In difficult times people with leases on vehicles are trying to find ways to refinance out of them in order to get out from under the payments. While it is not impossible, it is very difficult to do without jumping through some hoops.
When a financing company extends an offer for a lease on a vehicle there are several objectives that they always make sure are met before proceeding. The cost of the vehicle, the term of the lease and the existence of a profit are all factors. Once they have determined that they can make a healthy profit then the lease is a ‘go.’ Face it, they are in business to make money.
Written into the lease is an early termination clause. There is a stiff penalty in taking this approach because their profit depends on your driving the vehicle until the lease end at which time they will have extracted all of the profit from the financial agreement. If you decide to opt out early, that negatively affects their profit making and is the reason for the penalty.
Even if you do not owe more money on the vehicle than it is worth, you could very well pay more than it is worth if you seek early termination of the lease agreement and pay the penalty.
However, there might be a better option for you. There are companies that specialize in lease transfers. These are also known as lease assumptions, lease exchanges, lease trades, and lease takeovers. One such company is SwapaLease.
The way it works is that for a certain fee, you enter an agreement to allow this company to find a ‘buyer’ who will assume your lease (legally and binding) thereby getting your name off of the lease and allowing you to move on.
This works for you in providing a way to exit your lease in the least expensive way possible. It works for the ‘buyer’ because they get a vehicle for a short lease term. And it works for the leasing agent because they get their profit intact. Everybody is happy.
It is not perfect, but it is better than taking a bath on early termination fees or, worse, going through the financial nightmare of repossession.
And, as with all other financial situations, if you find you are unable to make your lease payments, contact the leasing company pronto. Even if they do not appear to have a sympathetic ear towards your problem, they will at least be aware of the issue.
Then, perform some research on this and find the best method and company to help you get out of your lease in the manner which serves you best.
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