2004 November/December Issue

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2004
Working In Unison…
How Service Providers Keep Lessors On Course

FEATURES

Tax Compliance Doesn't Have to Be So Taxing... Outsourcing Can Give You the Edge
By Matt McFarland
Minimizing property tax and sales tax administrative costs can create a significant competitive advantage over your competition. Creating this advantage requires you to look objectively at your operations, to assess the situation and to implement some basic controls.
(Ref # OUT021)

What Smart Leasing CEOs Know: Key Ingredients to Reach True Business Life Cycle Integration
By Richard Venturi
From a technology standpoint, one of the greatest obstacles to success is the lack of seamless integration among applications and data. When you drive the adaptation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and its underlying infrastructure to connect heterogeneous systems, you reduce data integrity issues, improve administrative efficiency and lower the costs of creating leases. (Ref # TEC0142)

After the Storm... A Business Resumption Plan Is Crucial to Any Business
By Tom Allen
Creating a Business Resumption Plan is an empowering process.You and the members of your team will start to look at your company and your surroundings in new ways, wondering how you can best accomplish different tasks if you ever have to "rough it." (Ref # LPR006)

Bringing It Into Focus: Marketing Communications for the Leasing Industry
While leasing is a global industry that generates revenues reaching nearly $500 billion annually, none of the major media has a news beat organized to cover it, and parent companies often bury its leasing capability under accounting or sales. Leasing executives need to address some core issues if they are to be heard, understood and remembered over time. (Ref # SAL134)

Independent Valuation Firms… Real World Opinions When It Matters Most
By Rick Daubenspeck
The use of independent valuation firms has provided equipment leasing companies with the ability to acquire the support they require without having to lay out the substantial costs associated with maintaining equipment departments. Although the potential for saving is attractive, lessors need to be certain that firms are reliable and experienced in providing "real world" opinions and have knowledge of the particular equipment and industries. (Ref # PMGMT009)

What You Should Know About Appraisal Values In a Changing World Economy
By Robert Maroney
Over the past several years, driven by the economy and increased globalization, the appraisal industry has undergone numerous changes. As globalization and changing economies continue to affect the marketability of collateral, it's critical that these changes are factored into the process of determining its ultimate value. (Ref # PMGMT010)

Growth Through Automation And Customization: An Executive's Vision Fulfilled
By Charles Lyles
With capital spending beginning to rise again, maintaining the finest, most functional information technology is more critical than ever to any lessor's success - and the catalyst that will help the company continue to grow and maximize returns on its portfolio.What follows is an account of one leasing executive's journey to realizing his vision. (Ref # TEC0143)

UCC E-Filing: Making Life E-fficient & E-asy
By Bruce S. Gallo
The filing of Uniform Commercial Code Article 9 documents used to be a monotonous paper-intensive task characterized by redundant processes, large numbers of rejections and large clerical staffs. It is no wonder then, that the ability to file electronically, resulting from the confluence of technology and Revised Article 9, has been so widely embraced throughout the secured lending industry. (Ref # UCC010)

NorVergence Class Action… Why Everyone’s “Hung Up” On Lessee Liability
By Stephen E. Jenkins, Esq., Hemar, Rousso & Heald
All things being equal, the NorVergence rental agreements are unremarkable. However, the reaction of defense counsel and government officials in vigorously responding to what they consider to be a case of consumer fraud appears to set this case apart from other similar cases.

COLUMNS

LEGAL WATCH
Court Allows Assignee to Enforce Fraudulent Lease
By Andrew K. Alper
There are occasions where banks and funding sources may be an assignee of a lease where the lessor has either not performed pursuant to the terms of the lease or has entered into a fraudulent lease transaction.

DISPATCHES FROM THE TRENCHES
Choosing Wisely: The Importance of Forum Selection Provisions
By Kenneth P. Weinberg, Esq.
Recent editions of Dispatches from the Trenches contained a few cases regarding choice of law and forum selection provisions. This edition addresses the importance of such clauses and provides some helpful tips.