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January 18, 2001
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dimensional Funding Lake Tahoe Office Break In Correction Placer County Sheriff Detective Helen Thompson states this was not really a "break in," but a forced entry. The "crime scene" was tampered with as the discovery was not made for many hours. There are no witnesses. The accusations that Mark Seif of Preferred Capital, and James Raeder, formerly of Sierra Cities and Republic Leasing of Anaheim, were seen at an adjacent Casino are " merely accusations, " according to Detective Thompson. There does not seem to be any "hard" evidence as to whether it was an "inside job" or "forced entry", but there is a list of items that were reportedly taken. " Some people trespassed into our office and took paperwork only, no valuables, " Larry Wagner,Vice-President, Dimension Funding said . Detective Thompson said today, " We are suspending further investigation, pending any new evidence." Both Mark Seif and James Raeder admit they go to Casino's in the area, as do most residents and tourists. They are both "outraged" at the accusations. There appears to be a dispute between Dimension Funding and Preferred Capital which further underlines the accusations flying around. "Indeed, Dimension recruited several of our employees to steal, yes steal, our files and database, as well as join their company just a few weeks ago, " Preferred Capital Mark Sief said." We did a thorough investigation so as not to improperly accuse anyone. But, when the investigation was completed we learned through conclusive evidence that one employee in particular had sent and received e-mails from Dimension while working for Preferred which discussed setting up an office near us for the purpose of raiding our office. We also discovered that this same employee had stolen several of our hard files. Indeed, the day this employee was caught and terminated she had a back pack under her desk chock full of funded files. The removal of company files, is strictly prohibited. Further, we later discovered through back and forth e-mails that a few of our pending deals had been sent to Dimension by this 'Preferred employee.' "I called Mr. Wagner and described to him what we had learned. He basically told me it was true and that employees could work for whomever and wherever they choose. I thought about advising him about California's anti-employee raiding statutes as well as causes of action for intentional and negligent interference with contractual relations, intentional and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage, misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair competition, and conspiracy to commit the above acts, all of which Dimension could be liable for, but I chose to recommend to him to not say anything further to me, and just have his attorney give me a call. He then sounded a bit more contrite and asked me to give him the names of the deals at issue so that he could look into the matter further. I obliged him. We talked a couple of days later and he admitted that Dimension had received those deals from this employee. I asked him what he planned to do about it and he said, 'well, we are going to give you a 50% broker fee on any deals that were taken from you.' Can you believe that?!?! I told him to F off and that I would be filing suit against he and his company, as well as any other co-conspirators or aiders and abettors and then hung up the phone. "The lawsuit is just about complete naming Dimension as well as several others. I expect to file it in Superior Court by the end of this week or early next. The demand is for several million dollars. And, I will investigate the statements he made to you and possibly others, and will not hesitate to file a defamation of character suit should the results of the investigation warrant it. Based on the preliminary information you sent me though, it looks like Mr. Wagner will be facing another suit as well." In a prior e-mail, Dimension Funding Vice-President told his side of the story. " Seif is correct, " Larry Wagner said in a communication to Leasing News. " Before we hired anyone, or started an office, a preferred employee sent two transactions to Dimension without their knowledge. If he has a beef with anyone, it would be his own employee, which he fired anyway. In addition, Dimension has made it clear policy through a signed memorandum at hire date that we will not accept any databases, trade secrets, or any type of customer files from any former leasing company. What Mark fails to realize is we have the right to solicit any employee of any company at any time. Otherwise, is every professional recruiting company breaking the law? He can sue us for whatever he wants... The two deals that were sent over are dead. It may have generated $5,000 in profit. He wants millions of dollars. We welcome the lawsuit." For the record, in my personal opinion, Mark Seif has always been forthright, honest, returning telephone calls, explaining things, sending e-mail, and in my opinion, does not hide anything. In doing interviews for Leasing News, he has been one of the most conscientious persons from the very beginning when there were rumors Preferred Capital being for sale. I personally cannot say enough about his honesty, his knowledge of the leasing industry, and to me, he is someone who cares. He always returns telephone calls. He does not hide from anything. He cares about his company, his employees, and to say the least, he has always been very forthright as far as I am concerned. In a recent e-mail with him, I found out "... prior to joining Preferred, I worked for one of the biggest law firms in the country, I was a prosecutor for the Los Angeles District Attorney's office, I worked for the California Department of Justice/State Attorney General's Office representing the State in criminal appeal cases, and have conducted myself in an ethical and honest manner throughout my life." I asked him if there was anything that he would like to add. "Please include a reference that when we caught the employee stealing our files and conspiring with Dimension to raid our office, and steal our proprietary information we have been justified in and could have easily had that employee arrested." he said. " Our President Louis Schneider made the decision not to go forward with criminal prosecution of this employee, despite the conclusive evidence supporting such charges. To now have Dimension and Wagner attempt to destroy Preferred's and my good name is abominable and will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law. I am absolutely shocked and disgusted by Wagner's reckless disregard for the law and the truth as exemplified by his statements to me, you, the police, and others. "I also think you should reword the portion of your story where you say the accusations are merely accusations. They are not, Jim Raeder and I personally told several people that we went to the Crystal Bay Club. We did so because there was no reason to hide that because we did nothing wrong. It is not as if there were witnesses as you originally printed who placed us close to the scene of the alleged crime." It should be noted that the Crystal Bay crosses two states,California and Nevada. It is a very small town. All the offices and clubs are located very near each other in comparison to a large area such as Los Angeles or New York. In reality, being in the same town makes everyone close to the scene. "Finally, you should know that Wagner's statements regarding the solicitation of our employees being perfectly OK is dead wrong. As I told you, all of the Preferred employees which Dimension solicited had executed enforceable Proprietary Information, Non-disclosure, Non-solicitation, and Non-Compete Agreements. Also, how does Wagner justify the theft of the two files he admits to taking?" In an earlier e-mail, Seif stated," California law applies because the acts were all committed in California, and at the time of the acts, Dimension was only in Irvine. As far as the muddiness of what a salesperson takes when he or she leaves, that is not at issue here. The employees involved were working for us at the time and had not terminated their employment. Additionally, each of those employees had executed an iron-clad and enforceable Proprietary Information, Non-disclosure, Non-solicitation, and Non-Compete Agreement." Due to press time, we have not had a response from Dimension Funding. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leasing Statesman Bob Teichman Speaks Out Seldom have I heard so much kvetching. The leasing industry is and always has been a volatile, vibrant, exciting and nerve-wracking business. We have always had challenges (remember 1981 and the days of 21% prime). Now we have more of everything; more people in the business, more volatility, more fraud, more competition in more segments. But the challenges are in degree, not in kind. So bravo to Bob Homans for giving the Internet issue some historical perspective. The Internet is an additional tool for lessors who want to speed up gathering, proposing and processing deals. But leasing is still, for the most part, a hands-on, face-to-face business, particularly for larger transactions. And it will remain so for some time to come. Companies seeing an increase in business now, even with reduced funders and tightening credit requirements, do not limit themselves to only one business segment, but use all the resources available to them, including web-sites, direct personal development of vendors and customers and expansion into larger and more varied transactions. The associations help this process by providing networking opportunities for lessors and funders, by promoting the industry and by providing comprehensive, on-going lease education. The associations, whether UAEL, NAELB, ELA, EAEL or any other, exist for the good of their members and not for the good of the association. They respond best when they receive clear direction from their members. Frequency and feedback make LeasingNews a standout. Associations and their members can learn from it. So here's my challenge to the members. Don't wait for your association to guess what you want - tell them. And tell them often and loudly. Do you know who the directors are? Call them. Do you know your local regional or district chair? Find out and help him or her put on an event or two. My challenge to the associations. Put your boards to work. Assign directors to call new members, have directors assist or speak at local workshops and events, send frequent letters or e-mails to the members informing them of various decisions which affect them. And always, always listen to your members. And we'll all benefit. Bob
Teichman, CLP -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bob Rodi Passes the Gavel to Chuck Brazier I would like to reply to Barry and Ken. First of all I would like to clarify my position on the four associations and the perception that I see them as competitors in the sense that businesses compete with each other. This is not the case. My reference is more to the point of efficiency than the success or failure of one association over another. Each association feels the need to put on events to serve the membership. Each association maintains a web site. Each association maintains staff members or out sources association management to an outside firm. Each association mounts its own education programs. I believe that the ELA is a totally different animal than either UAEL, EAEL or NAELB. They serve a much different constituency. The latter three however are so similar in nature, by virtue of the constituency they collectively serve, the education offered and the standards that are adhered to, that I simply contend that it is inefficient to maintain three separate associations whose membership and missions are so similar in nature. The NAELB may believe that it is an association for "Brokers" only. Would they turn me down for membership because I fund 90% of my transactions in house and then sell them in bulk purchase packages? By strictly traditional definition I am a "lessor" not a broker. The lines are so blurred between lessor/broker/funder that anyone in this industry can find themselves in any role on a given day. I used to be a hardliner on the subject of the separate associations. My experience as president of the UAEL last year, and my dealings with the transition of the CLP to an independent foundation that is mangaged by an advisory board comprised of members of the NAELB, UAEL and EAEL, taught me that these association are far more similar than different. I feel that much more could be accomplished to advance the cause of the third party originator by one larger association than by three smaller ones. The combined membership and budget of UAEL, NAELB and EAEL would make one formidable association that would represent the small and medium sized originators on a national, or possibly an international basis. I hope that the CLP foundation may be the vehicle for this type of change in our industry. A combined entity would have the money to mount lobbying efforts, improve communications, and offer education at a much higher level than is currently possible. While some of this has been done and will continue to be done by cooperation among the associations a lot more could be accomplished with a concerted effort. Just like the "golden rule" is a constant in our business, so is the fact that there is strength in numbers. With respect to Ken Greene's comments I would just like to say that the leadership of the UAEL is listening. Last year was a difficult year for me as president of the UAEL. I had to do some things that I would have rather not had to do. Things are not always as they appear and most will never know the extent to which the leadership went to insure the continued success of the association. Chuck Brazier has taken to personally calling each and every member who has written to leasingnews. I would encourage anyone who wants to talk about the UAEL to call Chuck or Me. Chuck will be personally communicating with as many members as he can this year. We have re-organized the UAEL and the new organizational chart shows the membership at the top of the chart and all other activity will be subordinate to, and revolve around membership. This is as it should be. The UAEL is a great organization because its members and its leadership care about each other and the industry. I know that the same is true for the membership and leadership of EAEL and NAELB. If that weren't the case, no amount of staff, dues or conference revenue would be sufficient to keep any association going. Thank you,
Bob Rodi --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Summation of Zuckerman's Observation ( to read the entire report go to: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/010115/15edit.htm By
Mortimer B. Zuckerman editor-in-chief We know from bitter experience that "little" recessions, like bad colds, can take hold and last longer than anyone imagined-and that they can reach a point where even monetary stimuli don't work. Just ask the Japanese: They have trouble finding borrowers even though their interest rates are near 0 percent. So if Greenspan and the Fed had waited to act, they ran the risk that business confidence would have eroded to the point where even lower rates would not have stimulated investment spending. The accelerated rate of decline in business confidence could have developed an irresistible momentum. I n the short run, only the Fed possessed the potential to reverse the waxing business pessimism. The governors have worried, and rightly, about the possibility of an unnecessarily large tax cut being advanced by the Bush administration. If they do not act again, they must reckon with the political consequence that they will put more steam into the Bush tax cut plan. The leaves may be falling. The snow may be falling. But the sky is not falling. The American economy still enjoys the most competitive technological and scientific base in the world. The unemployment rate remains very low (the rate announcement last Friday showed joblessness holding steady at 4 percent). Real incomes are still increasing, home values are still going up, and the business community and financial markets remain superbly efficient. But all these positive signs rest on the intangibles of consumer and business confidence. The Fed's swift and decisive intervention stanched the bleeding for now. But Greenspan & Co. will have to move again soon to keep the American economy on course. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/010115/15edit.htm for the entire report --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The List-----
( This is also available on line in html: http://www.leasingnews.org/list.htm
Thank
you new readers for your help with companies and dates. editor 68 Leasing Companies Major Changes ( For specific stories, use search on our site, or go to archives: http://www.leasingnews.org/archives.htm ) Advanta
Leasing (1/2001 Mortgage Division sold, re-affirms Leasing Division still for
sale 9/2000 for sale, former prez now at eOriginals,others
let go like Kaye Lee.) ***Original Purchases by Date by Unicapital American
Capital Resources 2/98 --acquires
assets of Unicapital ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We give you permission, and in fact, encourage you to pass on information to your colleagues. If you would like to join our leasing news network, we are free, with no advertising or banners, too--- all you need to do is e-mail us. View Us on Line, too: www.leasingnews.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why???? Kit, for the life of me, I cannot understand why the leasing community continues to send deals to sources when problems were present in prior transactions. There are plenty of good reliable funding sources that have been in business for years. Is it because the newcomers promise great this and that? Surely everyone left in this industry comprehends that funding sources only survive on adequate margins (as do brokers). Thus, when one sees this great deal that is outside the industry norm, should not the bells and whistles be going off in the cockpit? What is happening with these sources that seem to be in every issue of Leasing News is a constant reoccurnace in our industry. It always ends badly for the broker, the customer, and the industry. Yet these rogues always find someone to send them more deals. Rob
Day, CEO,
www.leasingnews.org
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