UAEL, NAELB
Sales: Irvine, CA.
20-Year Lessor with excellent reputation seeking an experienced goal-oriented sales professional. Great working environment, generous commissions, benefits. E-mail: jaimek@pacifica-capital.com

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Top Five Repossessed Assets

ROSLYN HEIGHTS, N.Y.,

-- Fewer trucks were repossessed in the first two quarters of 2003 than the same time last year, another sign that the economy may be improving for the trucking industry if clear trends can be established over the next few quarters, according to Nassau Asset Management's first public release of its NasTrac Quarterly Index (NQI).

Top Repossessions in 1Q 2003 The first NQI reports on trucks/trailers, printing machines, machine tools, construction equipment, and buses. These were the top five repossessed capital assets in the first quarter (1Q) of 2003, according to Nassau's internal records on liquidations.

Nassau Asset Management has tracked equipment values for several decades as a function of its nationwide remarketing operation, which recaptures and resells all types of assets including construction equipment, printing presses, machine tools, and buses. Recognizing the value its historic and current data holds for the equipment leasing and finance industry, the nationwide asset management company launched NQI, which reports on equipment types generating the greatest volume of liquidations.

Nassau clients can obtain more detailed information as part of the NQI service, including customized data on specific types of equipment. Ed Castagna, senior executive vice president, says NQI gives equipment leasing and finance companies a tool to help mitigate risk. It provides a snapshot of recent recovery and sales activity, helping equipment leasing and finance companies forecast current market conditions so they can make decisions regarding their portfolios if they are heavy in the types of assets experiencing the most repossessions as tracked by NQI.

"Nassau's NQI also can be used as one of several components to help gauge the economic health of individual industry sectors," Castagna adds. "Viewed over time, NQI's quarterly data on repossessions can be compared with data from the previous year to help identify which industry sectors may be experiencing financial downturns, upturns, or cyclical changes."

Castagna says the 1Q data, when compared with the same quarter a year ago, shows there was a 36 percent decrease in repossessions of trucks and trailers, and a 76 percent decrease in repossessions of machine tools. NQI's data on machine tools is in line with findings released Sept. 7 by the American Machine Tool Distributors Association and the Association for Manufacturing Technology, which reported increased demand for machine tools that could indicate a healthier manufacturing industry. However, other sectors suffered in 1Q 2003. Construction equipment repossessions, for example, jumped 452 percent. Repossessions involving printing presses increased by 141 percent, and those involving buses by 181 percent.

Top Repossessions in 2Q 2003 The second NQI reports on trucks/trailers, printing machines, machine tools, medical equipment, and construction equipment. These were the top five repossessed capital assets in the second quarter (2Q) 2003, according to Nassau's internal records on liquidations. Repossessions involving buses, which dropped off the Top 5 list in 2Q, historically peak in 1Q each year for Nassau Asset Management, Castagna says. Castagna says the 2Q data, when compared with the same quarter a year ago, shows there was a 32 percent decrease in repossessions of trucks/trailers. Repossessions of printing presses were down by 68 percent and construction equipment by 24 percent compared with the same time frame in 2002. Machine tools did not perform quite as well, with repossessions increasing slightly, by 4 percent. Medical devices made the Top 5 list in 2Q, posting a 228 percent increase in repossessions compared with 2Q 2002. Users should keep in mind that the assets NQI covers may change from quarter to quarter since Nassau plans to feature only the largest asset groups in its multimillion dollar portfolio. Additionally, results must be viewed over several quarters to establish reliable trends.

About Nassau Nassau Asset Management of Roslyn Heights, NY, has been providing full- service asset management, including asset recovery, collections, remarketing, full plant liquidations, and appraisals for more than 25 years to the equipment leasing and finance industry. For more information, please visit

www.nasset.com

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CIT Commercial Services Acquires U.S. Factoring Assets From GE Commercial Services

Strengthens CIT's Position as a Leading Factor

LIVINGSTON, N.J., -- CIT Group Inc.

(NYSE: CIT) announced today that its Commercial Services business unit has

acquired a substantial portion of the U.S. factoring assets of GE Commercial

Services, a division of GE Corporate Financial Services, totaling

approximately $446 million. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"Factoring has always been a core strength of CIT and this transaction

underscores CIT's corporate strategy to seek out opportunities that fit nicely

and expand our existing business lines," said Albert R. Gamper, Jr., Chairman

and CEO of CIT Group Inc.

"We have provided factoring services since the 1920's and look forward to

welcoming a host of new clients to CIT. This addition to our existing

portfolio reinforces CIT's commitment to the factoring business and broadens

our scope in the many industries that sell into retail channels of

distribution including furniture, apparel and consumer electronics," added

John Daly, President, CIT Commercial Services.

About CIT Commercial Services

CIT Commercial Services is a unit of CIT Group Inc. and is one of the

United States' leading providers of factoring, accounts receivable management,

credit protection, and lending services. Commercial Services specializes in

serving the apparel, footwear, furniture, home furnishings, consumer

electronics and other industries that sell into retail channels of

distribution. CIT Commercial Services is headquartered in New York City and

has offices in Charlotte, Dallas, Los Angeles, Danville, VA, Hong Kong and

Shanghai.

About CIT

CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT), a leading commercial and consumer finance

company, provides clients with financing and leasing products and advisory

services. Founded in 1908, CIT has nearly $50 billion in assets under

management and possesses the financial resources, industry expertise and

product knowledge to serve the needs of clients across approximately 30

industries. CIT, a Fortune 500 company, holds leading positions in vendor

financing, U.S. factoring, equipment and transportation financing, Small

Business Administration loans, and asset-based and credit-secured lending.

CIT, with its principal offices in New York City and Livingston, New Jersey

has approximately 6,000 employees in locations throughout North America,

Europe, Latin and South America, and the Pacific Rim. For more information,

visit http://www.cit.com .

SOURCE CIT Group Inc.

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Oh, No! Mr. Bill--- DVI Procedures Approved

Unbelievable, despite the various lawsuits, DVI, Inc. received U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval to implement bidding procedures and sell its assets to the highest bidder at an auction, free of liens and claims against the assets, pursuant to sections 363 and 365 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

If you missed this in Friday’s Odds and Ends---here it is again:

“My contacts at DVI corporate told me that the amount of misappropriations was approximately $80MM. $30MM from the International sector and $50mm

domestic. Another rumor - that DVI double funded deals under the securitizations. Meryll Lynch was too slow to catch on to the business and find these issues.

“ The big surprise so far - Rich Miller, the President of DVI Financial Services has not been touched. He was aware of all of the problems and was part of the

decisioning. Further, he determined who got funded. How he has escaped prosecution I do not understand. Mr. Miller always accompanied Mr. Garfinkel and

Mr. O'Hanlon during quarterly analysis conference calls - he was part of O'Hanlon's inner core.

“ With respect to Marlin leasing and for all investors, Piper Jaffray was a regular with DVI and participated in quarterly conference calls. I listened to most of the

calls over the past several years - I never heard Piper asked a hard question. These calls were more like a love feast with DVI. This is another reason why DVI

was able to get away with their deception as long as they did.”

( name with held )

( That is what two other insider told us, that it would be between $50 to $75 million, and they would not be surprised if it were higher. We were trying to reach the sales manager of the medical team, but he seems to have disappeared, either starting his own company or given a severance package with the stipulation of "non-disclosure." editor)

Leasing News is not alone in these comments as evidenced by Fitch’s ratings

and comments:

On July 1, 2003 Fitch Ratings placed all DVI, Inc. (DVI) sponsored medical equipment lease transactions on Rating Watch Negative. This action reflected Fitch's concern that the downgrade of DVI's senior unsecured rating could result in reduced financial flexibility that could ultimately pressure ABS collateral performance.

August 25, 2003 DVI announced that it had filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The bankruptcy filing constitutes both a Servicer Event of Default and an Amorization Event under the terms of the transactions' documents. At that time, the noteholders were enabled to transfer servicing to U.A. Bank, N.A., the back up servicer, if they elect to do so.

September 11, 2003, an Indenture Event of Default was declared by the Trustee due to DVI's failure to make full payments of principal outstanding on the notes as of the August 2003 payment date. The trustee also indicated that DVI has breached covenants of the transactions' documents due to its failure to make servicer advances with respect to the September 2003 payment date, its failure to provide the monthly servicer report for the September 2003 payment date, and its failure to pay certain personal property or other taxes on certain contracts or equipment as required by the transactions' documents. The continuation of these breaches for a period of over 30 days also constitutes an Indenture Event of Default under the documents of several of the transactions.

“Fitch is particularly concerned over the timeliness and accuracy of data on the monthly servicing reports. The most recent monthly servicer reports received by Fitch from the trustee are dated as of the August 2003 payment date and reflect performance for the period ending July 31, 2003. In its review of these reports, Fitch noted discrepancies regarding servicer advances and that defaults were not being properly reflected in the pool collateral balance. Fitch has yet to receive from the trustee or the servicer an expected time frame for the resolution of these issues.”

Fitch has also noted that the bankruptcy of DVI may negatively impact the financial condition of DVI Business Credit (DVIBC) borrowers in the near term. To the extent that there are large concentrations of DVIBC borrowers who are also lessees in the DVI equipment lease securitizations, there may be an acceleration of delinquencies and defaults that would be reflected in the transactions over a very short time frame.

“Fitch is also concerned about the potential deterioration of DVI's ability to continue servicing the portfolio with a reduced work force and if DVI's bankruptcy status changes from a reorganization to a liquidation. While U.S. Bank has indicated to Fitch that they have the capacity and ability to assume full servicing of the portfolios in a period of a few days, Fitch believes that, consistent with other servicing transfers, there may be an additional stress on collateral performance upon a servicing transfer.

“Fitch will continue to closely review deal performance and Fitch's ratings on the DVI equipment lease securitizations remain of Rating Watch Negative. However, the timing and magnitude of any rating actions may be accelerated based upon the timing, quantity and quality of information that Fitch receives.”

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Consumer Vehicle Lease Volume Down Another 7% in 2002

NASHVILLE, Tenn., -- The Association of Consumer Vehicle Lessors announced today that member leasing companies reporting both 2001 and 2002 volume had a total reduction in new leases from 2.02 million to 1.89 million. This modest 6.8% 2002 volume decline shows that leasing activity has almost stabilized. However, since the peak of leasing in 1999, leasing volume has fallen 42.6%.

The 2002 decline is due entirely to reduced captive volumes: total bank leases increased slightly: 0.6%, while all captive volume was down 8.5%.

"There were a number of factors contributing to lower lease volumes," explained Rob Mize, ACVL President, "including the expansion of the 0% retail installment programs and other similar manufacturer installment sale promotions, continued declines in residual values (causing higher monthly lease payments that make leasing less competitive compared to financing), and fewer manufacturer subvented lease programs."

ACVL members also reported that their end-of-term residual losses increased somewhat in 2002. Residual losses increased to $3,269 in 2002 from a weighted average of $2,961 in 2001, a 9.4% increase. While the increased residual loss level was an unwelcome development for lessors, consumers who leased reaped the substantial benefit by having lessors absorb these increased losses.

Put another way, consumers whose leases ended in 2002 came out far better than those who had purchased their vehicles since the residual value used in the leases that ended in 2002 was more than $3,200 greater than the actual trade-in values of the vehicles. Thus, consumers who leased saved an average of more than $3,200 compared with those who bought their vehicles in the same year, the study revealed.

"Now more than ever, it's important that consumers be informed about the benefits and responsibilities of leasing before they decide whether to lease or buy," said Mize.

The ACVL survey highlights a number of areas in which bank and captive vehicle leasing programs differ. The average lease term of bank lessors was 50 months in 2002, compared to slightly less than 40 months for captive finance company lessors. The average booking rate of applications received for captives was 72% compared to 51% for banks. On the other hand, the average bank lessor was more selective on credit with 86% of new leases having a credit bureau score above 680 (a standard measurement of a "strong" credit applicant). Captive Finance companies, which support vehicle sales of their manufacturing partner, had 60% of leases over that same threshold.

Security deposits continued to disappear. A few years ago, security deposits were so commonplace that they were collected in virtually all leases. In response to consumer preferences, this began to change in the late 90's. In 2001, for the first time lease security deposits became the exception rather than the rule, being assessed in only 35 percent of the leases of the average lessor. This trend continued into 2002: only 22 percent of leases booked had security deposits. Banks reported that just 7.7% of leases had security deposits versus 32.7% for captives. The decline in security deposits is in response to consumer requests to minimize upfront lease costs. Many members accommodate that consumer preference but charge higher rates or acquisition fees when security deposits are waived.

"A major part of our mission at ACVL is to provide consumers with the information they need to make informed decisions. Our Web site -- www.acvl.com -- is a good place to start for those who want to consider leasing among their options," noted Mize. A more complete review of the survey is available on the site.

ACVL has conducted its annual member lease survey since 1993. ACVL members account for approximately 80% of all consumer vehicle leasing in the U.S.

SOURCE Association of Consumer Vehicle Lessors

CO: Association of Consumer Vehicle Lessors

ST: Tennessee

SU: SVY ECO

Web site: http://www.acvl.com

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International Decisions Systems Becomes Private Company

New Owners Take Worldwide Lease/Loan Software Company Private;

Additional Purchase of Traq-IT From Seismiq Leads New Product Development

Strategy

MINNEAPOLIS, MN, The senior management group of

International Decision Systems (IDS) and Schroder Ventures U.S. announced

today that they have successfully acquired IDS, a global leader in

developing lease/loan accounting and portfolio management software and

services, and simultaneously acquired Traq-IT, an asset-based open

architecture software product, for a combined consideration of $55 million.

Schroder Ventures U.S. purchased the shares of the formerly publicly traded

IDS Group, plc of the U.K. and assumed the Company¹s indebtedness in a going

private transaction. Traq-IT was purchased from Seismiq, Inc., which was

partially owned by ThoughtWorks, Inc., a Schroder Ventures U.S. portfolio

company. Schroder Ventures U.S. is a private equity firm focused on

technology, media, business services, and communications.

The firm¹s senior management consists of CEO James Meinen, President Charles

Lyles, and CFO James Horstmann. As a private company, IDS will be able to

quickly create the next generation of market-driven software products to

meet the needs of today¹s leasing and asset financing companies. IDS will

remain headquartered in Minneapolis.

³For nearly 30 years, IDS has delivered on a steadfast perseverance to

develop, serve, and support high-end complex leasing software that allows

the world¹s largest lessors to manage their global assets,² Meinen said. ³We

are very excited to now have a substantial personal stake in building on

IDS¹ heritage and look forward to working with Schroder Ventures U.S. to

significantly increase our Company¹s growth.²

Nicholas E. Somers, a partner at Schroder Ventures U.S., said, ³Recognizing

IDS¹ great potential, we worked with the highly experienced management team

to acquire the business. As a well-capitalized, private company, IDS is now

positioned to build on its success to date by ensuring it is providing its

customers with the most innovative technology and services in the industry,

which should be greatly augmented by the acquisition of Traq-IT.²

IDS Purchases Traq-IT from Seismiq and Signs Services Agreement with

ThoughtWorks In addition, to acquiring the Traq-IT system from Seismiq, Inc., IDS has

entered into a services agreement with ThoughtWorks to continue the ongoing

development of Traq-IT, which builds on the IDS heritage of innovation in

lease/loan technology. ³By adding Traq-IT to the IDS product mix, we will be

able to develop the next generation InfoLease,² Meinen said. InfoLease,

produced by IDS, is the world¹s premier lease/loan portfolio and asset

management system. ³Integrating Seismiq¹s technology will allow IDS to offer

the same level of functionality as with the current InfoLease product, while

providing the customer with a system that is more easily integrated into the

customers¹ other applications, as well as transition the customer from

contract-based management to asset-based management.²

Roy Singham, President and CEO of ThoughtWorks said, ³We are excited about

the prospects of our partnership with IDS. We believe IDS' decision to

integrate Traq-IT into the next generation of InfoLease is a testament to

both the need in the marketplace for true, asset-based management

technology, and to the exceptional business value Traq-IT has created for

customers in production.² ThoughtWorks is a recognized world leader in the

development of highly complex, transactional systems.

IDS Management Team

In addition to Messrs. Meinen, Lyles, and Horstmann, Anthony Laudico will

serve as the Company¹s interim COO, overseeing sales and marketing as well

as international operations. Laudico, Schroder Ventures U.S.¹s operating

advisor to IDS, has 17 years of experience in the software and technology

industries, including various management positions with Microsoft. He also

served as CEO of the digital entertainment company Muze, and was President

and COO of Agency.com.

³We are confident that the combination of the IDS team¹s expertise with the

strategic and financial capital provided by Schroder Ventures U.S. and

Seismiq¹s innovative technology will allow IDS to enhance its position as a

global market leader by continuing to produce the best of breed solutions

for the lease/loan industry,² said Laudico.

About International Decision Systems

International Decision Systems (IDS) is the global leader in developing

lease/loan accounting and portfolio management software and services.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, IDS has offices in London, Sydney,

and Singapore. IDS offers the largest and most experienced global

consulting, implementation, and technical support teams in the leasing

industry.

InfoLease, the world¹s premier lease/loan portfolio and asset management

system, comprises the foundation of IDS¹ product line. With a web-enabled

front-end and more than 70 custom add-on solutions, InfoLease is the most

adaptable and scalable lease/loan technology available in today¹s

marketplace. IDS and InfoLease are registered trademarks of International

Decision Systems. For additional information about International Decision

Systems, visit www.idsgrp.com <http://www.idsgrp.com/> .

About Schroder Ventures

Schroder Venture Partners LLC (Schroder Ventures U.S.) is one of six

affiliated international private equity organizations advising over $7.5

billion of funds under management in 11 offices located in North America,

Europe, and Asia. The firm is focused on middle market investment

opportunities in the media, business services, communications, and

technology services sectors in partnership with management. Schroder

Ventures U.S. is currently investing a $270 million fund. Further

information can be found at www.svus.com.

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Managers buy Int'l Decision Systems—Newspaper Story

Mark Reilly, Senior Writer, Minneapolis Business Journal

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2003/09/15/story2.html

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IDS Press Release Reaction---Finally!!!

Finally, or “at last, “ the official press release. As Leasing News has been writing about the attempted take over of IDS by Capital Stream since June, http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/June%202003/06_02_2003.htm#capital , among others, this confirms the stories Leasing News has written that Schroder Ventures owns Tworks(Seismiq)and is rolling these two investments into one with a stated price of $55 million.) We have questioned the amount of money, CapitalStream willingness

to bid so high, perhaps pushing this so high as to “spoil it” for Schoeder. In the

Minneapolis Business Journal, they state 40% higher than the original offer.

But that is not the full truth. The Bank of Scotland note, this is a heavy debt

and perhaps one value in going private, you don’t have to show your balance

sheet to the public.

The dynamic of adding Anthony Laudico from the venture investor as an interim COO is an interesting one that sends up some red flags, according to informed sources. Leasing News has arranged an interview with Jim Meinem, one of the key players in the United States organization, as he takes on a tremendous job with a VC ”plant” breathing down his neck and watching over their day to day operations. It appears one of his main jobs will be to assure revenue gets diverted from the IDS customers into Thoughtworks. It was explained to Leasing News as being similar to when a bank forecloses on a loan and puts a banker in as the COO. He is there to collect the money from the cash cow.

The industry feels IDS is in line to perform with some top heavy senior management level:

Jim Meinem CEO

Charles Lyles President

Anthony Laudico Interim COO

Some questioned the need for the dynamic trio, noting that with revenues of $35M, this company would only require one or at most two people to fill this top position. All the competitiors Leasing News has spoken to question how the return of the money spent will be accomplished, especially since the “dot com” type leadership does not have a great deal of depth of knowledge or long track record supporting the leasing software space.

IDS customers are understandable apprehensive, maybe even nervous, and perhaps that is why the press release was long forthcoming from the end of the bidding in early July

of this year.

Thoughtworks has reportedly charged a lot of companies a great deal of money for developing software—with mixed reviews on delivering product that worked on time and within budget, according to a highly reliable source. . The scale of his business model is in the tens of millions for projects. This reportedly very out of range for the typical IDS user’s budget.

Another source who does not want to be named, believes this combination has certainly expanded Thoughtworks’ base of possible customers and given them some very broad leverage in encouraging these users to march to the drum that Thoughtworks dictates. “As a user, if I was happy with Thoughtworks business model, vision and billing methodology, it would represent a win. If I was leery of them, I would be looking for the exit door.

“I am also interested and curious why they bought Traq-it (the back and) and not Linq-it. At his point, I don’t know why they did this, but pieces may fall into place as they did when you reported that Schroder Ventures was the primary investor in Thoughtworks.

“Both Traq-it and Linq-it were different and did not make a smooth transition. Traq-it was developed for Dana Credit, while Linq-it was developed for Caterpillar—Thoughtworks tended to write one-off custom software, not generalized industry level software for a variety of different users.”

The only person we contacted who would go on the record was John McCue of

McCue Systems:

“As the president of IDS’ main competitor, I have been watching this transaction over time with some interest. You have been giving excellent coverage on the topic. Several of the people I have been following this with have been quite surprised at the bid price for the company—seemed high. I had been wondering what the motivation would be behind the investors.

“When your report today said that Schroder Ventures was also an investor in Thoughtworks, and that the arrangement included a “services agreement” between IDS and Thoughtworks things became clearer to me. Is it possible that Schroder Ventures’ motivation could be to use Seismiq’s Traq-it to create a conduit for Thoughtworks consulting revenues through IDS and its customer base?

“One would imagine that the current IDS staff would not be equipped to support nor complete the Traq-it product since it has a very different architecture using different technologies than the IDS staff is familiar with. This will drive a huge amount of billable consulting revenue into Thoughtworks pocket—weather directly from IDS or thought their customers.

“It seems that purchasing Traq-it will most likely cause many of the IDS customers to look at their alternatives prior to committing to the time and expense of a migration. At a minimum, they might not want to be the first to migrate—let the kinks be ironed first.

“IDS’ press release which states that Traq-it will be the next generation of Info lease seems to send a signal that Info lease is an end-of-life product with little or no future investment in development or enhancement of this technology.

“While Traq-it can provide IDS a leg up at a general level by providing them with a much needed newer technology base, the Traq-it architecture was not designed to mirror or support many of the deeper second level capabilities of the Info lease system. Those features evolved over time with field usage and were possibly the reason many users selected Info lease in the first place. Traq-it, by contrast, is still an immature product, lacking proven field usage. One could surmise that it could take several years before Traq-it becomes “industrial strength” and able to handle many of the unique specific needs of a variety of Info lease User Community. Thus it would probably not be a straightforward migration for an Info lease user to move onto Traq-it.”

Leasing News also obtained this comment, but the sender requested we

with hold their name:

“Tell me what you think.

“Who has a better chance of leading the company into the future.

CapitalStream or an equity investor who is invested in techonolgy and can

see that this is a very small niche market?

“Who is the real competition for IDS in this industry? The many small

companies chasing the business or SAP and Oracle?

“Are SAP and Oracle really going to commit the investment dollars and

development time needed to support such a small market?

“What about the other players aren't most of them getting old and wishing

they had as much luck with their exist strategy that would pay off like the

one Rich Brochers had?

“OK, so what do I think? I think that in the long run this will be good for

the industry. I say this because the big players will black box the system

and use their own surround systems. It is what they do today as they don't

want to build the system. The small guys will use it as a total solution to

reduce costs.

“The key is speed to market. This will not be measured in what you or I say

but in what they manage to deliver and how quickly they can deliver it. It

will be fun to watch.”

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MicroFinancial Incorporated; Company Continues To Reduce Debt Obligation; Corporate
Headquarters Lease Extended For Two Years

(Leasing News attempted to reach Mr. Latour, and his “assistants” regarding

if the company was profitable, and to understand the full picture, but

they were all “out of the office.” )

WOBURN, Mass.----MicroFinancial Incorporated (NYSE-MFI), a leader in Microticket leasing and finance, announced today the company continues to reduce its outstanding debt obligations and as of August 31, 2003 has reduced the debt balance in excess of the amounts required by the Company's long-term bank agreement.

The Company's principal payments on its securitization notes and senior credit facility have consistently been paid down according to their repayment schedules. As of September 1, 2003, the senior credit facility debt balance outstanding was $73.5 million, compared to an expected $78.5 million for the same period, as stated in the bank agreement.

The Company also successfully negotiated an extension on the existing lease for its corporate headquarters that will take effect January 1, 2004.

Richard Latour, President and Chief Executive Officer stated, "Once again we continue to surpass our required repayments and other financial expectations of our bank agreement. This includes surpassing our lender's target debt balance by approximately $5.0 million through September 1, 2003 and reducing our total interest bearing debt year to date by over $80 million. In addition, our debt-to-worth ratio, as measured by total liabilities less subordinated debt to total equity plus subordinated debt, stood at 1.5 to 1.0 at August 31, 2003."

About MicroFinancial

MicroFinancial Inc. (NYSE: MFI), headquartered in Woburn, MA, is a financial intermediary specializing in leasing and financing for products in the $500 to $10,000 range. The company has been in operation since 1986.

Statements in this release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In addition, words such as "believes," "anticipates," "expects," "views, " and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The Company cautions that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect the management's view only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. The Company cannot assure that it will be able to anticipate or respond timely to changes which could adversely affect its operating results in one or more fiscal quarters. Results of operations in any past period should not be considered indicative of results to be expected in future periods. Fluctuations in operating results may result in fluctuations in the price of the Company's common stock. For a more complete description of the prominent risks and uncertainties inherent in the Company's business, see the risk factors described in documents the Company files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

CONTACT: MicroFinancial Incorporated

Richard F. Latour, 781-994-4800

President and CEO

SOURCE: MicroFinancial Incorporated

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Business Leasing News Latest Edition

The September edition of Business Leasing News is available at

http://www.pattonboggs.com/newsletters/bln/Release/bln_2003_09.htm.

The blackout last month has prompted new concerns about energy investment in

the electrical grid and in an emerging method of obtaining power called

distributed generation. The lead article covers that topic and opportunities

to lend or lease assets related to power generation and the grid. Other

articles discuss such diverse topics affecting lenders and lessors as the

new ABA ethics rules, the focus of states on tax shelters, and the complex

issues involved in the approval process of the proposed $20B Boeing 767 fuel

tanker lease with the Air Force. Other articles relate to business aviation,

international finance and leveraged lease accounting under the new FASB

off-balance sheet guidelines.

Have a great week, Kit, and thanks for your interest in BLN.

David

David G. Mayer

Patton Boggs LLP

2001 Ross Avenue

Suite 3000

Dallas, Texas 75201

Tel: (214) 758-1545

Fax: (214) 758-1550

Author of: Business Leasing For Dummies

Publisher of: Business Leasing News

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Bond Values on Shaky Ground in Europe

ABSnet

European asset-backed securities appear poised for a drop in value.

Spreads on subordinate securities have already started to widen, as investors attempt to stock up on more-secure investments as yearend approaches. But a packed new-issue calendar will probably cause buysiders to take in their fill of top-notch offerings over the next few weeks - causing the supply of such products to exceed demand.

The result: Spreads on most senior asset- and mortgage-backed products will likely widen by 2-6 bp in October, market players said.

Until then, issuers of top-rated securities will probably find an eager audience. "There's a lot of pent-up demand. It really built up during the summertime," when issuance typically dips in Europe, one investor said. "The expectation on the buyside is that there's a huge pipeline . . . and it has reached critical mass."

The only sectors that are expected to dodge the spread-widening trend are those where issuance has been sparse, such as bonds backed by auto loans. That's good news for France's Peugeot and Renault and Germany's Volkswagen. All three automakers are slated to securitize before yearend.

Rather than erupting all at once, the bulging pipeline of European issues is on pace to flow steadily into the market over the next three weeks. "We know the deals are coming, but it's going to take time for the market to absorb them all," the investor said.

By properly pacing their issues, shrewd issuers can take advantage of surging demand - at least for now. For instance, price talk on the three-year notes from Kensington Mortgage's latest offering hovered around 40 bp over Libor earlier this week. That's 2-3 bp tighter than comparable bonds from the U.K. lender's last subprime-MBS offering in June. Barclays Capital and Bear Stearns are running the books on Kensington's deal. The 600 million British pound ($956.6 million) transaction is expected to price in the next week or so.

Several other U.K. mortgage lenders are shopping deals. Paragon Mortgages is marketing a $727.2 million securitization of the loans it writes for owners of rental properties. Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland are running the books.

Barclays is also among the three underwriters managing a Northern Rock offering that was making the rounds earlier this week. J.