Equipment Lease Buyers Beware

With modern technology and the convenience of the Internet; shopping for just about anything one can dream up has become a real convenience. The Internet can be a wonderful tool for shoppers and provides a vast array of resources for today’s consumers and business owners.

I am sure that it will come as no surprise when I say that it has equally become a fantastic tool for an overwhelming amount of predators and scam artists out there too.

Anyone using the internet, both consumers and business owners alike should be on their guard for these potential predators. Business owners using the Internet to locate a good source for equipment leases and business financing need to be aware of the potential online dangers. Internet scams involving leasing companies do occur, often from companies who try real hard at appearing to be a legitimate funding source. Because there are so many sources of business financing and equipment leasing on the Internet, consumers and business owners can often fall prey to these highly strategic well planned out attempts to take advantage of anyone they can get to reply to their efforts. Small businesses are especially vulnerable to these abuses as the predator has carefully planned their efforts.

Some of these predators pose as leasing companies while making the claim that they are the biggest, the best, the fastest growing or most reliable source of business financing and leasing in the industry. In some cases, they may even make false claims stating they provide the cheapest equipment financing / leases, and can offer the fastest path of least resistance to obtain such business financing. They may even claim to specialize in specific types of equipment leases just to target certain prey. These claims often encourage the busy business owner to just get it done and apply now, without realizing the proposed funding company has duped them and is making false claims. After the application is received, these companies often inform the client they are approved for a business financing program or equipment lease and ask for a payment of fees to process the financing request. The scammer will assure the client this is a standard practice and all companies ask for such a thing. The client often assumes this is true as in the lease/finance business there are actual fees and this is known to be a standard practice with a true lease company or finance company.

Once the scam artists have received the processing fees, the proposed company will change their previous proposed commitment or approval for lease/ financing or just disappear but keep the fees as part of their services

NOTE: Let’s not forget that in most cases, the application process offers these unscrupulous people your personal information such as social security numbers, banking information and home addresses etc...which they can sell to other scammers or use later for additional income.

This method of deception is very disappointing to all but the scam artist. It is dishonest, devious and unfortunately, it happens quite often and frequently it goes unpunished.

Some of these scam companies will set up a shell or front in the United States with the purpose being to accept the money and then quickly transfer the funds to other countries or offshore accounts where the money cannot be reached and in an effort to avoid prosecution. Once they are finally painted into a corner and confronted by authorities, Zoom, the scam artist picks up and runs off their nest egg stored in some another country and beyond the reach of traditional prosecution where they can live happily ever after or until they put together some other scam.

In some cases, the proposed fees these scam artists collect can be extremely costly to a small business - a few thousand dollars or the cost of a couple of payments. Sometimes the client cannot afford to hire an attorney because they have already spent so much money on the proposed approval they were offered. Often scammers plan to make the cost of an attorney larger than the potential loss and thus the business owner just takes the loss and moves on with business and the present needs at hand. Sometimes the processing cost of pursuing a refund from these misrepresenting people can break a company or individual. In summary, the client is usually forced to just absorb or suffer the loss and let it go because they cannot afford the time or money it would take to go after the scamming lease / finance company.

How to Avoid an Internet Equipment Finance / Leasing Scam

I am certainly not saying that business owners should stay off the internet. It is still a wonderful tool when used with reputable sources.

When shopping online for business equipment financing, keep in mind that not all companies are as legitimate or reliable as they may claim. These scam artists often have the ability to build a beautiful website. One that will entice just about anyone that may visit it.

Most lease companies require some form of payment at the signing of the lease, usually two advance payments and some sort of documentation fee. This is normal. In fact, as I mentioned earlier, many companies may even require a commitment fee before they will proceed with a request depending on the complexities involved in the request. This too can be a standard practice. Funding companies must do this to assure that once the approval has been issued, the client is committed to them and will not change their minds or go with another company once the lease / finance company has approved them. Remember, this is usually only requested on more difficult transactions or large transactions that require intensive review and documentation.

When agreeing to a proposal or commitment fee of any sort, the wording of the commitment letter should be clear. It should define the terms of the commitment in such a way that the client is familiar with the proposed payment and terms as well as said commitment fee may be refunded in the event that the lease / finance company should fail to perform on this proposal. In other words, they should provide approval and/or approve the request within the proposed terms.

In addition, Business owners should avoid dealing with any lease / finance company that is not a member of a reputable leasing association. A reputable leasing association will be able to verify that the lease company you are considering doing business with is in good standing with the leasing association. Leasing associations make certain that their members stay within very strict guidelines and practices. In the event that they fail to stay within these practices, they are subject to review and can lose their membership. This is another great way to protect yourself and make sure you are working with a reputable funding source.

When shopping on the Internet for an equipment lease or business financing:

• Beware of lease companies that do not have verifiable leasing association memberships or those that do not have any endorsements that can be verified. Then make the call to verify they are in good standing.
• Browse leasing company websites for links or testimonials to information about other clients that have worked with this lease company. Check with those clients to verify they had a good experience with the lease / finance company.
• Check the Better Business Bureau to see if the lease company is solid and can be trusted to service your needs and that there are no unresolved or outstanding reports against the lease / finance company.

Note: It is not good enough to just post on a website that they are members of a leasing association, Better Business Bureau and have references. It is not uncommon for scammers to steal these logos from reputable lease company’s websites and post them on their websites. Make every effort to check out these sources and verify that the lease / finance company is legitimate and not just a scammer.

The best way to avoid being scammed is to apply for an equipment lease from a reputable, valid and experienced company. At Simplified Leasing, we take every action to ensure you are properly treated and will return to us many times in the future for financing as your business grows.

We want you to be protected and have provided this information on our website, so that whomever you choose for your financing relationship, you can properly verify they are looking out for your best interests. In doing so, we hope that you will recognize that we are an excellent source for equipment lease financing and will use us for all of your equipment financing needs.

We encourage you check us out - afterwards, please feel free to call on us with any questions you may have. You can even email us if you like, apply with our printable easy application or simply complete out our secure, easy 3 step application.

Anyway you choose, we look forward to doing business with you and earning your business for life.