Update On Hofer Hagan's efforts representing consumers in Solar Fraud Cases and my thoughts on the new breed of Solar Relief firms

 Our law firm has been representing consumers in solar system fraud cases since the solar firm Pink Energy filed bankruptcy in the fall of 2022, leaving thousands of consumers with large solar loans and systems that either didn't work or barely worked.  It took a while, but we have settled a number of cases for consumers successfully, we completed one long arbitration and we have others in process.  

In 2025, seemingly out of nowhere, a number of "Solar Relief" companies sprung up promising they can help people get out of solar contracts. A lot of these seemed to be connected to and maybe just extensions of existing timeshare relief firms.  A few of the companies are law firms that just shifted to a solar fraud focus.  Given the work that we have to do for a couple dozen solar fraud clients, I wish them a lot of luck with the thousands of cases some of them seem to be taking on.  If you are hiring a solar relief company, I suggest that you ask them if they are a law firm. If they are not a law firm, when they say they "have lawyers", those lawyers by law represent the relief firm. They don't represent you.  If it is a lawyer, they should at least be regulated by the state supreme court where the firm is located, and if you have a problem with the firm you can file a complaint in that state.  If it is not a law firm, if it turns out to be a scam, you may be out of luck.  

By the way, I'm not saying all non-law-firm solar relief companies are bad. They can provide value just by assisting you with sending out a cancellation letter and establishing a position where you are withholding payments under the FTC Holder Rule.  As a general rule though, they can't represent you in arbitration and absolutely can't represent you in court.  The rules regarding whether an out of state law firm can represent you in arbitration are not the same from state to state, and in some states the rules aren't even clear.  For this reason our office has decided to not represent any homeowners in states other than Indiana.  I'm not knocking these multistate law firms though. In many states there are NO LAWYERS TAKING SOLAR CASES IN THE ENTIRE STATE, so an attorney with solar case experience reaching out to solar victims in those states is a positive thing as I see it. Almost all these cases that go to any proceedings go to arbitration not court, and arbitrations are usually via phone or Zoom.  I am reserving my opinion about multistate solar relief law firms is not because I don't think they know their stuff, it is because the ones that I have seen are taking so many cases that I don't see how they can do a good job on all of them.  

If you are screening a solar relief firm, google them, check them out with Google Gemini, ChatGPT or Copilot AI, and ask about them in forums on Facebook etc.  Compare their fees.  Pretty much everybody has to charge some fee up front or they won't be in business long.  We find that every solar case takes at least 8 attorney hours up front.  Some firms may use trained paralegals for this, but trained paralegals don't work for peanuts either.  Most of the reputable firms do the same thing we do, they get some of their payment up front, and some of it is contingent on getting affirmative relief for the client.  If you think that an attorney should take a 100% contingency fee, I can tell you that that simply isn't realistic.  Any firm that took that approach simply be outlasted by the lenders.  They would simply refuse to settle until the law firm ran out of cash and went out of business.  Secondly, the lenders could offer the consumers loan relief that included nothing for attorney fees.  That puts huge pressure on both the attorney and the client. 

Have You been sued in Indiana by Velocity Investments LLC? You really should read this.

 Our office was recently called by two different people who were sued by Velocity Investments LLC. When multiple people call us having been sued by the same party, I look into it because it is a sign that that party is suing a lot more people.  That is absolutely the case with Velocity Investments.

When I looked at Indiana's court website, I found that Velocity Investments filed about  775 lawsuits from May 1 to July 2, 2026.  That's just in one medium-sized state.  According to Google Gemini, they operate in all 50 states. They have been busy beavers. In Indiana, Velocity usually uses the Cleveland, Ohio-based collection law firm Javitch Block LLC (formerly known as Javitch, Block & Rathbone, LLP).  Those folks at Javitch Block have been busy beavers.  

Thanks to the filed complaints being available online, I looked at a handful of the cases filed, and in all of the ones that I looked at the consumers that were sued have a reasonable defense.  In a lot of cases, these are assigned accounts without proof of assignment.  In the one case we are actively litigating we demanded proof of assignment in discovery, and Velocity failed to provide it.  In other cases the cases involve amounts that are impractical for plaintiffs to litigate through arbitration, yet they are covered by arbitration agreements.  It is often worthwhile to use their arbitration clauses against them.  Finally, in any consumer debt defense case, there is always a chance that the creditor will take less than the amount claimed, and even less than the amount owed, in exchange for quicker payment.

The bottom line is don't assume that there is nothing you can do when you are sued by Velocity Investments, LLC.  Contact our law firm, Hofer Hagan, LLP.  Go to our website, www.hoferhagan.com. You can also call at 317-349-0887 and leave a message for our consumer attorney, Michelle Alyea.