Legal Question in Business Law in California

California has no law generally allowing a lessee any amount of time to rescind (cancel) an otherwise valid lease contract.

There are a few such laws, the most prominent of which is a three-day right of cancellation for home solicitation contracts, e.g., those offered by a door-to-door salesperson. If this were your case, you'd have had to mail your notice of cancellation by midnight of the third business day following execution of the contract, postage prepaid and properly addressed to the vendor's designated address.

Of course, a vendor or lessor can stick a right-to-cancel provision in its contracts or leases, and such would be enforced under contract law principles, but that is different from there being "something in place" in the statutes giving you such rights automatically.

I agree with Mr. Whipple. Unless there is a specific clause in the lease agreement itself allowing for cancellation, or some new statute that I am unaware of, these contracts do not provide for a "cooling off" period.

By the way, an excellent list of the types of contracts that do contain cooling off periods with a right to rescind is set forth online by the Department of Consumer Affairs: http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/legal_guides/k-6.shtml

Whoever told you that is part of the same crowd that thinks there should be no consequences, unintended or not, to their oblivious conduct and actions. Sorry, but you don't get 'do overs' in life. The only rescission right in CA is the three day rule you refer to, but it applies only to unsolicited, door to door sales. Now, try to negotiate a settlement with them, or face a lawsuit for breach of contract.

I disagree with all of the previous answers. I especially disagree with the statements that only door-to-door unsolicited sales are covered by the cancellation laws. Any contract signed in the buyer's home or away from the seller's usual place of business is subject to the cancellation laws. Although structured as a lease for financial purposes, I am very certain that the courts would look at these solar energy leases as home improvement contracts with lease financing, not as straight leases. Accordingly the three-day cancellation provisions of the home improvement laws would apply. If the contract was signed in your home, or anywhere other than the seller's permanent place of business, or if it was financed and the seller retains an interest in the property, both of which probably apply to your situation, you had three days to cancel. Your problem is going to be explaining why it took them four days to receive a cancellation, seven after signing the contract, if you really post-marked it within three days of signing the contract.