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(
Leasing News will observe Memorial Day---a day off to salute
those who have died for our country and serve today in the military,
as my son, Dashiell, US Navy. See you, Tuesday. )
Kit Menkin’s Leasing News
www.leasingnews.org Friday,
May 24 2002 Accurate,
fair and unbiased news for the equipment Leasing Industry
Headlines---- Rates
on 30-year and 15-year mortgages drop this week
LeaseWizard Rolls Out 50-State Live Lease Quotes
MAEL Golf Tournament- Last Monday, Chicago
Payments/Information re: Commercial Money Center
Friday----Odds and Ends
The Trend Today for Leasing/Leasing Associations Beware
Equipment Leasing Association June Events
United Association of Equipment Leasing Events
Los Angeles to Break-Up—On November Ballot
Stan Evans to Join Legal Solutions Automotive
Lease Guide (ALG) and Edmunds.com Collaborate to Provide Consumers
Lease Versus Buy' Decision Tools (equipment, too) ###
Denotes Press Release _____________________________________________________________ Rates
on 30-year and 15-year mortgages drop this week By
Associated Press, WASHINGTON
(AP) Rates for 30-year and 15-year mortgages around the country
dropped this week, according to a nationwide survey released Thursday.
Freddie
Mac, the mortgage company, reported that the average interest rate
on 30- year fixed-rate mortgages declined to 6.81 percent this week
from 6.89 the previous week. A year ago this time, 30-year mortgages
averaged 7.20 percent. Rates
on 30-year mortgages hit a low of 6.45 percent in early November,
their lowest point since Freddie Mac began conducting its nationwide
survey in 1971. Even
though rates have moved higher since that time, analysts believe
that mortgage rates will be fairly stable this year and will continue
to support the housing market. Fifteen-year
mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, fell to 6.28 percent
from 6.37 percent the week before. A year ago, 15-year mortgages
averaged 6.74 percent. However,
on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average
initial rate of 4.85 percent, up from 4.81 percent the previous
week. Last year this time, one-year ARMs averaged 5.85 percent.
These
rates do not include add-on fees known as points, which averaged
around 0.7 percent of the loan amount for all three types of mortgages
last week. Even
though mortgage rates are low, Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief
economist, predicted home mortgage refinancing activity which hit
record levels last year will slow this year. ''Although
mortgage rates are at gene rationally low levels, refinancing should
start to drop off, as just about everyone who had an incentive to
refinance into a lower rate has done so,'' he said. ###########
######################################### LeaseWizard
Rolls Out 50-State Live Lease Quotes; The Only Provider to Offer
Captives and All Major Banks (
While aimed at consumers, also works on equipment leasing for business, or
consumers. editor ) LITTLETON,
Colo / -- LeaseWizard.com announced the official launch of its Live
Lender Quote service. Available to consumers in fifty states, the
service provides lease program details from all major banks in the
United States as well as virtually all manufacturer finance companies. "Consumers
need to know what lease programs are available before they go to
the dealership. The few leasing services on the Internet that offer
consumer quotes only provide rates and residuals from the few, usually
regional lenders that work with them directly," said consumer
leasing expert, Michael Kranitz, who is president and CEO of LeaseWizard(R).
"Getting a quote from one of these services only gives you
part of the picture -- the terms on which that particular company
is able to lease you a vehicle. Our service provides consumers
the best 6 quotes from virtually every major bank and manufacturer
finance company that serves the customer's geography. No other
service provides this type of information," he added. Unlike
services that are giving quotes to try to get consumers to lease
from them, LeaseWizard(R) has no stake in the consumer's lease and
its sole purpose is to provide unbiased market information to give
the consumer the broadest possible negotiating power with either
a leasing company or a dealership. Consumers can purchase the quotes,
along with auto leasing software bundled with the best selling consumer
guide, "Look Before You Lease: Secrets to Smart Vehicle Leasing"
by visiting www.leasewizard.com on the Web. Consumers can also access
the quote service directly from their LeaseWizard(R) desktop software. LeaseWizard(R)
currently has a network of more than 35 partners, including Edmunds.com,
Intellichoice.com, InvoiceDealers.com and eLoan that promote LeaseWizard(R)
products. About
LeaseWizard.com LeaseWizard(R)
is based in Littleton, Colorado and has been providing consumer
leasing software, information and advice to consumers since 1995.
Recommended in Motor Trend, Automobile, Kiplinger and many other
publications, LeaseWizard(R) is the most popular consumer leasing
software on the market today. Consumers may access the site at
http://www.leasewizard.com . ###
################################################# Mid-American
Association of Equipment Lessors Golf Tournament Close
to 330 industry stakeholders participated in this years events by playing
one or both days of the Warm-up Weekend or in the MAEL Invitational on
Monday, attending the reception and dinner and being entertained
by the Bear's
new H-back, Mike Leach, or as sponsors. Needless
to say, warming up was a challenge as the Chicagoland area experienced
record low temperatures during the entire weekend. Feel free to
confirm with others in attendance, but I believe it is fair to say
that everyone had a great time playing, entertaining
and networking with others in our industry. Greek Islands was once
again the scene of a festive Saturday evening dinner after the round
at Ruffled
Feather's in Lemont and Nick Popovich hosted a lovely dinner at
his ranch
in Valparaiso, IN after Sunday's round at Aberdeen. Mike
Fleming (president of the Equipment Leasing Association ) was there
on Monday and said a few words on behalf of the ELA, including the announcement
that Rudy Gulliani will be the keynote speaker at the ELA convention
later this year in San Francisco. More
than 200 finished play on Monday despite the sunny but very windy
and chilly conditions. We are preparing a thank you to our sponsors
and an announcement to our membership and mailing list announcing
the results and winners which we will copy you on. We
will also be sending out a formal announcement in the next few days announcing
a change in the date and format for next years events; 1)the date will
be in either June or August to ensure that warming up is never again
a problem
and 2)because of its success and the enthusiasm of a core group
of avid
golfers who would like to play (for economic gain) some of the more famous
courses in Chicagoland like Bob-o-Link, Medinah, Butler National, Kemper
Lakes, Black Sheep Golf Club, Olympia Fields, Dubsdread at Cog Hill (we
may also relocate the Team Challenge to Kohler WI, the home of Black Wolf
Run, Whistling Straits, etc.), etc., the Warm-up Weekend will become the
MAEL Team Challenge with room for a limited number of four man teams (ladies
are always welcome as well, unless we have a black out for play
at Bob-o-Link
or the Black Sheep Golf Club which are men only clubs, in which case
we will arrange an equally challenging alternate venue for the ladies or
lady teams). Jeff
Elliott of Huntington Bank Equipment Finance and Fred Summers
of Vision Financial Group will be organizing the Team Challenge
(I am
working on them to become co-chairmen of the Invitational as well
for next
year and to commence a rotation of the chairmanship of these events
on an
annual or biannual basis). We
will also be migrating to a new advance registration policy which
will
1)permit our members and their guests assurance
that they will have priority registration rights and to permit them
to plan ahead and
2) to reduce the volunteer staff's administrative costs
of later event announcements and some participants last minute registrations.
We
expect both 2003 events to be sold out before the end of this
summer. I hope you and Jim (Merrilees) will be able to make it
next year! Best
regards, Clyde
D. Cady President Facility
Capital 333
West Wacker Drive Suite
1750 Chicago,
IL 60606 ccady@facilitycapital.com 312.541.6000
phone 312.541.1275
fax 312.399.9335
mobile ((
I thought Jim Merrilees was going this year, maybe next year, thank
you very much for the report, as it is appreciated by all
of us. editor ) Payments/Information
re: Commercial Money Center Allow
me to offer some assistance to you and your readers with questions surrounding
the servicing (payments, payoffs, lien releases...) of the Commercial
Money Center financial lease agreements. Stuart Allan & Associates
Inc. is now acting as the sub-servicer of the Safeco Insurance portfolio
and can be reached at the numbers provided below.
Please understand Stuart Allan & Associates Inc is not an agent
and or associate
of Commercial Money Center or its principals. Stuart Allan & Associates
is acting as an authorized independent agent of Safeco Insurance Company.
Stuart Allan & Associates accepts no responsibility for the actions
taken by Commercial Money Center, its staff and or authorized agents. Respectfully, Troy
Lang Stuart
Allan & Associates Ph#
800-880-5400 ext 238 Ph#
520-322-7238 Fax#
520-323-0026 Friday----Odds
and Ends MSM
Capital, Irvine, California Leasing
News received many comments about this article, but since none of the
senders wanted us to use their name, we are not printing them.
Let’s just say
they were not favorable to MSM Capital or its principles. editor --------------------------------
From: Tom_Pundyk@nlgroup.ca
I
regularly trash most of my in and out email so I do not have a copy
of the
email I sent on Monday but I know what I said. "
I was reviewing the eLNA site and read that there was a "leasing
news" site
that I had not hear of. I was pleasantly surprised that the content and
layout was very clean and to the point. I liked the candid approach
and the
quality of the articles. Keep up the good work." ---
From: Tom Kelly <tomk@tommel.tzo.com>
I just wanted to thank you for your efforts! I read your newsletter
daily. Keep up the good work.
Tom Kelly
Tommel Financial Services, Inc.
Diamond Equipment Leasing, Inc. ----- Monitor
Daily
Jay Foster
Address = P. O. Box 670807
City = Dallas
State = TX
Zipcode = 75229
Phone = 214.378.7172
Fax = 214.363.3933
Email = Jay_Foster@MidParkCapital.com =
Comments = Regarding Teri Gerson and her complaint about
the Montior
and Molloy Associates. Last evening I renewed my subscription with
the
Monitor ... and remitted a check payable to Molloy Associates (the
recruiter
... and yes, publisher of the Monitor). I appreciate The Monitor
and
believe it to be an excellent resource. In my mind it represents
a value
added service to the industry which also serves as a marketing piece
for
Molloy Associates and its recruiting services. As such, I would
not expect
that them to publish the developments of their competitors. Don't
we
all wish we could develop such a marketing piece ... one that is
highly valued
and read by its target market ... and one that many of us are willing
to pay for.
--- from:
Stu Kahn full
review the law firm web site below: http://www.ppbfh.com/index.htm Be
sure to read each link. You won't believe this one. (
Stu was right. This is a riot. editor ) ------------------------------------------------------------ The
Trend Today for Leasing/Leasing Associations Beware The
big companies are imploding. In the next year or so you are going
to see all of the consolidation fall apart. Even GE will be looking
to get rid of companies that it bought because the changing laws
and accounting rules will make it very difficult for them to absorb
these companies. Investors are looking harder at the real numbers
and nobody is going to take the word of the “analysts”
the way they used to. Growth
by acquisition will no longer be fashionable. These companies will
be out there trying to figure out how to originate deals again.
Like always they will turn to the third parties who have always,
without fail, been the best at this. The leasing industry resists
consolidation because it works better as a fragmented industry.
This is true of most financial services that have traditionally
revolved around a complicated lender/debtor relationship. Look at
the proliferation of community banks. The
big banks get bigger and bigger. Every time they buy out a regional
bank there are 50 community banks that spring up in that region
over the next few years. After a while it starts to become evident
that our customers prefer a fragmented industry. The
same thing is going to happen in leasing. AMEX, Citigroup, GE,
CIT/Tyco are going to lay off more people, downsize, etc. Just
like 25-30 years ago when Woodley, Oren Hall, Mark Schickendantz,
the Mellon brothers, Gordon Roberts, and many others came out
of a group of leasing companies and formed most of the broker business
in the west, these laid off people will start the cycle all over
again. Ira Romoff predicted this at the last joint UAEL/EAEL meeting
in Vegas. He said the big companies would collapse under their
own weight. “Funding sources” will come back and some
new ones will find their way into the industry. We are already seeing
some companies making their mark like Great American and Marlin.
This will be especially true if the industrial sector of the economy
continues to lag and there is increasing pressure to bring back
Investment Tax Credit and lower marginal tax rates. The
next three years will be the most important years in the history
of leasing associations that represent the third party segment of
the industry. The associations should be concentrating on training
and education. I still haven’t found a university that offers
a degree in “leasing”. It’s difficult to even find
a course in leasing. It will also be important for the association
leadership to realize there may be global opportunities, in both
funding and business development even for smaller companies. I
believe that this needs to be at the heart of the association movement. Bob
Rodi, CLP Lease
Now drlease@leasenow.com ----- Equipment
Leasing Association Conference (
Don’t know if you can attend, except ELA President Mike Fleming
said one
event a year is available to non-members.. The Inter-Association
Conference was to work on an mutual aid pact, but it appears the
committee is headed in different directions. Perhaps Mr. Fleming
is correct. Better to join ELA, than
remain a non-member. These are great events: ****************************** 7.
Make Plans to Attend BTS Conference June 16-18, 2002 ****************************** Plan
to attend the ELA Business Technology Solutions Conference, June
16-18, 2002
at the Philadelphia Marriott Hotel in Philadelphia, PA. This year's conference
will guide you in improving your business processes, enhance customer
satisfaction and increase operational effectiveness. For
further information on the BTS Conference, and to sign up, visit: http://www.elaonline.com/events/2002/bustechsol/ ****************************** 8.
Golf Anyone? ****************************** Spaces
are still available for the Sunday June 10th Golf Tournament at
this year's
Credit & Collections Management Conference, June 9-11 at the
Hyatt Regency
Hill Country Resort, San Antonio, TX. Cost is $130 and the shotgun start
will be at 8am. To
register please go to: http://www.elaonline.com/events/2002/credcoll/ Or
for further information contact Jeanne Lund at (703) 516-8366. ****************************** 9.
What are the Accounting Changes, Legal Implications and Financing Opportunities
for Off-Balance Sheet Transactions in the Post-Enron World? ****************************** Join
the ELA, IFIAC and the Bar Association of San Francisco on Thursday, June
13 at the Banker's Club in San Francisco, for a luncheon and program
on "An
Update on Off-Balance Sheet Transactions: Synthetic Leases, SPE's,
and Receivables
Securitizations". Panelists include Harry Amyotte of Scotia Capital,
Dayton Lierley and Tom Trauger of Ernst & Young, and Pamela Martinson
and William S. Veatch of Cooley Godward. The program will include a
discussion about synthetic leases, special purpose entities, and receivables
securitzations. There will also be a roundtable discussion after the
program, with an opportunity for the audience to ask questions.
Cost is $48
per person for ELA or IFIAC members, or $56 for a non-member (including lunch).
For
further information and to register, contact Linda Cain at IFIAC
at 01cain@gte.net
or (626) 974-5429. This program has been approved for MCLE credit
by the State Bar of California for 1.5 hours ****************************** 10.
Sticking to Your Proven Credit Standards... ****************************** ...even
strengthening them...will help you weather this tough period. Being selective
is smart business. The ELA Credit & Collections Management Conference,
June 9-11, 2002 at the Philadelphia Marriott, Philadelphia, PA, helps
you handle the issues that keep you up at night. The
ELA Credit & Collections Management Conference & Exhibition
has been meeting
the needs of credit & collections professionals since 1987.
This year's
conference features specific industry evaluations & discussions;
tax, legislative
and accounting updates; important legal updates and bankruptcy focus;
timely sessions on credit scoring, fraud and collections management; together
with the usual great networking opportunities and golf tournament. For
further information and to sign up, go to: http://www.elaonline.com/events/2002/credcoll/ ****************************** 11.
Principles of Leasing Workshop--Still the Best Way to Prepare New Employees ****************************** ELA's
Principles of Leasing Workshop is your answer to helping new employees understand
the basics of the leasing and finance industry. This 21/2-day program
is taught by veterans of the industry and is scheduled in ten locations
throughout the US. Each year, nearly 400 people attend this valuable
workshop. The next workshop is scheduled for June 17-19, 2002 in Baltimore,
Maryland. A few spaces still remain. To
review the agenda for the course or to register for a workshop near
you, go
to: http://www.elaonline.com/events/2002/Principles/index.cfm -----------------------
UAEL
2002 ANNUAL CONFERENCE & EXPOSITION October
3-6 Sheraton
San Diego Hotel & Marina San
Diego, CA Register
before June 1st and save $50 with the Super Early Bird Registration Attached
is the Exhibitor Registration Form, Sponsorship Opportunities and
Super Early Bird Registration Form Online
registration is available at www.uael.org AUDIO-CONFERENCE Wednesday,
June 5, 2002—Lessor-Vendor Relationships Definition
of Roles • Traits to Look For • Elements of a Vendor Program
• Potential Problems/Potential for Fraud • Creating a
vendor program model
that highlights your strengths and builds long-term business INSTITUTE
FOR LEASING PROFESSIONALS June
6 - 8 Balboa
Capital Irvine,
CA Visit
the UAEL website at www.uael.org for details and to register online CHICAGO
REGIONAL BASEBALL GAME Thursday,
June 27th Chicago
Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds 11:00am
- Lunch at Goose Island Brewery 1:20pm
- First Pitch Contact
Shari Lipski, CLP at Edwin C. Sigel for details slipski@edwinsigel.com FUNDING,
EDUCATION & NETWORKING FORUM Friday,
July 26 Warwick
Hotel - Philadelphia, PA 8:00am
- 4:00pm This
very exciting day is filled with education and networking opportunities
for your entire staff and will include: *CLP
Review *Anatomy
of a Lease 101 *One-on-One
Appointments *CapitalStream
Advantage Training *TimeValue
Software Training *Roundtable
Luncheon with UAEL Board of Directors We
look forward to welcoming you and your staff to our future UAEL
events. Please contact us should you have any questions or need additional
information. See
you soon! Joanie
Dalton - Chief Operating Officer UAEL
- United Association of Equipment Leasing 520
Third Street, #201 Oakland,
CA 94607 (510)
444-9235 x27 * Fax (510) 444-1346 joanie@uael.org
* www.uael.org June
10-12 Pennsylvania Coming
to the East Coast! 802.11 Planet Spring 2002 Conf. & Expo Sponsored |