In February, Wisconsin became the final U.S. state to introduce a version of “right to repair” legislation.1 This marks an important milestone in a broader movement gaining ground across both the United States and Europe — one rooted in sustainability, choice and cost transparency.
If the new Wisconsin bill passes, the state will join New York, Minnesota, Colorado, California and Oregon in advancing access to more affordable, flexible repair options.
While Wisconsin’s bill focuses on agricultural equipment specifically, the right-to-repair movement extends much further. California’s law, for example, requires electronics and appliance manufacturers to supply necessary parts, tools and documentation for repairs to both independent repair shops and product owners.
While the headlines often center around a consumer’s right to repair their own smartphones and washing machines, the global right-to-repair movement has far-reaching implications for businesses, including the asset finance industry. Let’s look at how these laws could fundamentally alter how long assets stay in service — and how they’re valued, tracked and financed over time.
Extending The Life of Equipment
By ensuring replacement parts are available and that non-manufacturer technicians can legally perform repairs, the right-to-repair movement extends the life of the assets people rely on — everything from personal electronics to tractors and industrial equipment. Increasingly, the useful lifespan of these assets could stretch well beyond traditional expectations.
This shift presents a challenge — and a massive opportunity — for equipment lessors and asset finance providers. When a tractor, fleet vehicle or copier can stay in service for multiple cycles of use, it no longer makes sense to treat that item as something disposable or locked to a single lease term. Instead, organizations must begin treating the asset itself as the central unit of value, tracking its condition, repairs, usage and potential — no matter how many contracts it touches.
Why Contact-Centric Systems Fall Short
For many finance organizations, the right-to-repair shift represents a significant logistical hurdle. Traditional asset finance platforms are often built around contracts, not assets. This design made sense when the useful life of equipment was limited or when tracking repair and refurbishment history wasn’t essential. But in a world shaped by right to repair, those assumptions no longer hold.
Right-to-repair legislation also opens the door to a broader service ecosystem. Rather than relying solely on manufacturers for maintenance and repair, equipment owners can turn to independent providers or manage repairs in-house. This decentralization introduces new complexity: multiple service records, different service and parts suppliers, and a wider set of stakeholders touching the asset over time. For banks and independent leasing organizations, this shift represents a new revenue opportunity around bundling and streamlining access to third-party service providers. However, it also increases the complexity of managing the web of relationships surrounding any given asset.
As assets move through multiple lease cycles — possibly with different users, repair histories and usage patterns — organizations need a system that treats the asset itself as the foundation. In addition, banks and independent leasing organizations will need systems that are flexible enough to manage new service packages and provider relationships.
Without asset-centric capabilities, it’s difficult to know the true value of a given asset at any point in time. Was it refurbished last year? Has the battery been replaced? Has it moved from agriculture to construction use? These aren’t just service questions; they affect valuation, risk management and customer satisfaction.
That means finance providers need to be able to track asset-level changes at a granular level. Whether a device has undergone major repairs, had key components replaced or entered a different usage context entirely, finance systems should be able to account for those details to inform re-leasing, valuation and resale.
Pivoting to an Asset-Centric Approach
To adapt, finance providers must adopt platforms that place assets — not just contracts — at the center. That includes the ability to:
• Track individual assets across multiple contracts, leases or ownership changes
• Share or pass through service revenue to a wider network of potential providers • Capture repair, refurbishment and maintenance history at the component level
• Support valuation adjustments based on real-world wear, upgrades and part replacements
• Facilitate flexible funding structures that evolve as an asset is repurposed, resold or re-leased
For example, an electric vehicle might undergo a battery replacement and shift from a first-owner lease to a ride-sharing fleet. Or a piece of warehouse equipment might cycle through three companies, with hardware upgrades along the way. In both cases, the ability to follow the asset through each phase, even when it isn’t tied to a contract, becomes essential.
Toward a Sustainable, Circular Economy
Right to repair doesn’t just extend asset lifespans — it plays a role in building a more circular economy. Finance providers that can “sweat the asset” — extracting maximum value through longer life cycles, better servicing and smarter redeployment — stand to gain in both profitability and ESG performance.
Right-to-repair legislation is a critical step toward more sustainable, flexible and consumer-friendly industries. But for asset finance organizations, it’s also a call to action. The world is moving toward longer-lived assets with more complex histories — and only organizations that put the asset at the center will be ready. •
1Barnes, Erik, “Wisconsin just became the latest state to introduce a historic ‘right to repair’ law,” Good, Feb. 27, 2025.
Jeff Lezinkski is Executive Vice President of Product Management at Odessa.
