Almost every homeowner who calls us starts the same way: "I found out too late, the three days are gone." That deadline gets a lot of attention because it is printed on the paperwork. It is also the narrowest of the options available to you, and it is rarely the one that decides a case.
What the three-day rule actually covers
The Federal Trade Commission's Cooling-Off Rule gives a buyer three business days to cancel certain sales made at their home. Truth in Lending Act rules give a similar three-business-day right of rescission on many credit transactions secured by a principal residence. Both are real rights, and when a solar sale was closed at your kitchen table they may apply.
The catch is that the clock generally starts only when you receive a proper, conforming notice of your right to cancel. When the required disclosures were never delivered, were incomplete, or were buried in a signing app you clicked through in ninety seconds, the argument that your window closed becomes far weaker than the installer suggests.
Claims that do not depend on the three days at all
Most of the leverage in a Texas solar dispute comes from somewhere else entirely. These theories have their own, longer deadlines:
- Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act claims for false, misleading, or deceptive statements used to induce the sale.
- Breach of contract and breach of warranty when the system was never energized, never inspected, or never produced what the agreement guaranteed.
- Fraud and fraudulent inducement when the production or savings numbers presented at the table were not the numbers in the signed documents.
- Truth in Lending Act disclosure problems on the financing side, which can support extended rescission in some circumstances.
- Claims against the lender where the paperwork lets you assert the same defenses against the finance company that you have against the dealer.
Why 'cancellation' is usually the wrong word
Homeowners ask to cancel. What they usually want is a result: the loan gone, the panels removed or made to work, the roof repaired, the money back. Those outcomes come from a negotiated settlement or an arbitration award, not from mailing a cancellation form after the deadline.
Framing the matter as a claim rather than a cancellation also changes who is on the other side. The installer may be out of business, rebranded, or judgment-proof. The lender that funded the project usually is not.
What to do now
Stop relying on verbal assurances from anyone at the installer or the lender, and start building the file. Save the sales proposal, the signed agreement, every text and email with the salesperson, the loan documents, your inspection and interconnection paperwork, and your utility bills before and after installation.
Do not stop paying a loan on your own theory that the contract is void. Missed payments can damage your credit and complicate the very claim you are trying to bring. Talk to a lawyer about the sequence first.
The short version
The three-day window closing does not end your options. It just means the case runs on contract, consumer protection, and lending law instead.
This article is general information about Texas law and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship with Ray Law Group PLLC. Outcomes depend on the facts and documents in each matter, and legal deadlines apply.