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Friday,
August 6,2004
Headlines---
Classified
Ads---Sr. Credit Officer/Sr. Management
NorVergence
hit with new pay flap
“Legal
Co-Op” Membership Over 40 Now
Looking
for “Leasing Legal Experts”
National
Lease Funding Source Showcase Waiting List
“A
Gentleman Drunk” by Jeff Taylor
OneWorld
Leasing Adds Six New Members
Current
OneWorld Leasing Members
Edmunds.com
Reports True Cost of Incentives
######## surrounding the article denotes it is a “press
release”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Classified
Ads---Senior Credit Officer/Senior Management
Senior Credit
Officer experienced in middle- market leasing; structured, vendor
and 3rd party to the fortune 1000. Proactive team builder, originations
capable with strong work ethic.
Email: kyletrust@hotmail.com
Senior Management:
Baltimore, MD
25 year veteran of
commercial and equipment leasing seeking a senior management position
with leasing or asset based financing company in the southeast (Florida
preferred)
Email: kellogg_md@yahoo.com
Senior Management: Denver, CO. Fortune 500 GM/SVP wants to team up with aggressive lender looking for Western expansion mid-market equip. finance/leasing. 20+ years experience within Rocky Mountain/ Southwest and Ca markets.
Email: legal@csotn.com
Senior management:
Hope, NJ.
25 years in optimizing call center operations, collections, billing, and back end revenue generation. Experienced in $7 + billion dollar portfolios. Verifiable achievements.
E-mail: cmate@nac.net
Senior Management:
Irvine, CA.
Credit executive, portfolio manager and syndication facilitator. Extensive business building experience in small and mid-ticket operations. Highly innovative. Fortune 100 audit and technology skills. Bottom-line manager.
Email: lenhubbard@bigfoot.com
Senior Management:
Long Island, NY
Degree Banking/Finance. 13 years leasing exp. Now prez young leasing company where promises were not met. Interested in joining established firm with future.
Email: bob33483@yahoo.com
Senior Management:
New York, NY, NJ, Ct Tri-State
Top Exec. middle and big ticket, top skills treasury, funding, ops,transaction detail, syndication, ready to max profit, help build quality operation. right now!
E-Mail: leasefinance@optonline.net
Senior Management: Portfolio Management Consultant; 25+years experience in Collections, Customer Satisfaction, Asset Management, Recoveries, Continuous Process Improvement, Back end Revenue Generation, Cost per Collection Analysis. $5+Billion Portfolio expertise.
Email: efgefg@rogers.com
Senior Management: San Francisco, CA., 25 years experience w/global leasing company, sales,marketing,business dev., P&L responsibility, asset mgmt, brokering and re- marketing. Interested in joining an est. firm with a future.
Email: rcsteyer@yahoo.com
full list available at:
http://64.125.68.90/LeasingNews/JobPostings.htm
Previous placards are located here:
http://two.leasingnews.org/Placards/index.htm
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NorVergence
hit with new pay flap
By MARTHA McKAY
NorthJersey.com/New
Jersey Herald/Record
NorVergence, a Newark-based
telecommunications reseller that went bankrupt last month, left a trail
of angry ex-employees who say they are stuck with tens of thousands
of dollars in unpaid medical bills.
The employees say
NorVergence was deducting medical insurance costs from their paychecks,
but apparently fell behind in payments to the company it hired to administer
its insurance plan.
Now, the federal
government is asking questions.
At least one former
NorVergence employee, Mark Englander, said he has been contacted by
an investigator from the U.S. Department of Labor who asked for detailed
information about the insurance problems.
A spokeswoman for
the Labor Department said she could not confirm that an investigation
is taking place.
Last month, the New
Jersey Department of Labor said it was looking into reports by NorVergence
employees that their final paychecks had bounced. A spokesman said the
state's investigation is limited to the wage dispute.
NorVergence went
out of business last month owing creditors such as Qwest and Sprint
as much as $30 million. It also left as many as 11,000 small business
customers who signed up for discount phone and Internet service owing
upward of $220 million to banks and finance companies for a piece of
equipment that many say was useless. Some have called it one of the
biggest leasing scandals of the last quarter-century.
The man who ran the
company, Thomas N. Salzano, sat at the helm of another telecommunications
company that went bankrupt in 1999. Neither Salzano nor his brother,
Peter J. Salzano, NorVergence's CEO, could be reached for comment.
It's not known how
many of NorVergence's 1,300 former employees have unpaid medical claims.
NorVergence was self-insured
and hired a Melville, N.Y.-based company, Comprehensive Benefits, to
administer health insurance for its employees, said former employees
and others familiar with the business relationships.
Comprehensive Benefits
in turn rented access to the health-care networks of two health insurance
companies - Qualcare Inc. of Parsippany and Beech Street, based in Lake
Forest, Calif.
QualCare said it
was aware of the NorVergence bankruptcy, but a spokeswoman for Beech
Street said she had not been told by Comprehensive Benefits that its
customer, NorVergence, was out of business.
Melissa Bauer, a
Kearny resident who had worked at NorVergence since August 2002, said
that she is owed $1,300 for medical bills dating back to January.
"I'm very upset
about this," said Bauer, who lost her job along with about 1,000
others on June 30, days before the company filed for Chapter 7 liquidation.
"I am still
a month behind in my bills. Now I have an extra bill and more headaches."
Bauer said Comprehensive
Benefits told her that NorVergence had promised to pay its bills but
never did, and because of that Comprehensive
Benefits would not
pay Bauer's claims.
"I told the
young lady that I had claims going back from January and she said for
me to contact the Department of Labor and hung up on me," Bauer
said.
Other former employees
interviewed also said they were told by Comprehensive Benefits that
NorVergence had not paid its bills "for months."
So far, Comprehensive
Benefits has not filed paperwork with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newark
claiming that NorVergence owes |it money.
The company did not
return repeated phone calls.
And former employees
are scrambling to figure out whether they can get new insurance, or
get old claims paid.
Former NorVergence
employee Oscar Delatorre said he's aware of one former colleague with
more than $15,000 in unpaid claims and another who gave birth in February
and may get stuck with the bills.
Meanwhile, he's coping
with his own family's health care claims, which date back months.
"I'm out between
$6,000 and $7,000," he said.
E-mail: mckay@northjersey.com
“Legal
Co-Op” Membership Over 40 Now
Here
is their latest “flyer:”
Join The Norvergence Customer Legal
Co-op
(This email message
is sent to individuals who have interest in Norvergence. If you have
been added to this subscription list in error please accept our apologies
and delete yourself immediately and permanently using the link at the
bottom of this message.)
If you are an ex-Norvergence
customer who believes you were mislead regarding the 60-month Norvergence
rental agreement you signed and you want to explore every legal option
available to you for redress, join with other ex-Norvergence customers
in the Norvergence Customer Legal Co-operative.
Finding a way to
legally get out of the Norvergence rental agreement is the primary goal
of the legal co-op. Over 40 ex-Norvergence customers have joined the
legal co-op since it was formed just two weeks ago and several hundred
more are in the process of joining today.
The legal co-op has
retained the law firm Weir & Partners out of Philadelphia to research
the legal questions the co-op members have about the enforceability
of the Norvergence rental agreement. Weir has published a 10-page opinion
about the weaknesses of the rental agreement and is publishing this
week an opinion as to how the Norvergence situation compares to a recent
Federal Trade Commission ruling that many think is the exact same as
the Norvergence case. The legal co-op is administered and directed by
Telecom Association, Inc. or "TAA", a membership organization
that serves the information needs of over 6,500 small businesses.
The legal co-op is
diligently working on the obvious strategies necessary for the Norvergence
customers to get relief from paying for equipment that they believe
provides "no value".
The one-time cost
to join the co-op is two times whatever your monthly lease payment is
contracted to be. If your monthly lease payment is $725 per month then
your one-time co-op contribution is $1,450. If your monthly lease payment
is less than $500 then you would pay the co-op minimum contribution
of $995.
What The Legal Co-op
Specifically Does For You
The legal co-op provides
you instant access to the information you need to understand what your
realistic options are. The information explains why the leasing companies
are quite serious about having you pay for a "box that does nothing".
The co-op's published legal and non-legal opinions make your options
easy to understand and act on. The only thing the co-op doesn't do is
directly represent you in court. If you need to retain an attorney,
the co-op will refer you to an attorney that is already representing
other legal co-op members.
What The Co-op Does For Your Attorney
If you already have
an attorney, have him or her visit the Norvergence customer legal co-op
page at www.LegalCoop.com. The co-op documents that are available to
your attorney through your co-op membership will get your attorney immediately
up to speed on what he or she will need to do for you. Recently published
documents include:
Transcript of Co-op
Conference Calls – Every Friday the co-op members and their attorneys
have a conference call with the co-op attorney to review the latest
ideas and strategies. When you join the co-op you can listen to the
recording of the previous conference calls or read the printed transcript.
The last conference call on July 30th covered detailed Norvergence customer
strategies and potential outcomes.
Complete Documentation
of Current Norvergence Lawsuits – Whether the leasing companies are
suing Norvergence customers or the customers are suing the leasing companies,
the co-op publishes all available documents so you can see how such
cases unfold and have access to the information for "cut &
paste" purposes.
Easy To Understand,
Non-Legal Analysis – In addition to plenty of legal jargon, the co-op
publishes situation summary pieces in simple language. Dan Baldwin,
the co-op administrator, writes the pieces. Dan is not an attorney so
the information is "non-legal" but Dan is a small business
owner himself and his analysis pieces are written "by a business
owner for a business owner" in a "this is what I would do"
format.
To view the titles
of all current co-op documents please visit www.LegalCoop.com.
The Bottom Line?
The legal co-op will
provide fast answers to your questions so you or you and your attorney
can decide what actions are in your best interests. As you can see by
reviewing the lawsuits files by Wells Fargo Leasing and Patriot Leasing
at www.LegalCoop.com, the leasing companies are suing fast to collect
the maximum amount possible from Novergence customers who stop paying.
Once you join the
co-op you will have immediate and direct access to speak with co-op
administrator Dan Baldwin at any time. Any and all of your legal questions
can be directed to the co-op attorneys through Dan via email for a response
within 24-hours.
If you're looking
to align yourself with other Norvergence customers who want instant
access to the most current information that's organized and edited by
the someone who speaks with scores of attorneys and Norvergence customers
every day then you've found the right group – join the Norvergence Customer
Legal Co-op today.
For all questions
about the co-op, please visit www.LegalCoop.com or send an email to
norvergence@telecomagent.org.
You may also contact
the co-op administrator, Dan Baldwin by calling 206-203-6115 x2 ( he is difficult to reach, send fax or e-mail.
editor ) or sending a fax to 951-494-4257.
Please be advised
that due to the large number of lawsuits being threatened and filed
by the leasing companies against ex-Norvergence customers, the majority
of the co-op's resources are currently being devoted to Norvergence
customers that have already joined the co-op. If you have questions
that need to be answered before joining the co-op, please email them
to norvergence@telecomagent.org and we will attempt to answer them within
24 to 48 hours.
Dan Baldwin, Co-op
Administrator
Telecom Association,
Inc.
31500 Grape Street
#3-307
Lake Elsinore, CA
92532
dbaldwin@telecomagent.org
206-203-6115 x2 Tel
951-494-4257 Fax
www.LegalCoop.com
Telecom
Agents Assoc. Looking for “Leasing Legal Experts”
If you are interested
in becoming a “Leasing Legal Expert” or would
like further information
on the Telecom Agents Association position,
you will need to
register.
Anyone can register for free to get a user ID & password at http://www.telecomagent.org/Member.htm.
About a quarter of
the time people have problems which can be overcome as follows:
New TAA UserID &
Password Not Working?
Problem 1: The first
confirmation email you receive from TAA regarding your registration
contains a link that you have to click on. The link you click on may
not work properly if it was "broken in two" by the email.
If this seems to be the case then just "cut & paste" both
halves of the link into the address bar of your browser & then hit
enter.
Problem 2: The userID
you choose for yourself should be ONE WORD with NO SPACES. If you choose
a userID with capital letters or spaces, just reregister choosing a
one work , all lower case password.
If the information
above doesn't help, please send an email with your COMPLETE CONTACT
INFORMATION to kb@telecomagent.org and TAA will manually re-register
you within 24 hours.
National
Lease Funding Source Showcase Waiting List
August 25 & 26
| The Ritz-Carlton | Atlanta, GA
Join The Waiting List
Attendee Registration
for this event has closed and a waiting list established. Should additional
attendee registration become available, the Lessors Network will review
and extend Registration Invitations to industry professionals from the
waiting list on a first come first served basis.
Invitees will be
notified via the email address provided below.
Invitees will have
4 hours to submit an online registration, after which time, Registration
Invitations will terminate and be offered to the next person on the
waiting list.
Attendee Registration
Fee - $745
Registration Fees
must be paid by personal or company check within 32 hours of submitting
your attendee registration, via overnight mail. (Sorry, No Credit Cards)
To learn more, please
go here:
http://www.lessors.com/Events-2004/Fall/register.html
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Classified
Ads---Help Wanted
|
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Credit Analyst: Seeking an energetic and organized Credit Analyst. At least one to two years of experience as a Credit Analyst in financial services (banking, insurance, leasing, or mortgage) is required. Funding Manager: Seeking a very organized, detail oriented Funding Manager. Minimum two years experience in brokering and discounting commercial equipment transactions is required. Operations Manager: Seeking an experienced Operations Manager with knowledge of all sides of operations. Must have a minimum of five years related experience. Send
email or fax to Ryan Johnson, Corporate Recruiter. |
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 MARKETING INDIRECT ORIGINATION: New York. One of the largest ind. equip.lessors needs motivated, self-starter to purchase single investor leases from institutional investors; min.transaction $1 million; portfolio of primarily investment grade lessees/good "story credits". Min 3 yrs exp. sourcing/ originating leasing transactions, knowledge of credit and pricing. E-mail: jobposting1@leasingnews.org |
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“A
Gentleman Drunk” by Jeff Taylor
Jeffrey Taylor, well-known
leasing lecturer, author, who’s “Leasing
Gem’s” is a very
popular internet newsletter, is not only the web master of Alcohol411,
an internet radio show host, but has written an autobiographical story
about his life and how his life has changed
The book reads like
an inside diary: frank, truthful, and “tell all,’
from his days in
leasing to working for Sudhir Amembal and then going
on his own.
This web site tells
more about the book, including containing the
first seven chapters:
I could not put the
book down as it explains Jeffrey, the world
of equipment leasing,
and how he has achieved sobriety. In
fact,
I had to re-read
many parts as it was a very emotional read.
Kit Menkin
------------------------------------------------------------------------
### Press Release
###########################
OneWorld
Leasing, Inc. Adds Six New Members
Phoenix, AZ - OneWorld Leasing, Inc., a nationwide
cooperative owned
by independent leasing and finance companies, announces the addition
of six members:
Florida National Leasing Corp. of Fort Myers, FL,
KLC Financial, Inc. of Minneapolis, MN,
Media Capital Associates, LLC of Scottsdale, AZ,
National Leasing Company, Inc. of Indianapolis, IN,
AAW Capital Corp. dba Prolease of Newport Beach, CA,
Select Equipment Leasing of Pleasant Hills, CA.
Two of the new members
sited their reasons for joining OneWorld. Rick Wilbur, President of Media Capital Associates, LLC in Phoenix,
Arizona, said, "I believe
the two constants in the business environment today are that (1) basic
business formulas are always changing and (2) that the rate of those
changes is always accelerating. To
remain competitive in this shifting landscape it is essential to not
only be open to new concepts but to seek them out and embrace them when
appropriate. OneWorld represents a radical new idea in the equipment leasing
world that should increase efficiencies and effectiveness and shorten
the distance between demand and
fulfillment."
Marc Keepman, President
of KLC Financial, Inc. in Minneapolis, MN, joined OneWorld "to
take advantage of the benefits of MaxFinance.
Plus, becoming a member of a leasing co-op affords us exposure
to new markets and opportunities that we are not seeing today."
"We are delighted
to welcome these six new members to OneWorld," said Sharon Foglesong,
an advisor to the OneWorld Board of Directors.
"Our members enjoy increased revenues from the OneWorld
captive co-op programs, plus a decreased cost of doing business when
they utilize services from OneWorld Preferred Suppliers.
Add to that the opportunity to work with and exchange ideas and
strategies with the other OneWorld members and you have a formula for
growth."
OneWorld Leasing,
Inc. is a financial services cooperative that exists to
provide independent
equipment leasing and finance companies greater market strength, national
recognition, increased profits and decreased operating costs. Companies that want to remain independent but
like the idea of owning part of a national organization are encouraged
to contact Sharon Foglesong at 480-429-1767.
### Press Release
############################
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Current
OneWorld Leasing Members
Their website is:
http://www.oneworldleasing.com/default2.htm
It lists the following
leasing companies as members:
Stan Ragley
Leasing Resources,
Inc.
E-mail: sragley@goleasing.com
David J. Stearns
Board Chairman/President
American Leasing
Alliance
329 Jefferson Street
Algonquin, IL 60102
Tel. (847) 458-0191
x12
E-mail: dstearns@gacllc.com
John Winchester
Communications Leasing,
Inc.
E-mail: jwinchester@comcolease.com
Mark Zimmerman
OneSource Financial
Corporation
E-mail: mzimmerman@osfcorp.com
Sharon Foglelsong : “Here is our August 1, 2004 current membership
and advisor list We have the
same group as in January 04',
plus the 6 new members who have joined over the last couple of months. We are selectively and slowly adding new members.
Quality over Quantity.”
Contact List – 8/01/04
Sharon
Foglesong, Advisor to the Board
8014 E Via de Viva Scottsville, AZ 85258 T: 480-429-1767 C: 602-509-2990 F: 801-454-9572 |
David Stearns, Board Chairman/President/Member American Leasing
Alliance 329 Jefferson Street Algonquin, IL
60102 T: 847-458-0191 x12 C: 847-815-4324 F: 847-458-0197 |
Stan Ragley- Board Member
Leasing Resources,
Inc. 1616 Cleveland Avenue,
Suite 204 Charlotte, NC 28203 T: 704-332-1170 x12 C: 704-641-2587 F: 704-332-1146 |
Mark Zimmerman-Board Member
OneSource Financial
Corporation 9420 Research Blvd. Echelon III, Suite
120 Austin, TX 78759 T: 512-458-1300 x227 F: 512-372-9156 |
John Winchester-Board Member
Communications Leasing,
Inc. 300 Peabody Street,
Suite B Nashville, TN
37210 T: 615-366-1995 C: 615-300-0141 F: 615-366-1902 |
James Brustad, Treasurer
JAB Consulting Algonquin, IL
60102 T: 708.525.9273 C: 708-525-9273 F: 443-788-0573 |
Rosemary Mahoney, Secretary
MainStreet Cooperative
Group, LLC 683 Freshwater Cove
Lane Lovingston, VA 22949 T: 434-263-5492 C: 434-962-0897 F: 413-751-8881 |
Bud Callahan –Member
National Equipment Leasing 7215 East 21st Street, Suite F Indianapolis, IN 46219 T: 317-352-8276 C: 317-201-4424 F: 317-352-9707 |
|
Marc Keepman - Member KLC Financial, Inc. 3514 County Road 10 Minnetonka, MN 55345 T: 612-692-2602 C: 612-816-5700 F: 952-224-4301 |
Mike Parker – Member Florida National Leasing Corporation 1705 Colonial Blvd
Suite A-3 Fort Myers, Florida
33907 T: 800-788-4464 C: 239-872-7152 F: 239-278-3086 |
Aaron
Rios - Member
AAW Capital Corp dba Prolease 1100 Quail Street, Suite 100 Newport Beach, CA 92660 T: 949-260-1000 C: 949-683-2148 F: 888-860-6848 |
J.L. Coles- Member Select Equipment Leasing Co. 3317 Vincent Rd Pleasant hill, CA 94523 T: 925-947-0725 C: 925-980-2792 F: 925-947-0196 Jlc@leasingAssociates.com |
|
Richard Wilbur- Member 6991 E. Camelback Road,
Suite #D-202 Scottsdale, Arizona 85251 T: 480-941-8558 Ext. 104 F: 480-941-4588 |
Jared Keepman – Contact for KLC KLC Financial, Inc. 3514 County Road 10 Minnetonka, MN 55345 T: 952-224-4306 C: 612-860-5566 F: 952-224-4301 |
Barry
Marks – OneWorld Lawyer
Baker, Donelson 1600 South Trust Tower 420 20thstreet North Birmingham, AL 35203 T: 205-250-8333 |
|
The first announcement
of the co-op came April 3,2002, then
CEO of One World Leasing, David Stearns told Leasing News:
“The cooperative
expects to have 7 founding members and plans to have 500 member businesses
by the end of 2003. There is
no limit to the size of the co-op, and there may be several “co-ops”
per niche in the leasing industry, with other benefits for members due
to group purchasing “power.”.
“ ‘ We will not offer
warehousing or funding of leasing transactions,”
David Stearns, CEO
of American Leasing, says, ‘OneWorld Leasing will become a true leverage
play for the smaller leasing company concerned about industry consolidation,
super brokers, better lease-loan rates and a level playing field.
“ ‘We will be able to go to a major funder and
say we represent 500 leasing brokers.
We want a better buy rate than you are offering for our business.”
February 19th,
2004, it was announced Sharon Foglelsong “ would
lead
the cooperative’s
management team.” You may reach
her at 480-429-1767 or sfoglesong@oneworldleasing.com
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|
The only annually-updated international reference book for the asset financing and leasing industry available. The new 25th edition includes the latest market trends, over 100 authoritative articles and reports on the leasing software and IT market, an exclusive ranking of the top 50 leasing markets by size worldwide with feature profiles from Africa to Venezuela PLUS a directory of over 4,400 contacts.
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### Press Release
###########################
Edmunds.com Reports True Cost of Incentives:
Industry Average Climbs to New Record as
Domestic Automakers Exceed $4,000 and Europeans Spend
Over
$ 2,500 per Vehicle for First Time
SANTA MONICA, Calif., -- Edmunds.com (http://www.edmunds.com),
the premier online resource for automotive information, reported today
that the average manufacturer incentive per vehicle sold in the United
States set a new record of $2,885 per vehicle sold in July 2004, up
$217, or 8.1%, from July 2003, and up $138, or 5.0%, from June 2004.
Edmunds.com's monthly
True Cost of Incentives(SM) (TCI(SM)) report takes into account all
of the manufacturers' various United States incentives programs, including
subvented interest rates and lease programs as well as cash rebates
to consumers and dealers. To
ensure the greatest possible accuracy, Edmunds.com bases its calculations
on sales volume, including the mix of vehicle makes and models for each
month, as well as on the proportion of vehicles for which each type
of incentive was used.
Overall, combined
incentives spending for domestic Chrysler, Ford and General Motors nameplates
passed the $4,000 mark for the first time, reaching $4,011 per unit
in July, up $192 from June 2004. Chrysler
lowered their incentives spending in July by $185 to $3,384 per vehicle
and lost 2.3% market share. Ford
had the biggest monthly increase in incentives spending, $358, for an
average of $3,686 per vehicle, while its market share fell 1.3% to 16.8%
-- the lowest level ever recorded by Edmunds.com.
GM increased incentives spending for the fourth month in a row,
by $156 to $4,467 per vehicle, and gained 3.4% market share.
"Successful
new model introductions like the Chrysler 300 -- which made up 27% of
the brand's sales in July -- show the benefit of introducing exciting
new products priced right for the marketplace," said Dr. Jane Liu,
Vice President of Data Analysis for Edmunds.com.
"Both Ford and GM have new vehicles coming that should help
them lower their incentives spending, at least at the beginning of the
new model year."
In July 2004, Korean
automakers spent $1,833 -- down $35 -- and European automakers spent
a record $2,562 -- up $228 -- per vehicle sold.
Japanese automakers spent $1,024 per vehicle sold in July, up
from $921 the prior month.
"As evidenced
by the record incentives spending by the European automakers in July,
the incentives war is certainly not confined to the domestics,"
remarked Dr. Liu
Of all brands, Mini spent the least on incentives, $80, while Scion spent only $212 per vehicle and Porsche spent only $257.