LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A woman in Centennial Hills, who signed an installation contract in December 2021 with Titan Solar Power of Nevada, is fighting back after she says the solar company and its contractors destroyed her house, left her children’s bedrooms without heat and ultimately blamed her for the yearslong delay in completing the job. 

The woman, Stacy Houston, appeared at a meeting of the Nevada State Contractors Board in January during which Titan Solar defended 21 separate complaints and Titan’s attorney, Donald Williams of Las Vegas, said Titan was being “ambushed.”

“Titan is saying that I’m delaying the project,” Houston, who has had success using solar in other houses she’s owned, said. “I thought it was pertinent to come and say that is not the case.”

The contract Houston signed with Titan said after the company pulled permits, it would take 60 days for the installation to be complete. But to date, it has taken 800 days to get to this point.

“We’re talking maybe another year,” Houston said.

Houston says in addition to the delays, Titan’s contractors have damaged her drywall and stucco with holes ranging from quarter-size to human-size, left deep trenches her in yard, destroyed her turf lawn and broken her HVAC compressor. A new compressor cost her $10,000, she says, and Titan says because it was not a new compressor, they will not pay the full replacement cost.

“Even through the install when it was supposed to be working well, the crews that would show up, the guys would just suddenly be gone” from her 3,500-square-foot home, she said. “They’d work for a couple hours and be gone.”

But while some parts of her home are colder inside than they are outside during these winter months, it’s Houston’s temper that is giving off the most heat. She’s tired of the thousands of emails and several head-scratching site visits that produce no results. Most recently, in January, Titan sent a crew to walk the property and estimate some of the damage to Houston’s home, but they left without a clear path forward. 

“Every time I see these guys, it gets me frustrated,” she said. 

Titan, Houston said, also installed unsightly electrical equipment along the side of her home, which Houston says drives her crazy.  

“This looks like a giant octopus from another planet has attacked the side of my home,” Houston said. “It looks so messy to me.”

Those other Titan customers whose cases were discussed at the status hearing at the Contractors Board meeting in January were equally frustrated.

“My complaint is I never received a contract from Titan, at all, before they started their project,” one homeowner complained.

Another, in Carson City’s hearing room, is suing Titan. “I don’t think they’re capable of doing the job they say they are,” the second homeowner said.

Titan, through a spokeswoman, said the company only has four outstanding complaints yet to be resolved. The Contractor Board prosecutor, presenting the case against Titan in January, said there were originally 50 complaints, which was whittled down to less than half that. Many of the complaints are from senior citizens. 

“That would be an aggravating factor that we would be considering […] when and if we draft a disciplinary proceeding against Titan,” the prosecutor said. Currently, Titan’s license is on probation in Nevada. Last year it had been suspended briefly, and it may be suspended again at a disciplinary hearing of the Contractor Board on March 20.

The prosecutor accused Titan of a long list of violations, including long delays in installation and abandoning worksites. He also said Titan performs work beyond the scope of what the law allows – like repairing roofs without a roofer’s license. 

The Contractor Board also said Titan buys equipment in bulk instead for each individual home, which would leave homeowners unable to find compatible replacement parts or obtain a warranty for the solar equipment, especially if Titan goes out of business or stops servicing Nevada homeowners like Houston.

Houston, for her part, pays $900 a month for her electric bill and pays $408.35 for the loan that she took out to pay Titan. Titan has reimbursed her for most of those payments, but not all. 

“I didn’t know it was going to be this bad,” Houston said.

Titan, whose spokeswoman has consistently responded to the 8 News Now Investigators in stories about solar installations gone wrong, provided the following statement, but did not respond to questions about Houston’s situation: 

“Titan has entered into over 15,000 residential Solar Installation contracts with Nevada homeowners. Over 99% of these homeowners are satisfied customers. However, Titan Solar Power NV, Inc. prides itself on providing excellence and our employees strive for 100% customer satisfaction. Our team has successfully resolved 13 out of 21 complaints with these customers providing written documentation confirming resolution. Of the remaining 8, four have been submitted to NVE and are awaiting the Utility company Permission to Operate, which is the final step in the installation process. For the remaining 4 cases, Titan’s representatives are in active communication with the individuals or the Nevada State Contractors Board. Their satisfaction continues to be our priority and we are committed to addressing their concerns in accordance with the contract and applicable law.”

Houston has a closed-door meeting Tuesday with the Contractor Board, its investigators and Titan’s installation team. But she has not seen a quick resolution.

“I would like to stay hopeful,” she said.