However, Kenny claims that the description of the principal sum was a misrepresentation because her lender retained over $26,000 of that purported principal loan amount, which Kenny characterized in her suit as an undisclosed finance charge. This allegedly hidden fee caused the finance charge sum described in the contract to be understated and the annual percentage rate to be inaccurate.
Kenny claims that the undisclosed fee was included in her financing package because the lender was allegedly charging the relatively low interest rate of 4%. For context, economic data maintained by the Federal Reserve shows the prime loan rate in late May 2023 was 8.5%.
“By working with the seller/installer, [the lender] inflated the disclosed purchase price of the solar panel system because plaintiff borrowed money at a purportedly low interest rate,” Kenny claimed in her suit, asserting that the lender didn’t tell borrowers what their interest rate would be if the bank didn’t retain a hidden fee.
Kenny cited an email she allegedly received from the solar panel system installer after she’d already inked her agreement with her lender indicating she would have paid just over $44,000 if buying the same solar panel system in cash.
