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February 21, 2001 Headlines---- Preferred Capital/Advance Rentals AccessLease.com Becomes Ampent Baltimore Technologies and eOriginal Enter WWW Fray Citibank Also Picks Up Dell Computer Financing Comdisco Gets Serious Class Action Fraud Lawsuit Rents in Fog City Falling After Dot-Com Shakeout ( Is Silicon Valley Next? ) Readers Rate the Rodi-Goodman Show------------ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Employee Question---- After reading your story about the employee inquiring about a new position at a company she didn't know much about and giving the sound advice of ascertaining their financial condition etc. before leaving her current position. It occurred to me that us Lessor/Brokers should take the same advice relative to funding sources. Thanks for the great job you do. Jeff Rudin, Quail Leasing jrudin@quailcap.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Preferred Capital---Advance Rental Fees I have only been in the leasing industry for a year and a half, and all of that time was with Preferred Capital/Lease. They taught me everything I know about it. Recently Mark Seif put out this e-mail about keeping advanced rentals from customers and I'm a bit confused and concerned about this practice. What do you think and what do your readers think about this kind of activity? I've attached the company e-mail sent to me for your review. Also- The rumor around the company is that Preferred Capital will declare BK this week. Thank you for your help and keeping my name out of this. ( Name With Held ) ( First, I don't think Preferred Capital will go BK. I think they will rise from the ashes. Mergers/Acquistions are very difficult and time consuming. Many leasing companies are having their difficulties with funding sources drying up, changing overnight, and credit is definitely tightening. I know morale is down among many leasing companies, but if you have the right attitude, as the principals appear to have, a positive attitude, you can make it in this industry. They have a strong bank behind them, and more importantly, everything in place to turn things around. Don't give up. Advance Rental Fees---wow. There are legal issues, policy issues, and many funders have rules on making payments on time, and this is not as simple an issue as it might appear.
I will ask readers for their
opinion, but to understand this
better I suggest you go to and click on the button "Advance Rental fees."
or you may take attorney Ken Greene up on his offer: " I would be happy to discuss this issue with Mark ( Seif), or anyone.
I am involved in several
cases involving the failure of brokers
to return security and inquiries. "Please feel free to call me at 415 925 0700, or to email me. " Thank you." Ken Greene KGreene100@aol.com Leasing News has verified that Mark Seif, General Counsel, and former prosecutor for the Los Angeles District Attorney's office, did write the memo. Preferred Capital, perhaps one of the first to use telemarketing and the Plastic Lease Card, will become a Capital Werks company. You will hear competition complain about this and that, but remember the funder is the one who bought the deals, set the parameters ( scores,etc), and there are always two sides to a story, perhaps many sides. ( Readers, you make up your own mind. editor ) From: Mark Seif Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2001 9:30 AM To: Whole Company Subject: What Happens to Advance Rentals When Deals Die? And Other Important Stuff. I want to take a moment to answer the above question and reiterate our policy regarding this issue because apparently there is some confusion. ***** also sent out e-mails last week and today on this topic and we both as well as Louis wish to be ultimately clear on the procedures for handling advance rentals. First though, a couple of general issues need to be addressed. Please understand we will soon be one company. As such I don't want to hear anymore about the CapitalWerks guys said this or CapitalWerks policies are different, etc. Soon (in a matter of days) Preferred Capital Corporation will cease doing business. It's sad but unfortunately there is nothing that can be done about it. The reason is, Preferred simply can't continue as a going concern with the millions of dollars of debt it has accumulated over the past several months. In fact, had our creditors pushed the issue we would have had to file for bankruptcy protection and probably close our doors weeks ago. Fortunately, Louis negotiated a deal with CapitalWerks that allows the company to survive, all of us to keep our jobs, and to rebuild the biggest and best leasing company in America. We are all very lucky to have these opportunities. Let's embrace this fact and stop the divisive, negative, and morale crushing comments that have been floating around lately. Simply put, we have collectively to resolve some of the problems that invariably come up when two companies become one. And, as you've probably heard the old adage, "if you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem." If this applies to you, do us all a favor including yourself -- please leave. The fact is, those of us that have been around through everything that has gone on for the last several months do not need nay Sayers preaching doom and gloom and bringing everyone down. The entire executive management team is committed to succeeding in this operation and will not allow a handful of negative people to prevent that success. So, please tell us about any problems, concerns, or suggestions you may have but do so in a constructive, professional way that is intended to resolve the problem and make everyone's job easier, more satisfying and more profitable. Do not whine, gripe, or complain just for the sake of it. It's not productive and will not be tolerated. Now, with respect to advance rentals, management recognizes the need to return many advance rentals to preserve relationships for current or future deals, and for fairness or ethical reasons. We are willing to do so and will do so on a case-by-case basis. Just present your reasons to Louis or myself and we will send back the money even though it's a Preferred liability that technically has nothing to do with our new company. Of course, any advance rentals received by the new company will be returned to the lessees if the deal can't be approved. What happens when the money is not returned? The advance rentals will be applied to commission after 6 months from the date the deal was declared dead (lessee notified that we are not going forward with their lease). The amount stated on the docs as doc fees will be treated as doc fees meaning will be paid at 40%, the rest will be treated as regular commission. The legal dept. will receive the requests on the same form currently being used, and will sign off that there is no threatened or pending litigation and will forward the request to accounting for payment to the reps. Please let us know if you have any questions or comments regarding the above or any other matter. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- United Capital Clearing Up There appears to be some confusion with the reports on United Capital. Yesterday's information appears to be about the United Capital that is a division of Hudson United Bank out of Atlanta. United Capital, Austin, Texas, has no connections to this company, Unicapital, or United Financial. United Capital of Austin was started by Steve Dallas in 1997 in Fresno, California and it was moved to Austin in the summer of 1999. United Capital of Austin has never been associated with anyone else. The only owner is and has been Steve Dallas. Apparently, the news of their operations caught them off guard last week and they haven't been able to respond. It's hard to deny the truth. Two more employees have supposedly left since then. Name withheld -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More JDR I'm sure you'll hear from JDR on this but their relationship with Copelco was terminated last year when Citigroup took over. I'm not sure who they are currently using. Our experiences with them indicate that they functioned more as a super broker than a direct funder. It appeared that they didn't have internal authority to approve or fund. This, combined with Copelco's "slower than industry standard" turnaround lead to frustrating service delays. We haven't had much opportunity to work with them recently since their credit window tightened but they certainly were a key component of our service offerings for our first 2 years. Hopefully they can find their way. We have lost too many funders already.(You may quote me, there's nothing here that they don't already know.) On another issue, I think that if you're going to print comments like those below you should absolutely demand that the author's name be used. It's one thing to protect "insiders" from retribution. It's entirely something different to allow unmitigated and unsubstantiated funder bashing. I'm sure you receive plenty of relevant comments with attributions attached. To do less undermines the credibility of your publication and pushes it into the realm of "chat room". It's far too easy to throw stones from behind a tree. ******************************************* John Craine, VP Sales PowerNet Financial Group Inc. Your Professional Equipment Leasing Network http://www.thePowerNet.com (800)348-2288 Fax (781) 461-9449 JohnC@thePowerNet.com ( We do not allow anything to be said or posted without either knowing the sender, personally, or verifying the information from a minimum of three sources, and/ or speaking directly with the company or people involved. There are many companies we have not mentioned who state United Capital owes them money from deals not funded or commission to their brokers, and super brokers who are complaining they can't pay the commission because their source, such as United Capital or U.S. Capital, have not funded the deal or paid them for the specific deal or other deals. We screen all "name with held" to the best of our ability. editor.) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Rodi-Goodman Show I would rather Leasing News not print personal attacks. Though they are quite entertaining, I think it is counter productive to supporting the industry. I know Bob can take care of himself. He does so very well. I know Ken Goodman thinks as highly of himself as he states that Bob does. Maybe this is a little bit like Andy Kaufman and the wrestler. Can't we all just get along? Andrew Thorn <athorn@nowlease.com> ( Wow. A great idea. I bet it would be a big draw at the Scottsdale Conference to see Ken Goodman take on Bob Rodi in the wrestling arena. Youth and courage versus old age and cunning ( at least, that is the way Rodi would see it...who by the way, is an ex-cop, Baltimore, Maryland, I believe...but maybe Ken could make it a tag team event!!! ) + + + Good grief....do we have to see this gladiator match between Goodman and Rodi every day? These guys are supposedly grown men, business professionals and, more than that, representatives of our "profession" as commercial finance and lease specialists dealing in a very sophisticated marketplace. They are both acting like petulant children with "my Dad can whip your Dad"...grow up!! I am used to having our industry associated with classy people like yourself, Armon Kamesar, Fred Shieman, Ron Wagner, Bob Skinner, Bob Putnam, Steve Head, etc. They projected dignity, integrity, vision and a sense of civility that is sorely missing through this recent scenario. Where is there any value to revealing this kind of inane slander in your publication each day? Who is it serving? Are any of us learning even a single lesson from it? Is our industry gaining prestige with our investors, funders and clients? This has been a very sad display and I don't believe there is any redeeming value for any of us in it. Why don't you just help them find a dark alley and let them prove forever who is the best man (read "child") by beating on each other until one doesn't get up.....won't that prove more than the verbal shots hiding behind email volleys?? Enough!!! Other than this crap, I really enjoy the terrific service and presentation you give us each day...keep up the good work and, Keep the faith!
Larry B. Turner, President Vision Capital Corporation lbt@visioncapitalcorp.com ( Just a moment, I never said I was a classy guy. and I have known Steve Head a long time. He is much a classy guy as Ron Wagner, who I also know. I also knew Fred Sheiman when he was alive ( he was a great guy, but he was a "street fighter," too.) Bob Skinner, Bob Putnam!!! Next you'll tell me what a classy guy Herb Saltzman was? He did run for five miles each morning through the mountains in Mill Valley, California.... ) + + + I have been enjoying Leasing News and having a few chuckles over the Testosterone Boys. Thanks for the laughs we all need then right about now. "R. Runyon" <capitallease@adelphia.net> + + + Mr. Goodman sounds like an interesting person-I hope you can point him out in New Orleans. ( name with held ) ( He is definitely "interesting." I will introduce you to him. editor ) = = = Perhaps I do not represent a majority of Leasing News readers, but I would like to suggest that Mr. Rodi and Mr. Goodman take their "discussion" offline. In my opinion, disagreement and discussion
are inevitable and often healthy. However, name-calling and insults serve no
purpose Thank you, Haley Carter Cobalt Leasing Program Manager Sun Microsystems, Inc. mailto:haley.carter@sfbay.sun.com ( Not worthy? I mean we are not talking about M&M singing with Elton John? editor ) + + + + + + As I have enjoyed the Bevis & Butthead (Bob Rodi & Ken Goodman) show, I have to agree with Ginny Young. For many years we have all tried very hard to project an image of professionalism in the leasing industry. Both Bob and Ken have initials after their names (CLP) which is supposed to indicate the most professional individuals in the leasing industry. The tarnish which is the end product of this kind of behavior is very hard to get rid of, even using Brasso, and both Rodi & Goodman are well aware of that. If Bob and Ken want to continue to "duke it out", a more appropriate forum would be a convenient alley, or a pool full of Jello. I want the ticket concession. Mark Speros, GM, Broker Division Landmark Financial Corporation Mark@LFCINC.com ( Mark, How about a wrestling match at the next leasing conference? editor ) I think Steve Geller had the right idea yesterday about this, "Those of who know the "Testosterone Boys" find this amusing and thought-provoking. For those who don't maybe it looks in bad taste. This is not the New York Times..." I have known Ken Goodman for many years, and the same with Bob Rodi. They both have dynamic personalities. They both have their own strong opinions, and God love them for it. Ken is quite active and helped form the National Association of Equipment Lease Brokers. Bob is very active and contributed enormously to the United Association of Equipment Leasing. Many see the two associations having different "attitudes", and perhaps this can be underscored in both their opposing views. It is like having the Gore Vidal and William Buckley on the leasing industry or maybe not. Inside their humor, are some thought provoking ideas and opinions. Almost like one is a Democrat and the other is a Republican. Why can't they have opposing views. In revolutionary times, Congress literally had fist fights. The first censure was against one congressman spitting in the face of another. Of course we have changed since then. Alexander Hamilton would not call Aaron Burr a gonif.editor Did you know we also have cartoons. http://www.leasingnews.org/cartoons.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- for free, and we are looking for new subscribers...it is free. Our Leasing News is for the entire industry, not just presidents or CFO or brokers but all employees involved in the leasing process, service providers, even attornies. We like attornies. AccessLease.com Becomes Ampent (tm); Releases Capital Acceleration Platform(tm) Company Accelerates the Current of Capital SAN FRANCISCO, CA. - February 21, 2001 - AccessLease.com today changed its corporate identity to Ampent (www.ampent.com <http://www.ampent.com>) and completed its transition from a traditional lease intermediary to a principal provider of private-label, automated financing solutions with the release of their Capital Acceleration Platform(tm) (CAP). "Ampent's new identity delivers upon our mission to offer the best-in-class business platform for the automation of ng the financing supply chain," said Troy Klith, Ampent CEO/Founder. "We've evolved from a traditional leasing intermediary to develop technologies and services that focus on solving our partner's core needs: the rapid fulfillment of their customers' financing with the widest selection of equipment-lease products the industry has to offer," Klith said. "Ampent's new identity reinforces our direction and provides a corporate umbrella for all our leading-edge products and services." Along with its new identity, Ampent unveiled its Capital Acceleration Platform(tm), the first complete point-of-sale leasing solution, providing vendors, manufacturers, banks and B2B Exchanges with an instant, automated lease-financing alternative. The CAP brings the lease transaction closer to the point-of-sale and, through Ampent's diverse Wholesale Funding Network, increases equipment vendors' and manufacturers' lease approvals, while providing competitive, risk-adjusted pricing. "Ampent's Capital Acceleration Platform is a winning solution for vendors and manufacturers who will increase their sales as their customers enjoy instant approvals, affordable financing, and quicker access to their leased equipment," said Todd Lowdon, Vice President, Business Development. About Ampent's Capital Acceleration Platform(tm) Ampent's Capital Acceleration Platform(tm) (CAP) is an automated platform solution that accelerates the distri |