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2A. Getting Approved: Credit Parameters

Andrew C - PLR Product Ops avatar
Written by Andrew C - PLR Product Ops
Updated over a week ago

Credit Policy Overview

A

Credit Requirements

  • 660 FICO Credit Score (Highest Score: Transunion and Equifax)

  • Soft credit inquiry (no impact on homeowner credit score)

  • No bankruptcies (7-Year Lookback)

  • Debt-to-Income (DTI) Not Factored

B

Credit-Based Customer Monthly Payment Caps

Limit on Monthly Payment Customer based on credit score returned.

  • *See below for full details. Latest Update: 5/28/25

  • Applies at total quote level (including adders such as storage/electrical upgrade)

  • Higher of Co-applicants scores taken to establish monthly max payment amount.

C

Credit Validity

  • Credit valid 180 Days from initial run

  • Once contract is executed, credit does not expire. (However, LightReach reserves the right to cancel files which do not achieve installation after an extended period of time--technically 160 days or longer. This is actively enforced.)

  • No more than 3 active applications per client at any given time

D

Credit Application Requirements

  • An email account and access to it

  • Full Name & Basic Contact Information

  • Last 4 digits of SSN Required (Use full SSN to maximize success rate)

  • Maximum credit check rate limit of 6 on all accounts

  • ITIN number not accepted

  • Date of Birth is optional but recommended

Click for Visual

Credit Based Payment Caps

Limits on Monthly Payment homeowner can have based on credit score returned:

FICO Credit Score

Monthly Max Payment

660-674

$255*

675-699

$295

700+

No Monthly Max

*Latest Update: 5/28/25

If the active quote exceeds the cap, Sales rep must reduce the monthly payment or system size to get under cap. Alternatively, if a qualified co-applicant is available, attempting to run with a co-applicant may result in a higher score.

How it Looks and Feels in the LightReach Portal (Click for Visuals)

Process A (Run Credit, Create Quote) : Sales rep on the LightReach platform runs credit, then creates a quote, they’ll see this message that lets them know pricing has been restricted due to credit application when using the quoting tool.

No Pricing Options: This error message will appear when all pricing options exceed this customer's maximum monthly payment cap. In this case the System Size or Year 1 estimated production would need to be lowered so that pricing options come in below the customers cap or an additional credit check with a co-applicant (must be spouse) can be run to see if they have a higher score.

Process B (Create Quote, Run Credit): Sales rep on the LightReach portal creates a quote, and then runs credit and the result returned is outside of the monthly cap they’ll see this message and be unable to send a quote.

How will this work on an External sales portal?:

If quote is being created in external portal (Solo, Enerflo, Aurora, etc) the available pricing options will be limited based on pricing caps, if a quote created is above the allowed cap, the sales rep will receive an error message when trying to send the contract.

Property Ownership Overview

A

Ownership Parameters & Property Types

In general: Single family, fully-owned homes (residential). This is inclusive of:

  • Primary residence

  • Secondary residence

  • Investment/rental properties (No more than 3 active applications per client at any given time)

  • Multi Family (must be fully owned)

Corporations & Trusts:

  • C-Corp / S-Corp acceptable, but corp. officer must reside at property and be signatory on contract (other docs may be required)

  • Trusts and LLC acceptable if homeowner on title is also a trustee or the controlling member.

B

Eligible Properties

View full eligible site details here

FAQ

A

Are all states a PPA?

PLM's current product suite operates virtually identically, whether it is technically a PPA or Lease. This means that the value proposition and product details are interchangeable. For legal/technical purposes, the product is technically classified as a lease in some states. View applicable states in the "Active Utilities" article in this help center.

For practical purposes, the distinction between our PPA and Lease are for state legal purposes. A PPA signifies "pay for power" whereas a Lease signifies "pay for use of equipment". Ostensible, the products amount to the same mathematics, value proposition. The only difference that may be worthy of note is how the escalator technically works:

  • PPA: Escalator based on the kWh rate

  • Lease: Escalator based on the total cost for the lease.

B

Can the Trust/LLC sign?

No, the customer/homeowner themselves must sign (IE a person). Trusts and LLC guidelines for title purposes are listed above.

C

Can I have multiple sites/accounts for the same homeowner?

Yes, up to a maximum of 3 active applications per client. The customer will need a different email address for each unique property address.
​
Example: 3 different property addresses = 3 different emails

Additional homes (IE 4+) can be accepted after the first 3 applications have been PTOd + completed payments on time for 3 months. After the 3 month period, additional homes/applications can be accepted (to the maximum of 3 at any given time).

D

How is the homeowner's credit checked?

We check both Transunion and Equifax at the same time, the highest score will be taken

E

Homeowner has frozen credit?

In the event a homeowner has frozen their credit reports, they will need to unfreeze directly with the bureau(s) in order to proceed.
​
Homeowners can visit this site to review more. Upon completion, a new credit application can be submitted:

G

Ground mounts permitted?

Yes. Same credit/applicant requirements apply. See eligible sites for details.

H

Soft Credit Check vs Hard Credit Check?

All Energy Plans feature a soft credit check. This means that there is no impact to the homeowner's credit score. Additionally, the PPA does not report as debt. Therefore, there is no consequence to simply seeing if a homeowner is qualified.

J

Credit Results: Applicant Not Found

This is typically associated with situations whereby only the last 4 digits were used.

The next step would be to run with full SSN (it's a soft check entirely, so no impact to the homeowner to rerun credit).

There are some situations whereby the homeowner has no credit history at all, we can't pull a result.

K

Credit Results: Error

  • Special characters in the application will result with an error. [ie: commas, periods, asterisks, hyphens, etc.]

  • Using periods in the city name will cause an error.

    • Acceptable: "St Petersburg" or "Saint Petersburg"

    • Unacceptable: "St. Petersburg"

L

What is the Max System Price?

The max EPC Total Payment price is $150,000, and deals sold higher are subject to stipulations and change orders.

M

Co-Applicants allowed?

Co-applicants are permitted-- see article 2B in the sales section for requirements.

N

Who will receive the credit application email?

The application email will be sent only to the Primary Applicant.

O

Will Customer Receive a Cancellation Notice?

Cancellation Notifications are sent via email to the customer whenever an account is cancelled in the finance portal and has previously reached the M0 milestone. Included in the communication will be:

  1. LightReach account ID number

  2. EPC name (Org Name)

  3. Street address

Projects cancelled before reaching the M0 milestone, will not receive a cancellation notice.

P

I see DOB, is this required?

No, DOB is optional, but may help in providing favorable results.

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