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Comment by gizmo686 | Hacker News Reader

The "before closing" does a lot of work here. It sounds like the seller made the disclosure when they were legally required to. This is pretty common in large purchases. First the buyer and seller agree in principle, then they perform their due diligence. Sometimes sales fall through at that last step.

If, hypothetically, the seller never disclosed the financing, then that would be an issue between the seller and the financer. At most, the buyer would need to allow the financer access to retrieve their property. The financer could then sue the seller for the buy-out cost and/or breach of contract.

As an aside, at least around here (USA), if you see a house with solar panels, it is a good assumption that they are financed.

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At least here in Brooklyn a significant minority (a third?) are purchased outright, as that gives the best long term return if you can afford the initial investment, and it simplifies a later house sale (see thread above). I think some of the tax incentives only apply in that case too.

> At most, the buyer would need to allow the financer access to retrieve their property. The financer could then sue the seller for the buy-out cost and/or breach of contract.

Nope, at least not typically.

Typically in the US houses are sold as-is unless it's noted in the closing docs. Everything in or on the house when you close is yours. The seller would be the one fighting with the financing company, as (again unless noted in closing docs) they would be considered fixtures and considered part of the real estate sale.

Financer is probably not the correct word here. The common model around here is that an installer puts solar panels on your roof, and sells you the right to their electric output in exchange for a fixed fee (with a fixed annual increase). That is to say, the original homeowner never owned the solar panels, and so never had the right to sell it in the firstplace.

If the solar panels were financed with an unsecured loan, then the home buyer would unambigously own them. It is also possible for the lender to have a lien against the panels; which again would survive the home sale.

In the UK there's a standard(-ish) form [1] the seller competes, before contracts are exchanged.

So if a seller wants to keep their smart doorbell, or their curtains, or to take all the plants from the garden - they can agree that, as part of contract and price negotiation. At the same time, the buyer gets to send people to check the property and can lower or withdraw their offer depending on what the inspections reveal.

(And yes, this is a very slow way of doing this)

[1] https://www.rlo.law/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/fc.pdf

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