Improved Results for Leasing Industry at Midyear
October 08, 2004
In a welcome relief to many in the leasing industry, the results contained in the Equipment Leasing Association's Quarterly Performance Indicators Report (PIR) for the second quarter of 2004 show some very favorable numbers. Specifically, there has been a net gain in two of the most important indicators: Total Net Portfolio and Total New Business. In addition, on time payments are up from a year ago while delinquencies are down. Charge-offs are down while employment in the industry and credit approvals are up when compared with the figures from the second quarter of 2003. This is very good news indeed.
e-Leasing: Building an Effective Process
October 08, 2004
Improved operational efficiencies and the potential for lower-cost market penetration and expansion are just a few of the more common business justifications for adoption of an e-commerce process. These same justifications, as well as others, are sure to resonate with the equipment leasing industry. An initial consideration in adopting any e-commerce process is an analysis of relevant e-signature and e-record laws and the risks inherit in electronic transactions.
In The Marketplace
September 09, 2004
Highlights of the latest equipment leasing news from around the country.
Come 'Hell or High Water,' the Lessee Must Pay: Federal Court Upholds Defense Waiver
September 09, 2004
Come hell or high water" has been a motto of movie tough guys since the genre was invented. But as melodramatic as it may sound, it also has application in the world of business as well. Specific to the leasing industry, the phrase connotes a clause or condition of a leasing agreement that mandates the payment of all rent, fees, and costs to the lessor by the lessee, regardless of any intervening circumstances. Put succinctly, a lessee executing a deal with a "hell or high water clause" waives all of its defenses and is indefeasibly bound to pay its due to the lessor.
Dangers of Waiver-of-Defense Clauses in Leases
September 09, 2004
A lessee entering into a new lease agreement must be mindful of a waiver-of-defense clause. If a lease agreement contains a waiver-of-defense clause and the lease is later sold or assigned, the purchaser or assignee, if it is a holder in due course, will take the lease free and clear of numerous defenses (including a fraud in the inducement defense) otherwise available to the lessee had the lease not been sold or assigned.
The Leasing Hotline
September 03, 2004
Highlights of the latest commercial leasing cases from around the country.
Beating True Lease Challenges: A Lessor's Guide to Structuring and Defending True Leases
August 05, 2004
Lessees increasingly challenge leases in bankruptcy proceedings or disputes with lessors. They assert and litigate the issue of whether a lease constitutes a disguised security arrangement instead of a true lease. This issue arises with respect to leases of equipment as well as software. The consequence of losing true lease status under state law can dramatically affect a lessor's legal rights and remedies and impair a lessor's economics. Despite this increased uncertainty, lessors can effectively structure and defend their lease transactions as true leases when armed with working knowledge of current judicial trends and applicable rules under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC).
In The Marketplace
August 05, 2004
Highlights of the latest equipment leasing news from around the country.
Be Careful What You Look For: It Could Be an Authenticated Record
August 05, 2004
A recent bankruptcy court decision out of the District of Delaware found that a document contained on a Web site was an authenticated notice under UCC 9-404 notwithstanding the lack of affirmative action taken by the assignor or assignee. <i>In re Communications Dynamics, Inc.</i> WL 22345713 (Bankr. D. Del. 2003) is the first decision in which the authentication requirement to an account debtor in Section 9-404(a)(2) of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) is interpreted. This holding adds a new element to the UCC's definition of authentication and seems to ignore the plain language of the Code. This decision could have an impact on the leasing industry as the definition of an account debtor under Section 9-102(a)(3) of the UCC includes not only a lessee but will also include a lessor in conjunction with its own accounts payable.
