|
|
Kit Menkin’s Leasing News Wednesday, March 13 12, 2002 www.leasingnews.org Independent, unbiased and fair news about the Leasing Industry -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Headlines---- Tyco Reportedly Sells CIT San Diego Tribune Union Commercial Money Center The Inside at CMC Who Pays for this? The Employees Please Don’t Call Us Multi-Association Committee Money Back Guarantee—First in Industry Sharpless Joins Electronic Financial Group ### Denotes Press Release Tyco Reportedly Sells CIT We have an insider report, as predicted, that the deal has been signed by one party...and it is a “fire sale.” We hope to have the full report, confirmed on Thursday. _______________________________________________________________
The company, founded by Mark and Ron Fisher of North County and Sterling
Hirtle of Henderson, Nev., had been expelled by both the San Diego
Better Business Bureau and a major trade association. The headquarters was technically in Las Vegas for tax purposes, according
to Bill Hanson, former head of marketing. In Nevada records, Hirtle is listed as president, and Mark Fisher
of the Escondido operation is secretary and treasurer. Kit Menkin of the Santa Clara-based Leasing News said that
offices in Escondido, Las Vegas and Florida have all been closed.
His newsletter reported on Friday that the company still had a remote
chance; yesterday, the publication said, "Commercial Money Center
throws in the towel." CMC represented the last company doing "last-ditch finance,"
Menkin said. A small business with a poor credit rating and a need
for unusual equipment would get to CMC through a broker. CMC would
own the equipment with financing from a bank, backed by a surety company's
guarantee. CMC would lease the often-bizarre equipment, such as a
cat crematorium, at an extremely high rate, Menkin said. According to former marketing head Hanson, the most employees the
company ever had was 128. Because it hadn't funded any deals for eight
months, that number had dropped, he said. "We sent over $1.5
million back to customers," he . said. Late last week, top management "just felt they couldn't keep
the doors open longer," Hanson said.. The company paid back salaries
and such items as vacation pay, he said. The surety companies that were supposed to guarantee the leases have
not been able to do so, partly because of the damage that Sept. 11
did to the industry, Hanson said. Others, too, blamed the demise on
surety companies. But the company has had deep problems of its own: In late January,
it was expelled from membership in the San Diego Better Business Bureau.
Late last year, it was expelled from the National Association of Equipment
Leasing Brokers for alleged ethical violations. Gerry Wilson, president of the San Diego BBB, said there have been
10 complaints in the last year alone, some of which went unanswered.
Consequently, the company has an unsatisfactory record. In late January, the company was expelled from the BBB for "failure
to eliminate the underlying causes of complaints concerning the difficulty
in receiving a refund, non-receipt of funding and difficulty in contacting
the company," Wilson said. According to Leasing News, the company was expelled from the
NAELB in November of last year because of a complaint by a member
for ethical violations. That same month, Mark Fisher, chief operating
officer, explained in a letter, "The NAELB thought the ethically
appropriate response to their inquiry was for Commercial Money Center
to incur further losses. We respectfully disagreed. The result has
been expulsion from their organization." The broker making the complaint "continues to submit deals to
our company," said Mark Fisher's letter. Ty Hanson, a member of the marketing department and son of Bill Hanson,
said the flap revolved around a cattle deal in which the lessee wanted
his money back. "We had spent the money on insurance," said
Hanson, and the company's position led to a standoff with the NAELB.
"Most of their business was arranged through brokers,"
said Menkin. "They would have very unusual equipment like tank
cars that carried explosives or volatile fuels, high-risk, esoteric
stuff." Interest rates were extremely high, he said. American Capital is a full-service equipment lessor in Laguna Niguel.
It shipped some of its sub prime business to CMC, according to official
Jeff Beier. Beginning in the middle of last year, the company said
it would fund deals, but then never did, Beier said. Then early this year, the company said it would return deposit checks.
"My customers personally have not received the checks,"
Beier said. "We have lost a couple of relationships with our
vendors." Hanson said that not all the refunds have been sent out. Union-Tribune library researcher Beth Wood assisted with this column. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Inside at CMC A key employee told Leasing News Commercial Money Center was experiencing a down turn in sales as other leasing companies, perhaps even more so. Advance rentals and deposits were keeping the company afloat and the insurance company was more concerned about CMC cash flow and administration, according to this key inside source. The explention from the National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers ( NAELB ) almost cut off all their broker business. It was NAELB’s standards committee basic “red flag” when a company does not return an advance rental check and is actively seeking business, the lack of public relations value is a strong indication of the lack of cash flow. November 21, 2001, Leasing News: November 21,2001 “Herd of Cattle” is Why Commercial Money Center Was Kicked out of NAELB Dear NAELB members: The Board of Directors has unanimously voted to expel Commercial Money Center (221West Crest Street, #200, Escondido, California ) for membership in the National Association of Equipment Lease Brokers based on the filings of a complaint by a member for ethical violations. The action was taken in accordance with the NAELB ethics procedures. As always, the NAELB advised that members conduct business with other members so that the ethics program can benefit our members. Sincerely Mike Meacher NAELB President Reached at the Eastern Association of Equipment Leasing Conference in New Jersey, where he was not only a host and sponsor, but speaking, Bill Hansen explained his side of the story: “ This transaction was complete, the insurance bond purchased, the money put up, when the vendor of the transaction sold the collateral, which was a herd of cattle. We told the broker and the lessee to get another herd and we will put it in the transaction. The lessee said he did not want to get another herd. We told them since we had purchased the bond, according to section 4 of our contract, they don’t get the money back. We will apply it to a new lease from the lessee.” The broker, a member of the National Association of Leasing Brokers went to the Standards and Ethics Committee, making a formal complaint. Hansen said he sent in a letter explaining the situation, a copy of the lease contract, and pointed out section 4 and section 20 o9f the lease contract. “ We can’t change the circumstances, and more importantly we could not return the money as it would be too much of a precedent for transactions we encounter, “Hansen explained.” The Standard and Ethic Committee took it to the full board and they ruled against Commercial Money Center. CMC works on “D” deals, had deals, and often the paperwork and time involved is long, due primarily to the nature of the transactions. Leasing News has received many complaints, but everyone we investigated the circumstances did not result in a Bulletin Board complaint. CMC was able to justify all the actions. Leasing News also receives many complaints about companies keeping advance rentals, when leases do not fund. In many of the circumstances, there are commitment letters or other documents the lessee has signed that the money is “forfeited” if they change their mind or other circumstances arise. These then are viewed as private disputes and do not make the Bulletin Board. The action by NAELB was reviewed by their Standards and Ethics Committee, then sent to the full board of directors for a vote. Commercial Money Center was unique in the leasing industry and fulfilled a role. To fully understand the company, the rate that they charged tells it all: .0364 for 64 months with a Fair Market Residual 47.618% was the “yield on leases” in advance using the .0364 factor for 64 months with first and last two ( depending on the way they are accounted, the rate may vary, but cost to lessee, rate is correct ). This does not include other fees or charges, plus insurance commission, if any. Or late charges. ____________________________________________________________ Who Pays for This? The Employees. Please send this to employees who have recently left other companies and are looking for work. There are new companies starting up, plus others expanding. Leasing news printed Andrew Nere’s yesterday, and here is one we just received: New Jobs Posted I have already contacted several of the soon to be unemployed industry veterans in areas of credit, documentation, and funding. We are in the final stages of setting up new offices in Atlanta, Portland, and Scottsdale requiring industry experience. Additional staff requirements are also needed in our corporate location in Irvine. Please have any possible applicants forward their Please e-mail Resume toQuintonBerry@CapitalWerks.com including salary range, industry strengths, and desired location. We are also looking to staff these office with industry experienced sales personnel. Compensation is above industry average including strong health and dental benefits along with 401K participation. Thanks, Jim Raeder Credit Atlanta, Irvine, Portland, Scottsdale Please e-mail Resume to: QuintonBerry@CapitalWerks.com including salary range, industry strengths, and desired location. Documentation Atlanta,Irvine, Portland, Scottsdale Please e-mail Resume to: QuintonBerry@CapitalWerks.com including salary range, industry strengths, and desired location. Funding Atlanta,Irvine, Portland, Scottsdale Please e-mail Resume to: QuintonBerry@CapitalWerks.com including salary range, industry strengths, and desired location. Sales Atlanta,Irvine, Portland, Scottsdale experienced sales personnel. Compensation is above industry average including strong health and dental benefits along with 401K participation. Resume to: QuintonBerry@CapitalWerks.com with desired location. Please Don’t Call us!!! Received some telephone calls from the post you published with North American Capital and my comments regarding the Commercial Money Center and their practices. Surprisingly I believe some folks don't understand that CMC was a VERY small part of our business. We were very educated regarding their organization due to the fact we had physically visited them prior to doing transactions with them. From the surface they seemed very suitable to fund transactions with a three story building in which they occupied approx. 2 floors of and while meeting with them Ron Fisher (Founder of CMC) gave me a tour of the operations along with the opportunity to meet many of the employees working there at the time. This was a couple years ago but it gave us the insight to work with them without fear. For the record we worked together on some "Vendor Favor's" for a couple years and that was the extent of it keeping in mind the bigger picture of attracting the A credit customers to meet our business objectives. When they failed to fund a couple of our transactions I became very concerned and was forced to get involved enough to find out where we would stand legally and ethically with our vendors and the lessee's we referred to them. If you could clarify to your readers that North American Capital is extremely well underwritten with over 95% of our business volume funding either directly or with direct relationship sources via discounting and brokering other than CMC we would appreciate the clarification. Hope your having a great day, Jeff Beier – jeffbeier@nacapital.com North American Capital - www.nacapital.com Please send to a colleague. We are free. No banners, no paid advertising. Our strength comes from our readers, who tell us the truth, who are concerned about our industry. We need your help.. Please send to a colleague to build our readership. United we stand!!! _____________________________________________________________ Multi-Association Committee National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers proposed a multi-association committee in response to Equipment Leasing Association President Mike Fleming on mutual promotions and assistance. To learn what was happening, Leasing News asked Mike Meacher for an up-date: I have communicated with ELA, UAEL and EAEL. We are working toward a meeting of several representatives of each organization on Thursday, April 11, 2002, the day before the NAELB convention in Orlando. NAELB has offered to provide complimentary attendance to representatives of the other associations as a show of serious intent to motivate them to sent representatives to this meeting. I will let you know when this meeting and attendees are set. Mike __________________________________________________________________ Money Back Guarantee---First in Industry The REAL value of the annual NAELB conference, how I learned it, and how it's a Money-Back-GUARANTEED value for you. http://64.82.65.38/events.shtml Please, just give me the 3 minutes it'll take to read this. Do it now before you get busy with something else. You'll be glad you did. I promise. I know people get tired of hearing me 'preaching' all the time, but I feel strongly about the NAELB and the value of attending the upcoming annual conference in Orlando from April 11th through the 14th; so, if you'll just bear with me for about three minutes here, then I'll shut up for a while. (Oh, yeah ...like that would ever happen!!!) A number of members have expressed reservations about going to the convention, given the current funding climate and some of the other things going on in our industry today. There's too many funders leaving the business, some say. Too many are going direct, is another complaint. You may have another concern entirely. Well, duh! Of course there's change going on. There's always change going on. That's the whole point of the conference -to help you prepare and respond profitably to it. The conference itself is about so much more than funding. That's just a small part of it; an extra -a bonus, you might say. We gladly welcome any of our funders there. We appreciate their support and it's a good time to build personal relationships with them. But the truth is, if all you're looking for is funders, you can buy a three-year subscription to the Monitor for a hundred and forty-five dollars and have lists and lists and lists of funding sources. Even our funding sources recognize that the NAELB conference isn't about them. It's about you! It's about your business! It's about what you can learn that will help you set your goals, focus your marketing strategies and hone your selling skills. It's about sharing ideas, teaming up with other folks who're facing the same challenges you are and it's about taking positive, pro-active steps to understand today's leasing industry climate and improve your business while other folks sit at home and wait for yesterday to dawn again. Casualties and Survivors Let me tell you who's going to be there and then you decide for yourself if you want to be there with them. Following the most tumultuous period in our industry that anyone can remember, the most shocking attack on our country in history, and one of the most perplexing economic cycles ever, there have certainly been a lot of casualties in our industry. Those casualties won't be there. Who will be there are the SURVIVORS. The Orlando attendees will be the strongest, most successful, most knowledgeable, most capable, most focused, most prepared and most determined group of brokers anywhere in this industry -without question -bar none, because, after everything that's happened, they're the ones still standing. They're the ones still working. Most important of all, they're the ones still looking ahead. They'll be in Orlando because they want to prepare for still more changes coming. Now here's the real value I promised you. They'll also be in Orlando to share their experience and knowledge. Some will do it by leading workshops and seminars. Some will share by participating in those programs and asking the key questions. Others will share just in simple conversations over lunch, or drinks, or sitting by the pool. Many, most in fact, will continue to share with the folks they meet for years afterwards through faxes and phone calls and e-mails. Anyone who's ever been a part of our group or attended one of our conferences will tell you, NAELB is the most open, sharing group of business professionals they've ever seen. I don't care if there's only nine of them there or if there's nine hundred. The strongest group of brokers that our industry has ever known will be together in one place on one weekend! Can you say that you can't afford to be there? I say you can't afford not to be if you plan on staying in this business. Even if you never met a new funding source, the knowledge you can pick up at just one of these conventions can pay you back for years and years and years. I also promised to tell you how I learned that and how I can guarantee if for you. Making it Profitable Before starting my own business, I worked for almost ten years for another leasing company. It was a small, privately held company and my boss was a smart, shrewd and successful guy. I can promise you that nobody -and I mean nobody, including you- watched the budget or kept a tighter grip on the purse strings than he did. But here's one thing I learned from him that I guarantee can make you money, (more on the guarantee in a minute). He would let me go to virtually any meeting I wanted, anywhere or anytime. His only requirement was that upon returning to work I had to write up one or more things I'd learned there, what their impact on our business could be, how they could be implemented and a plan for doing so. Then I had to do it. The first effect was, of course, that I picked meetings where I was likely to learn something. The next was that I attended with the attitude that I was going to learn something that I could use. I didn't sit in any workshops thinking of all the reasons it wouldn't work for me or how our business was different. I sat there figuring out how it could work; what I would have to change in order to make it work. I had to. Finally, the effect was that we were constantly trying new things and we found lots of new ways to make more money. I guarantee the same results from our Orlando meeting for you. Money Back Guarantee If you're still doubtful about attending the meeting in Orlando; still doubtful that the programs there will be worth the cost of going, then I'll make you this deal: If you'll agree to go to Orlando under the same terms that my boss used to let me go to meetings and if you don't learn something that helps your business, NAELB WILL REFUND YOUR ATTENDANCE http://64.82.65.38/events.shtml FEE IN FULL! Here's how it'll work. You just send a fax to our office at: 1 (410) 931-81111, or send an e-mail to: info@naelb.org <mailto:info@naelb.org>, and say you want to follow Gerry's idea and you want the ORLANDO GUARANTEE! Here's what we'll ask that you do: [1] You agree to attend some program, (your choice), during each of the educational session time slots for the duration of the convention. [2] Within five business days of your return home from the convention, you send us a detailed written summary of three ideas that you learned there; what they could mean in real numbers to your business; and how you could implement them over the next ninety days. [3] We'll ask an experienced broker to assist you with your plan and with implementing it and you agree to work closely with him or her during your ninety-day implementation program, reporting your progress and problems regularly as you go, (that broker can help you pick out which programs to attend, too!). If, after your ninety-day implementation period, if you honestly feel that the neither the coaching, the contacts, nor anything you learned at the Orlando meeting has been at least as valuable to your business as the attendance fee, we'll refund that attendance fee to you in full. What have you possibly got to lose? The very worst thing that could come from it is you spent a couple of days in early spring in Orlando -how bad is that? You socialized a little with the most successful group of your peers ever gathered. You got out of your office and away from your daily grind and talked face-to-face with other folks who face the same challenges you're facing everyday. Maybe you 'smoozed' a little with one of your existing funders -or even a new one. Bottom line, it was a good deal. Act Today Speaking of deals, (one more thing and I'll quit!), air travel has returned remarkably in recent months but it's still not where the airlines want it. The result is there are some great deals to be had. You have to call right now though so you can have some advance booking time. Call today or get online now. Don't wait. Okay, that's the REAL VALUE of the convention, that's how I know it and how we'll guarantee it for you. The only question left is -who really believes that I'll shut up now for a while? Thanks, Gerry Egan Vice President NAELB For more details on the convention program click here: <http://64.82.65.38/events.shtml> For more details on the convention program click here: http://64.82.65.38/events.shtml ( This is also an example of excellent use of the internet. To communicate with your members and everyone involved in the leasing industry. Excellent creativity and use. Someone should give Gerry an Academy Award for his performance, and the performance on NAELB. editor ) #### #################################### ############## DAVID J. SHARPLESS
JOINS BOARD
OF DIRECTORS OF ELECTRONIC
FINANCIAL GROUP LTD. VANCOUVER,
B.C. -- Mr. Rod Hamilton, Chairman of Electronic Financial Group
Ltd. (“efgroup”) announced
the appointment of Mr. David J. Sharpless to the Board of Directors.
Mr. Sharpless is the former Chairman and Vice-Chairman
of Newcourt Credit Group Inc. and the President, International of
CIT Group and Tyco Capital (the successors of Newcourt Credit Group
Inc.) He brings 27 years of experience as a senior leader in international
financial services and as a business lawyer. “We are delighted to welcome David Sharpless
as a director and we look forward to the valuable contribution his
experience and leadership skills will make to the achievement of our
business objectives” said Mr. Hamilton. “The founders and senior management of efgroup have a track record of building
and managing fast growing, dynamic companies which have delivered
innovative and valuable services to the equipment finance industry
in North America” said Mr. Hamilton. “David Sharpless has
developed, negotiated and implemented some of the largest strategic
transactions ever completed in our industry and on a global scale.
We value his insights into how we can most effectively deliver our
value proposition to our customers.” Electronic Financial Group is a North American leader
in providing major equipment manufacturers and equipment dealers with
complete commercial financing solutions. Through a combination of
service and technology efgroup is capable of creating
the highest possible levels of credit approval in the shortest period
of times. Current customers include Future Shop, Bombardier, Office
Depot and other top commercial equipment manufacturers and distributors.
Electronic Financial Group is a privately held company supported with
venture capital from Business Development Bank of Canada and Working
Opportunity Fund. For further information, contact Mr. Rod Hamilton,
Chairman, (604) 609-5377 Ext. 703 or Mr. Hugh Swandel, President at (604) 609-5377 Ext.
708 Fax (604) 609-5387. Website: www.efgroup.ca #### ##################################
############## Policy Statement Policy Statement---Nothing is sent out that is not "fair."
Always unbiased reporting. Fairness always. If it is questionable,
we will ask the writer's permission to quote them. We will print information
without attribution, but feel as long as we do not name the person
who sent it, we can use the information. Any information we think
is suspicious, we try to have if substantiated first by at least two
reliable people. We will not purposely send out "negative"
news. We prefer "positive" news. We have no "axe"
to grind or are not paid or seek or accept any remuneration for product
or promotion. We do not Spam anyone. To be added to the mailing list,
you must request it. We do not send anything about our company or
personal e-mail or jokes to the leasing news list. We do not share
our mailing list with anyone.
|
|
