The case of In re Gateway Ethanol, LLC provides an extended discussion of a sticky issue frequently encountered in bankruptcy or litigation: whether or not a lease is a true lease versus a lease intended as security. This recent case is now being cited as authoritative by many courts when looking at the true lease/lease intended as security dichotomy.... read more

October 2010

Uniform Commercial Code §9-311(a)(2) provides that the filing of a UCC financing statement does not perfect a lien that is governed by the state’s certificate of title law. Stepping out of the familiar and more-or-less uniform terrain of the UCC and into state title laws has proven perplexing, expensive and, in some cases, disastrous for motor vehicle lenders and lessors. ... read more

October 2010

With recently passed tax incentives in capital equipment, new emissions standards ready to take effect at the end of 2010 and one of the oldest U.S. truck fleets on record nearing a necessary replacement cycle, Martin Weissburg, the president and CEO of Volvo Financial Services, thinks the future is looking bright for the American trucking sector. ... read more

October 2010

To fully comprehend the impact the recession has had on materials handling, the Monitor spoke to Jeff Rufener and Eric Gabriel at Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America to get their take on the industry. Ranging from shipment activity to the affect of government stimulus initiatives, and from environmental equipment’s role to the impact of proposed lease accounting rules, they see the industry as healthy and growing.... read more

October 2010

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October 2010

In 1964, worldwide spending for computers was $2 billion. By 2014, 50 years later, IDC expects total IT spending will exceed $1.7 trillion — continuing to require hundreds of billions of dollars in working capital loans, customer financing and equipment lease funding. It is not fashionable to be enthusiastic, nevertheless, IDC believes the IT leasing and financing market will remain the most dynamic and one of the most attractive for many years to come. ... read more

October 2010

Take one materials handling finance professional with nearly 30 years experience under his belt, one ten-year old equipment leasing company and a healthy portfolio of forklifts, and you come up with something new … something like First Financial Corporate Services’ Materials Handling Solutions.... read more

October 2010

Although modest growth in the trucking industry’s future seems imminent, it still looks to be slow going and will be for some time, according to American Trucking Associations economist Tavio Headley. Echoing the hesitant estimates of growth that Bob Costello provided the Monitor with last year, Headley remains cautiously optimistic. ... read more

October 2010

Many of the major valuation and appraisal firms in the U.S. have their origins in the auction business of industrial assets and/or retail going-out-of-business liquidations. The advent of the Internet, advances in fiber optics and telecommunications, computer technology and a growing global economy have fueled innovation in the way industrial assets are marketed and sold today.... read more

September 2010

At the beginning of September, President Barack Obama unveiled an initiative expanding to 100% the amount that businesses may immediately write off on capital investments. Business leaders applauded the move to broaden bonus depreciation; but some economists said while his heart is in the right place, the President’s proposal may not have the impact he anticipates.... read more

September 2010

It is news to no one that the equipment finance industry is under a lot of pressure to change the way its practitioners have always done business. A latest perfect storm of increased regulatory oversight, economic tough times and accounting changes are making life interesting, to say the least. The good news is that the technology needed to address these changes is becoming available at just the right time.... read more

September 2010

For this year’s Fall Conference Issue, Linda Kester offers Monitor readers a change of pace. Kester takes a look at the credit bureaus and their scores, and since understanding credit is essential to success, it’s a topic that should be near and dear to every broker’s heart.... read more

September 2010

The current economic situation, and the resulting increase in charge-offs and delinquency rates, now has many lenders scrambling to re-examine their policies and practices regarding protection of the collateral securing such loans. Ensuring the correct debtor name is sourced and filed on a UCC Financing Statement is the beginning part of that process.... read more

September 2010

Oscar Wilde once wrote,

"Between the optimist and the pessimist, the difference is droll. The optimist sees the doughnut; the pessimist the hole!"

The Monitor’s humorist, Dexter van Dango, grapples with these opposing forces in the following article. Luckily, and for those who know Dexter, predictably, the forces of optimism prevail.

September 2010

The summer of 2010 ended with a thud as August indicators ranging from housing sales to employment confirmed the economic recovery is still on tenuous ground. With economists split on whether we’re in store for a “double-dip” recession, we decided to ask a group of leasing executives how they saw the past year, and what they think is in store for 2011. What came across is that the industry continues to see the glass half full.... read more

September 2010