A Mendon family’s $206,000 rooftop solar project sat unfinished for five months after the installer, Freedom Forever, filed for bankruptcy days before the system was supposed to be completed, Boston 25 News reported on October 26, 2026. The system was turned on only after the station contacted the finance company. Freedom Forever installed systems in Massachusetts and other states, and its bankruptcy has left homeowners with unfinished jobs, idle panels and questions about warranties. Here is what is known about the case, and what Massachusetts and federal law say about who is responsible when an installer fails.
The bankruptcy
- The filing. Freedom Forever LLC filed for Chapter 11 on April 15, 2026, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, No. 26-10522, pv magazine USA reported. Its list of creditors showed $114 million owed to the solar lender Mosaic and tens of millions more to panel and equipment makers.
- Liquidation. The case has since moved to Chapter 7, which means the business is being liquidated rather than reorganized. The court docket shows an order converting an affiliate’s case to Chapter 7 on August 7, 2026, with Alfred T. Giuliano appointed as trustee, and the Denver Gazette reported that a Delaware bankruptcy court moved the firm from Chapter 11 into Chapter 7.
- The finance company. EnFin Corp., the solar finance company in the Mendon case, appeared in the bankruptcy, and a June docket entry refers to the debtors’ motion to approve a settlement agreement with EnFin. The entries available publicly do not describe its terms.
The Mendon case
According to Boston 25, the homeowner signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with EnFin worth more than $206,000. Under that arrangement EnFin owns the panels and pays for installation, and the homeowner pays EnFin each month for the electricity the system produces. Freedom Forever filed for bankruptcy in April, days before the job was to be finished. The homeowner spent months calling and emailing and hired a lawyer. After Boston 25 contacted EnFin, the company finished the project and gave him a $1,500 credit, he told the station. “The Freedom Forever bankruptcy has created complications for customers, and we’re working hard to support these folks,” an EnFin spokesperson said.
Who is responsible when the installer fails
The answer depends on what kind of contract you signed, and on whom you pay.
- A loan used to buy the system. The Federal Trade Commission’s Holder Rule, 16 C.F.R. § 433.2, requires consumer credit contracts tied to a sale to carry a notice that “any holder of this consumer credit contract is subject to all claims and defenses which the debtor could assert against the seller.” In plain terms, if the seller did not deliver, you may be able to raise that against the lender. The same notice limits what you can recover: it “shall not exceed amounts paid by the debtor hereunder.” The rule applies to financed sales and to “purchase money loans” from a lender the seller referred you to or has a business arrangement with.
- Massachusetts law on related lenders. G.L. c. 255, § 12F, makes a creditor in a consumer loan “subject to all of the defenses of the borrower arising from the consumer sale or lease” when it “knowingly participated in or was directly connected with” the sale. The statute treats a lender as directly connected if, among other things, the seller prepared the loan documents, the lender supplied the forms, or the seller recommended the lender and the lender made two or more loans a year for that seller’s customers.
- A lease or power purchase agreement. In these deals, a finance company owns the system, so it has its own reasons to get it running. Consumer energy lawyer Jennifer Bosco told Boston 25 that the Holder Rule applied in the Mendon case and that “the lender who financed the panels actually bears legal responsibility.” The rule’s text covers consumer credit contracts, so whether it reaches a particular lease or power purchase agreement depends on how that contract is written. Read the contract to see who owns the equipment, who promised installation and service, and who backs the warranty.
- Claims against the installer itself. A homeowner owed money or work by Freedom Forever is generally an unsecured creditor in the bankruptcy. In a Chapter 7 liquidation, unsecured creditors are paid only from what is left after secured claims and administrative expenses, and they often recover little or nothing.
What to do if your installer went bankrupt
- Collect your documents. Save the contract, the loan, lease or PPA, the warranty, permits, interconnection paperwork and every email. Solar Power World advised Freedom Forever customers to download everything from the company’s customer portal in case it shuts down.
- Find out who you pay. If you pay a lender or a power company each month, contact it in writing, explain what was not delivered, and ask how it will complete or service the system. Keep copies.
- Check for a production guarantee. If the system stopped producing, your contract may have a performance guarantee or uptime clause that pays a credit for lost savings, Solar Power World noted. Document the outage with screenshots from the monitoring app.
- Ask about the warranty. Panel and inverter makers often warrant their own equipment separately from the installer’s workmanship warranty. The manufacturer’s warranty may still be good even if the installer’s is not.
- Complain. The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office takes consumer complaints. Unfair or deceptive practices by a business can also support a claim under G.L. c. 93A.
- Watch the bankruptcy docket. Notices about claims deadlines and any sale of customer contracts are filed in Case No. 26-10522 in Delaware.
Frequently asked questions
Did Freedom Forever go out of business?
Freedom Forever filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 15, 2026, in Delaware. The case has since been converted to a Chapter 7 liquidation, according to the court docket and the Denver Gazette, and a trustee was appointed to sell what remains.
Is my solar lender responsible if the installer went bankrupt?
Often, if you financed the purchase with a loan tied to the seller. The FTC Holder Rule lets you raise claims and defenses against the seller with the holder of the loan, up to the amount you paid, and Massachusetts law, G.L. c. 255, § 12F, does something similar for lenders directly connected with the sale. Leases and power purchase agreements depend on their terms.
What happens to my solar warranty if the installer goes bankrupt?
The installer’s workmanship warranty may be worth little in a liquidation. Equipment warranties from the panel and inverter manufacturers are separate and may still apply. If a finance company owns the system, check what it promised about service.
Sources: Boston 25 News, October 26, 2026; pv magazine USA, April 15, 2026; Denver Gazette; Solar Power World; In re Freedom Forever LLC, No. 26-10522 (Bankr. D. Del.) and affiliated cases, docket via CourtListener. 16 C.F.R. §§ 433.1 and 433.2 read at Cornell’s Legal Information Institute; G.L. c. 255, § 12F read at malegislature.gov. General information, not legal advice.