How a solar project for Simi seniors was saved

SUN POWER—Above, Wayne Schaffer stands amid the field of solar panels he installed on the roof of the Pepper Tree Court Apartments. Greti Croft, below right, owner of the senior complex, shares a laugh with property manager Kathleen Spencer during a party to celebrate completion of the system, which had been placed into jeopardy by an unscrupulous contractor. Photos by JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers Seniors at the Pepper Tree Court Apartments on Patricia Avenue are celebrating the completion of a solar panel system that almost never saw the light of day.

In October, Greti Croft, the owner of the 38-unit complex for low-income seniors, received a call from a salesman who sold her a solar panel setup that he said would ultimately “fully fund” itself through rebates and stimulus money and cut the seniors’ utility bills down to nothing.

The promises didn’t pan out, and when the contractor hired to do the job eventually fled, city officials, Southern California Edison and local contractors stepped in to save the project.

During a Feb. 25 celebration at the apartments, Croft was bubbling with enthusiasm and gratitude, thrilled to have all her “heroes” in one room to honor and thank.

“I come from the Alps, and I’ve done a lot of mountain climbing, and this was a very big climb for me,” Croft told the room in her Italian accent. “And I reached the top for my seniors with the help of the goodness of humanity.”

“(This) is something that makes the seniors’ life better and . . . we’re all part of making the planet a little cleaner,” she said.

According to Croft, the drama began with that October sales call; the salesman quoted her $324,000 for the whole project.

HAPPY TUNE—Resident Gordon Smith, 88, takes part in a celebration at the Pepper Tree Court Apartments, which finally received its solar panels after overcoming a scam. JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers She purchased the system and paid $270,000 up front, taking out a $250,000 credit line on her Santa Barbara home to cover the cost. The contractor who was supposed to do the work was from a company called Sun Nanosystems. But Croft later discovered he was not a licensed contractor nor had he ever installed a solar project.

Croft, who has owned the property for 10 years, said she bought the system to help the seniors who struggle to pay their bills on a fixed income. She never imagined she would become the victim of a scam.

“This time for me it was a lesson, because I just didn’t think anybody would cheat like that,” she said. “I didn’t see it coming.”

After buying the system, Croft went on a month vacation to Europe. She was told that work on the system would be started and finished while she was away. But when she returned, nothing had been done. The contractor blamed the city, saying it was holding up the permit, but when Croft called the city, she found out that the application for a permit had never been submitted.

So began two months of the “hardest work” Croft has ever done. She said she lost sleep over the situation and cried to many people—worried that she would lose the building and her home due to her investment in a fraud—but she wouldn’t let the contractor off the hook.

She ended up bringing in her own general contractor, Wayne Schaffer, to help with the project, even though he, too, had never installed a solar system. While the initial contractor did buy some equipment, he soon abandoned the project, Croft said, still owing her thousands of dollars in work.

Schaffer said he was doing all of the work, including pulling the permits, doing the engineering calculations and installing the panels, even though the other contractor was around for a while. Schaffer said that he “didn’t trust the guy from the get-go.”

Shannon Nash, the senior planner at the city who initially alerted Croft that the contractor could be a phony, put Croft in touch with Councilmember Glen Becerra, who works for Edison. The power company helped Croft through the rebate application process—a task usually handled by the contractor.

Becerra said Croft could have walked away from the entanglement, but didn’t because she cares too much for her seniors.

“She was tenacious; she never gave up. She may have shed a lot of tears, but behind those tears was an iron will to fix this,” Becerra said. “And we should have more people like (her) around because everyone deserves to have someone fighting for them.”

Becerra also put Croft in touch with Richard Rogero of RR Electric, who worked with Schaffer to finish connecting the system to the electrical grid. Because Croft had been taken advantage of, Rogero sold her the equipment at wholesale prices—even when the project ended up requiring a more expensive metering panel.

“There was no markup. She never asked that of me; she just had enough that she was dealing with,” he said.

During peak operating hours from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. when there is optimal sunlight, the 246 panels on the senior complex’s roof and carports will generate 49,000 kilowatts of power.

The system was up and running Dec. 27, but the savings haven’t kicked in yet since the final inspection was not done until Jan. 27. Rogero said the seniors should see significant savings on their next bill, perhaps as much as 40 percent.

Croft reported the fraud to the police and met with a Simi detective last week. She said the FBI is investigating the contractor, who has reportedly been implicated in other scams.

Nash said the best away to avoid being taken advantage of is to check the Contractors State License Board at www.cslb.ca.gov, and that except for a small deposit, a resident or business should only pay for work that is performed.

Now that the drama is over, the seniors at Pepper Tree are excited to have their solar panels—and not only because of the cost savings.

“I don’t care at all about (saving money). I have the cheapest damn bill,” said Phil McCarthy, 64. “I might not live long enough to breathe the cleanest air in the world, but I’m doing my part.”