A letter arrives from a company you have never heard of. It says they have purchased your copier lease from your original leasing company. Starting next month, you should send payments to them instead. Is this legitimate? What does it mean for your lease terms? And can they change the deal?
Lease portfolio sales happen regularly in the equipment finance industry. Here is what you need to know to protect yourself.
Why Leasing Companies Sell Contracts
Leasing companies sell portfolios of lease contracts to raise capital, manage risk, or exit certain market segments. Your lease is a financial asset that generates predictable monthly cash flow. When a leasing company sells your contract, they are selling that cash flow to another financial institution.
This is normal and legal. Most copier leases include a clause that allows the leasing company to assign, sell, or transfer the lease without your consent. Check your original agreement for language about “assignment by lessor” or “transfer of lessor’s rights.”
What Changes When Your Lease Is Sold
The payment address changes. You send your monthly payment to the new company instead of the original leasing company. The entity that contacts you about the lease changes. Customer service, billing inquiries, and end-of-lease communications now come from the new company.
That is essentially all that should change. The new owner of your lease must honor the original terms: same monthly payment, same lease duration, same end-of-lease options, same buyout provisions. They purchased the contract as-is, which includes all the terms and conditions you originally agreed to.
What Should NOT Change
If the new leasing company tries to change any of the following, push back immediately in writing. Your monthly payment amount cannot increase (unless your original lease included an escalation clause). Your lease term cannot be extended. Your end-of-lease options (FMV buyout, $1 buyout, return) remain the same. Your page allowance and overage rates stay the same. Any negotiated special terms or side agreements remain in effect.
The new company stepped into the shoes of the original leasing company. They inherited both the benefits (your monthly payments) and the obligations (the original lease terms) of the contract.
How to Verify the Transfer Is Legitimate
Before sending payment to a new company, verify the transfer independently. Contact your original leasing company at the phone number on your most recent statement (not the number in the transfer letter). Confirm that they sold your lease and that the new company named in the letter is the legitimate purchaser. Ask for the effective date of the transfer and confirmation of your remaining lease terms.
Also verify the new company’s legitimacy. Check their registration with your state’s Secretary of State, look for reviews and complaints with the BBB, and confirm their physical address and phone number are real.
What Most Guides Miss: The End-of-Lease Vulnerability
The biggest risk in a lease transfer is not during the lease term; it is at the end. Your original leasing company may have had informal understandings about end-of-lease flexibility, verbal agreements about buyout pricing, or a relationship with your dealer that facilitated smooth transitions. The new company has none of this history.
When the new company handles your end-of-lease process, they may interpret buyout terms more strictly, apply damage charges more aggressively, or enforce the auto-renewal clause more rigidly than the original company would have. Protect yourself by documenting everything now. Retrieve copies of your original lease agreement, any amendments or side letters, any written correspondence about end-of-lease terms, and your cancellation notice deadline. Having these documents ready ensures the new company cannot claim ignorance of terms that were agreed to with the original leasing company. For more on end-of-lease pitfalls, see our copier lease return guide, and understand the fine print at our copier lease fine print guide.
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