This Homeowner Fought Back After a $73K Solar Scam—and Won

From Solar Dream to Financial Nightmare: John Schaaf’s Journey to Justice with Prevost Law Firm

When John Schaaf agreed to install solar panels on his home, it all started with what seemed like a trustworthy neighborly pitch. A door-to-door salesperson—who identified himself as a local veteran and family man—convinced John to go solar with Encore Solar. The promise? Major energy savings, the potential to sell excess energy back to the grid, and a seamless installation.

The reality? A $73,000 loan for a system that barely offset a third of his electricity bill, months of delays, and a company that ultimately vanished.

The Installation That Fell Apart

At first, the project appeared to be progressing. Panels went up, and the necessary electrical work was underway. But when the final inspection stalled, John started digging for answers—only to discover that Encore Solar’s electrician was unlicensed, the company’s permits were invalid, and the installation didn’t even meet code.

John had to hire and pay another licensed electrician out of pocket to fix the botched work and finish the job. That’s when he realized just how deep the negligence ran.

The Turning Point: Finding Prevost Law Firm

Like many consumers who’ve been burned once, John was understandably hesitant when he came across an ad for solar panel relief from Prevost Law Firm. But after a conversation with the team, including attorney Neil, he discovered that he had a strong case against not only the now-defunct installer, but the lender who helped finance the deal.

Prevost Law Firm took action quickly—building a case that uncovered deceptive practices, incomplete work, and a financing company complicit in the scheme.

The Outcome: Justice Served

The case didn’t drag on for years. In a relatively short period, John had his case settled. The lender was held accountable, and part of the out-of-pocket costs for correcting the installation were worked into the final resolution. With everything behind him, John is now preparing to sell his home—relieved, vindicated, and grateful.

“I’m quite satisfied,” he said. “Your team is amiable, you work well with us, and I have no complaints. I’m very happy.”

His Advice to Others: Don’t Wait

When asked what he’d tell someone who’s unsure about hiring Prevost Law Firm, John didn’t hesitate:
“Do it now. Don’t wait. Don’t hesitate. It’s a waste of time to hesitate.”

If you’ve been misled by a solar company or are facing unfinished installations, hidden loan terms, or unexpected utility bills—you don’t have to go through it alone.

Transcript

My name is John Smith with Prevost Law Firm. And today, I’m here with one of our clients, John Schaaf. John, we just finished wrapping up his case, and he’s been gracious enough to spend a few minutes with us talking about it. So, John, let’s start with tell us a little bit of background about your situation, who your installer was, what’s the dream they sold you, and what’s the nightmare they let you have?

Well, I hired there was a person that came to the door. They were doing door to door sales, and he introduced himself as a a veteran, a young man starting a family, lives right down the street, and, really got us sold on installing solar panels. And, the company’s name was Encore Solar.

And, so it was a process, you know, getting started, getting the financing going, and, just scheduling it all.

And it seemed like it was going well.

We got found out later, of course, that this was an exorbitant cost for for twenty four solar panels. I actually got charged seventy three thousand dollars, and it went on alone.

And so things were okay with that. I thought, well, what what we were told was that this would supplement our utility bill to the point where we’d probably be selling back energy to the to the grid.

And we found out later that that wasn’t a hundred percent true.

It it supplements to a degree, but it’s I never go more than thirty five percent or something like that covered with the solar panels on the electricity.

But, once the installation got to the point where, you know, the panels were up, the power panels, the transfer switch, and all there wasn’t a transfer switch, but the, you know, the new the new panel that needed to be installed, all that was done. There was a hitch, and the inspections weren’t getting done. There were things were being delayed, and I kept getting told, well, it’s it’s in the works. Everything’s gonna work out okay.

Finally, I started looking into it myself, and I called the the local, building authority and asked them what’s going on with the, the in what’s going on with the inspections. And they said, oh, your permit’s not valid. Your your, your installer, it no longer has a license. The electrician that was in installing the panels and doing the electricity, had not renewed his permit, so they couldn’t do the inspections.

And I asked them, well, what do I do? And they said, you’re gonna have to get another electrical company out to do the finish the installation, do the get it prepared for, inspections to complete the installation and get it clearance to perform.

So we hired a local another local, electrician to come out and finish the install, and I found out they told me that they that the installers the original installers didn’t even do it right. They had to install they had to put some new grounding wires in, and things weren’t wired properly. And they had to go up on the roof and make some changes to the solar panels.

And that all took a couple of months, and finally, we got an inspection. We got a, we got the the the permit was approved, and finally, we got the authorization to begin to use, the system, which is not it’s nothing on my part. I don’t have to turn any switches or anything. It just has to be approved by the by the city.

So as it goes, I I received, probably I can’t remember which social media, but I got a, a notice or an email from I can’t remember the person’s name, but from your op from a Preval law firm, and it was called solar relief solar panel relief or something like that. And at first, I was a little hesitant because I’d I’d already gotten burnt on the installation of solar panels. So how could this be any good for me? But I followed through and, and decided that I would have the talk with with Neil and with the the law firm people.

And as it turns out, I had a pretty good case of neglect and pretty much fraud or whatever you wanna call it. And Neil and his team were able to turn this all around, and, I hired them, and it was it was reasonable. It was a I knew what was at stake.

And, we went through with the the, process of going to the lender who was who was actually representing, Encore, because they also were part of this scheme, apparently. So I I’m real happy with the results. It wasn’t a real long wait, and it’s real actually, we had things were pretty much settled, but the paperwork wasn’t finished until last week. And so I think was happy with the result. I’m happy with the result.

We’re now in the process of selling our house, and overall, I’m quite satisfied. I think your team is quite amiable. You work well with us, and I have no complaints. I’m I’m very happy.

Thank you, John. And I I just wanna circle back. Encore actually went out of business, and you had to pay out of pocket for that other company to come and do the to finish it up. Right?

Right. Yeah. There was no Encore anymore. And I don’t know what happened to the salesperson, but I don’t feel I I feel sorry for him because of his position, you know, that he was out there probably having the same trust and faith in the company that I did. So, yeah, it was, we had to pay out of pocket, and, that just became part of the settlement. We worked that into the settlement.

And what a mess. What a mess. Well, I’m so happy we got you great results.

So, what would you say to somebody who’s thinking about hiring Prevost Law Firm to help with their solar panel case?

Do it now. Don’t wait. Don’t hesitate. It’s a waste of time to hesitate.

That’s awesome. Well, John, thank you so much for your time. I’m you’ve been just amazing. I’m so happy we got you great results, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. You too.

Thanks, John. Take care. Thank you.