He nodded toward the cattle.
“You own this side?”
“All of this field.”
His face changed.
“Nobody told us this was active pasture.”
“What did they tell you?”
“That this was association ground.”
“Exactly how?”
He glanced toward the project truck.
“We got drawings.”
“Can I see one?”
“I probably shouldn’t hand out client documents.”
“I’m not asking you to give me anything.”
He thought about it.
Then motioned me over.
A site plan was clipped to a board across the hood.
He turned it enough that I could read.
My field appeared as a clean geometric shape.
No grass.
No cattle.
No family history.
Across it were four words:
HOA COMMON ENERGY PARCEL.
I read them twice.
“That’s what you were given?”
He nodded.
“That’s what we’re building from.”
I took a photograph.
Plan in the foreground.
Real pasture behind it.
That image changed the dispute.
Until then, I could have believed the crew had misunderstood a boundary in the field.
A wrong flag.
Bad stake.
Confusing fence.
But nobody on the ground had improvised.
Somebody had created a paper version of my property where ownership had already been changed.
Professional workers were simply building what the drawing told them to build.
By the end of the second week, the field looked converted.
All sixty panels were installed.
Six rows.
Uniform spacing.
Black glass.
Fresh gravel near the inverter.
Conduit markers ran toward a connection cabinet beside HOA service equipment.
The access lane was compacted enough that even after rain, truck tires no longer sank much.
The project looked permanent.
That was when I stopped asking general questions.
I emailed Vanessa and the contractor.
Same request to both.
Please provide:
-
Documentation establishing control of the project site.
-
The utility interconnection application and approved site plan.
-
Owner authorization or other recorded instrument allowing installation of generation equipment on the parcel.
Vanessa answered first.
She attached a four-page board resolution.
COMMUNITY SOLAR ENERGY INITIATIVE – PROJECT AUTHORIZATION.
The board approved financing.
Budget.
Contractor.
Projected savings.
Equipment.
Installation.
It was detailed about money.
Detailed about electricity.
Detailed about expected payback.
It said nothing about me.
My name did not appear once.
I replied:
This approves the project. Please provide the document authorizing use of the installation site.
Twenty minutes later:
The association has already established authority over the project area.
I replied:
Please send the document establishing it.
No answer.
The contractor was more careful.
The project manager called that afternoon.
“Ryan Keller.”
“Ethan.”
“I’m calling regarding your site-control email.”
“What did the HOA give you?”
“Project authorization and site documents.”
“Did you receive anything signed by me?”
A pause.
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Anything from the record owner?”
“The HOA represented that it controlled the site.”
“How?”
“Through the project package.”