearing that some customers were deceived by sunrun and was told to contact them to make sure I was not in a lease. I contacted sunrun and everything the rep. told me about not being in a lease was not true. I am stuck in 20 YEAR LEASE and they only insure my newer roof for only 5 years and if I wanted more solar panels I had to pay for them. If I knew this was a lease I would have NEVER had this system put on my house. The sunrun rep. was very good at his job. He fooled me. Now after hearing about the class action lawsuit against sunrun all I can do is wait and see what happens. Anybody that is going to go solar needs to really check out what rep is telling you. I thought I was being cautious but I was misled.
You people need to LISTEN to the words that are spoken to you when you’re in a consultation. Most of you that crying about being in a lease are NOT. You’re in a Power purchase agreement. Listen, learn, evolve. Cheaper is better. #Murica
I am having same problems with sunrun. I consulted with an attorney and he adviced me to join a class action lawsuit. We should all look into starting one for our group. Any suggestions? Please feel free to contact me via email. irene2924g@hotmail.com
I was trying to get out of the contract because they promised a huge discount which they did not deliver. They had tricked us t sign the lease. They didn’t tell us this will be on contract. If they did I would’ve not signed it. I wrote to CEO, she doesn’t care but we had to pay
Really?, I did wrote to her as well. I was trying to get out too due to no avail. There is a person who is suing Sunrun in (class action) in California. Now the CA judge is moving forward. The CEO does not care at all. They all making money of us. I told her about my son it not going to college at all because we had to pay them ( for nothing) . My son it out of college education. I have a hearing disablitey I was supposed to get an interperter but never showed up. I couldn’t understand much what he was saying. Now the rep say we can save a lot of money which is not true. Now we are stuck for 20 years
I’m having issues as well and sued them. We stalked a few months ago to fix my system and it’s ooo again! I’m back where I started
Sunrun is trying to reduce our kilowatt-hour rate if we will sign a release from any future claims,debts or actions against Akeena Solar and Sunrun. We are not comfortable doing this with all the previous problems we have had. Any suggestions? I believe you have already spoke to my husband Eddie Merjil. Please feel free to contact us by calling 661-444-2615.
I’ve made complaint on their Facebook. They cut me off
If you notice every single person here. Has a sub contractor I have freedom forever / sun run. Most likely because they don’t have a license. I don’t understand why Costco lets them advertise in their store. Anyhow anyone who’s open to join a new settlement claim plz let’s do so. Maybe to ask what we paid over. And for sun run to take us off the leased equipment. And let us own it taking for account the payments already made.