What can Amicus Installers tell customers if they ask why the UCC filing is necessary, or if it encumbers their home?

  1. You can communicate the following:
    a. Clean Energy CU will conduct a Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filing at both the State and County level in order to give public notice that you have entered into a security agreement with Clean Energy CU.
    b. If your mortgage provider were to ever need to foreclose on your home, or if you tried to sell the home without
    first repaying the solar PV system loan(s), then the UCC filing would show up in a title search in the public records. It would notify other parties that the solar PV system is not a part of the residence (instead, it is removable personal property) and that it is being used as collateral for your solar PV system loan.
    c. The UCC filing includes your name, address, a description of the collateral (which is an itemized list of your solar
    PV system equipment), as well as the words, “THIS SECURITY AGREEMENT DOES NOT CREATE A SECURITY INTEREST IN THE DEBTOR’S REAL PROPERTY TO BE RECORDED IN THE LAND RECORDS.”
    d. So, the UCC filing is technically not a lien on your real estate, nor is it technically a “fixture filing.” However, it is
    filed via a similar process as a fixture filing so that it can be found more easily as a public record.
    e. Clean Energy Credit Union will remove the UCC filing after your solar PV loan is fully paid off.
    f. Clean Energy Credit Union can assist with subordinating or temporarily suspending the UCC filing if you refinance your mortgage in the future and your mortgage provider requires it.

    1. Technically, since Clean Energy CU’s UCC filing is only on the personal property that’s represented
      by your solar PV system equipment, there shouldn’t be any conflict with the mortgage lender’s lien
      on your residence / real property, but many mortgage lenders still require a subordination agreement and the process for providing one is relatively simple and straight-forward.
    2. Clean Energy CU charges a flat fee of $100 to execute a notarized subordination agreement and can
      provide a 1-page instruction document and a standard subordination agreement upon request.