|
NAELB "List Serve" With respect to Lease Acceptance, that brings up two issues. The NAELB has started a new service for its members, a "List Serve". Although I am not the most technical person in the world, essentially this is like a global email. This allows members to send emails to all other subscribers. So, I can go onto the List Serve, send an email to the "server" and then the server turns around and sends the email to all of the subscribers. We are excited by this new services that opens dialogue between members on a daily basis. With regard to Lease Acceptance, I posted what I found out about them. Members can contact the NAELB headquarters at 800-99-NAELB and they can tell people how to gain access to the List Serve. Thanks Kit Joseph
G. Bonanno ( this is for NAELB members only! Another service and reason to join this organization www.naelb.org. "List Serve" will eventually move to the NAELB web site where members with their passwords can gain entrance, just as ELAonline does and other web portals ( as they are called ). Congratulations to a "with it" leasing organizations---editor ) OrixCredit Alliance To Close Small Ticket Division Orix Credit Alliance (OCAI) announced it will close its small ticket division based in Portland, OR, and exit the small ticket leasing business to focus on more attractive opportunities. Jay Holmes, president and CEO of OCAI said, "This was a difficult decision to make, as it affects many valued OCAI employees. However, it was well thought out and influenced by numerous factors. One of the most compelling was the competitive nature of the small ticket business, which requires substantial and ongoing investments in order to recognize returns. OCAI determined that the prospect for long-term growth in the small ticket arena no longer justifies resources required to maintain the business and has decided to re-deploy those resources to more attractive business opportunities in the future." Holmes further stated that small ticket lending attributes are not consistent with the company's long-term profitability objectives, and therefore, this action is in keeping with OCAI's desire to achieve more consistent, predictable quality earnings and returns for its shareholders. OCAI is a premier North American financing company servicing manufacturers, distributors and end-users for nearly four decades. The Company offers products and services in equipment financing and leasing, asset-based lending, and insurance and premium financing. OCAI is wholly owned and is the only operating subsidiary of Orix Commercial Alliance, which is a subsidiary of the $45 billion Orix.
CapitalStream Signs 30 New Customers Seattle, - CapitalStream announced today that a mix of 30 financing companies from the supply and demand side of the Financial Supply Chain, have subscribed to CapitalStream.com, the company's hosted e-business finance network. At CapitalStream.com, equipment finance brokers and funding sources can streamline workflow, manage credit risk, and transact deals, all through a ready-to-go hosted e-commerce solution. Recently signed customers consist of both finance brokers and companies that supply funds for business equipment, with deal transaction sizes varying between $15,000 and $8,000,000. Since the launch of CapitalStream.com, more than 40 paid subscribers have brought in approximately 200 outside participants. Companies CapitalStream has finalized agreements with include: Austin
& Associates McCommon Leasing Company Said
Stephen Campbell, president and CEO of CapitalStream, "The addition of both new
brokers and new funding sources demonstrates the value of our solution to both
ends of the Financial Supply Chain. Many of these customers said they couldn't
have afforded to enter the e-commerce world without our hosted/subscription-based
delivery model. Additionally, creating a full featured, secure e-commerce solution
themselves would not have been a profitable use of their time and resources." Other reasons the new subscribers gave for choosing CapitalStream.com included: the ability to completely automate the equipment financing process, the ability to customize finance programs for specific customers, and the ability to see the status of pending deals at any time. The new customers bring the total number of customers to more than 40, making it the leading B2B e-commerce network for the equipment financing industry. About CapitalStream Seattle-based CapitalStream offers end-to-end e-commerce marketplace solutions-including customer management tools, workflow automation and an online transaction network-for the global business finance market. The company's e-commerce network, CapitalStream.com, provides an infrastructure for financing companies, manufacturers and B2B e-commerce firms to capture, grow and service customers. CapitalStream has been an established industry leader for five years, and in 1999, its 600 customers used CapitalStream products to facilitate $8.5 billion in transaction volume. For additional information about CapitalStream visit its web site at www.CapitalStream.com. Finantra Capital, Inc. Signs Agreement to Repurchase $3.8 Million Convertible Preferred Stock Series PLANTATION, Fla.--- Company Says Approximately 2.3 Million Shares of Common Stock Previously Registered In June Will Be Deregistered Finantra Capital, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANT) today announced it has agreed to repurchase and retire approximately $3.8 million of its Series C convertible preferred stock. Under the terms of the contract, Finantra redeemed and retired one half of the series in July with the other half of the series to redeemed and retired by October 15, 2000. Holders of the Series C preferred stock had the right to receive a 6 percent annual dividend with respect to such shares and convert their shares into common stock of Finantra. The conversion rights carried variable conversion features which were advantageous to the holders of the preferred stock. As a result of the Finantra's repurchase of its Series C preferred stock, approximately 2.3 million shares of common stock registered during June 2000 for public sale by Series C preferred stockholders will be deregistered. The traunch of preferred stock recently redeemed and retired was repurchased by Finantra for 125 percent of such shares' stated value. The traunch to be redeemed in October 2000 will be repurchased for 130 percent of such shares' stated value. "We are extremely pleased to be able to accelerate the redemption of our Series C preferred stock way ahead of schedule," said Robert Press, Finantra chairman and chief executive officer. "This transaction has the effect of significantly reducing the Company's overhang of common stock in the market." About Finantra Finantra Capital, Inc. is a multi-faceted specialty finance company specializing in commercial and consumer finance delivered through traditional and online processing systems. The commercial asset finance group specializes in accounts receivable financing and equipment leasing. The consumer finance group is involved in mortgage banking and other types of retail specialty financing. The company recently completed a $36 million acquisition of Travelers Investment Corporation. The Carlsbad, California-based company, which is involved primarily in specialty consumer finance, maintains a consumer finance portfolio in excess of $50 million. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for forward-looking statements. Certain of the statements contained herein, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements with respect to events, the occurrence of which involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements may be impacted, either positively or negatively, by various factors. Information concerning potential factors that could affect the Company is detailed from time to time in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. CONTACT: Peter Nasca Associates, Inc., North Miami Beach, Fla. Peter Nasca, 305/937-1711 34 Leasing Companies Major Changes American
Business Leasing ( gone ) any corrections or additions, please let me know.
Bulletin Board BULLETIN BOARD ( These are postings for informational purposes. Any response, correction, addition, will be posted. We reserve the right to edit or delete any opinion that is not in goodtaste or is outright derogatory ). Universal
Capital reported by Citation Financial 7/19 Kit, my company, Citation Financial Group located in Fair Oaks, CA (Sacramento) is one of the companies having a problem with Universal Capital Services. They have not returned a Lessee's advance payment nor have they paid us our commisssion on a brokered transaction. I have sent documents to the NALEB attorney, who is following up on our complaint with UCS. We have also contacted a collection attorney in Florida. If you know of others who have been wronged by these people, please have them contact me. If you want all of the details I will be happy to e-mail them to you. We need to stop companies who make a bad name for the industry. Thanks,
Bruce Zwillinger, BSB, cuts off Universal Capital Service Bruce
Zwillinger, BSB, cuts off Universal Capital Service, Springhill, Florida informs
NAELB of their action. This company not returning money to lessee from deal funding
by BSB. Many attempts to get money returned to lessee, but many broker promises
by Universal Capital Service. Universal Capital Services
Source states Universal Capital Services, Springhill, Florida, took up-front fees
on deal and has not returned to lessee. Lessee is complaining to funding source.
This is the third complaint received on this. Source is trying to find out more
and request this be posted on bulletin board. Source will allow us to state name,
if this is not resolved. Parker Leasing $25,000
SD $29,000 first and last three months did not return money Parker Leasing and
Financing, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida no web site, no district attorney complaints,
advised to pull a D&B, find out who the secured parties are and if I can identify
them, will give them the person to call at the funding source to hear the full
story about what is happening. Parker Leasing and Financing refuses to return
commitment fee and first and last. Dodson Group - Delivery Charge We had been using the Dodson Group for overnight (Airborne) until recently. They were charging us $8.75 per overnight (their cost to Airborne is $7.61, who cares, they deserve a profit). But, in auditing our bills for the last 2 years we kept noticing that we were being repeatedly charged $12.00 to $18.75 for overnight on about 1/3 to 1/2 of the over nights. Initially, Dodson claimed "overweight", so we researched further and discovered that most of the overcharges were on checks going out overnight to vendors and brokers - no way this could be "overweight". For the past year we have faxed and called Dodson repeatedly to get corrected invoices - no one would even respond! So, we put them on notice that we would not pay any more invoices until they corrected their over billing problem - they never did. Their
response was to turn us over to a collection agency! We are convinced they purposely
overcharged us, and probably every other client! Dodson does a lot of biz with
NAELB brokers, don't these brokers need to know about Dodson's policy of quoting
one price and charging another? Universal Finance / Universal Manufacturing Avoid
this company like the plague. I believe that if it is the same one they also run
companies under the name(s) Universal Manufacturing -(Vendor) & Universal Finance
(Credit repair company). I'll look up the e-mail I received on this a while back.
I think what the story was is that Universal Capital would submit a deal to funding
source, then if declined due to personal credit, Universal Finance would repair
credit then resubmit elsewhere. The vendor would be Universal Manufacturing who
would sell $2,000 computers for $40,000 invoice (just under F/S disclosure). Then
they split excess with lessee. Though I'm not sure about the Florida part. I'll
get back with the additional info ASAP. Universal Capital
Do you know anything about Univerasl Capital Services, Inc., in Spring Hill, Florida
34606. One of the lease brokers I work with is having trouble getting paid on
a deal. He thinks the company is owned by Jim and Anita Koper. Please let me know
if you hear anything. Metropolitan
Mortgage Metropolitan Mortgage and Sec in Washington had a division that funded
the lesser credits. Well they have stopped and are not honoring their approvals
if they don't already have signed docs. This was told to me by a broker in Arizona
who has 10 deals sitting with them and she is now scrambling to replace them.
Venture Capitalists Still Love The Net, Just a Little Less By Lisa Bransten, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal The great gusher of cash into Internet companies is starting to slow. But it is still gushing. Investment in Internet companies by venture-capital firms fell in the second quarter to $14.75 billion from $15.39 billion in the first quarter of 2000, the first drop in that sector since the first quarter of 1998, according to numbers to be released by VentureOne, a San Francisco venture-capital research firm. Even with the slight drop, though, the amount of money invested in Internet deals in the first half of this year was $30.15 billion, which is more than the $28.03 billion invested in the sector for all of last year. That means Internet investments account for about 85% of total venture-capital investments for the first six months of 2000. According to VentureOne, total venture investing last quarter fell about a billion to $17.18 billion from $18.18 billion in the first quarter, as the amount of money put to work in health-care and non-technology consumer companies fell by more than a total of $2 billion. Overall technology investing drew enormous amounts of cash, with much of the slack in Internet investing taken up by non-Internet-related communications deals. More than $10.14 billion was invested in technology companies, almost $1 billion more than the $9.18 billion that went into the sector in the first quarter. Those investments bring technology investments for the year to $19.3 billion, which approaches the $20.66 billion invested in technology companies for all of last year. The volume of Internet investments is larger than that for technology, because Internet investments include sectors such as online retailing, which VentureOne doesn't group with technology companies. The numbers are the first in a series of statistics on second-quarter venture investing set to be released. Another firm, Venture Economics, a unit of Thomson Financial Securities Data, which has a different methodology for gathering the data, is in the process of compiling numbers for release. John Taylor of the National Venture Capital Association, which works with Venture Economics, said he expects the overall second-quarter figure to be similar to the $24.8 billion invested in the first quarter. One of the main reasons for the relative stability of Internet investing is that the venture community has embraced cash-hungry Internet infrastructure companies as it has turned a cold shoulder on the e-commerce and online-media companies that were all the rage last year. Investment in e-commerce companies fell to $479.2 million last quarter from $709.8 million in the first quarter and an all-time high of $1.45 billion in the fourth quarter of last year. Meanwhile, investments in Internet infrastructure companies jumped to $2.25 billion last quarter from $1.74 billion in the first quarter of last year. "There has been a massive sector shift, which the statistics are only beginning to pick up," said Jim Breyer, managing partner at Palo Alto, CA, venture firm Accel Partners. "There is absolutely no sign of infrastructure investment slowing, and in fact, we are beginning to see a negative dynamic in many segments where overfunding is beginning to occur," he said. Another reason for the relative stability in Internet deals is that the public market's distaste for many Internet companies has meant that companies that might have gone public earlier this year are now turning to private investors for more cash. Jay Hoag, a general partner at the Menlo Park, CA, firm Technology Crossover Ventures, which specializes in investing in later-stage companies, said the pace of investment at his firm picked up in the second quarter. The firm saw valuations at later-stage businesses fall to more attractive price levels. "In the last 18 months leading up to the Nasdaq correction, it was hard to find a late-stage deal that was reasonably priced," he said. But Thomas Hellmann, an assistant professor at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business in Stanford, Calif., said that despite the slight quarter-to-quarter changes in venture investing patterns, the extraordinarily high numbers, compared with just a few years ago, indicate the massive changes in the U.S. economy that venture investing has brought. Given that growth, he says, at some point in the near term, the venture industry should begin to show signs of stability, or at least slower growth.
|