Al Payne, regional director of Seniors vs. Crime, a project of the Florida Attorney Generals Office, said he has received numerous phone calls from seniors who leased vehicles, then regretted it. Payne said that often the callers have signed a contract without reading it.

Read your contract before you put your signature on it, Payne said.

Most people assume leasing a car is similar to renting, but leasing is simply another method of financing a vehicle, said Gregg Fidan of RealCarTips.com.

Most dealers will give you a fair deal if you are informed, Fidan said. If they sense you have not done your research, and can take advantage of you, they will. There are so many numbers and things like residual values and capitalized costs.

Fidan recommends going through the nonprofit checkbook.org and using its LeaseWise service.

The fee is $350, and the company obtains bids from dealerships in your area and negotiates the best lease on your behalf. Checkbook.org can be reached at 1-800-475-7283.

Heres some advice from the Federal Reserve, which offers a Keys to Leasing brochure on its website, federalreserve.gov:

bull; Consider beginning, middle, and end-of-lease costs.

At the beginning of the lease, you may have to pay your first monthly payment; a refundable security deposit or your last monthly payment; other fees for licenses, registration, and title; a capitalized cost reduction (like a down payment); an acquisition fee (also called a processing or assignment fee); freight or destination charges; and state or local taxes.

During the lease, you will have to pay your monthly payment; any additional taxes not included in the payment such as sales, use, and personal property taxes; insurance premiums; ongoing maintenance costs; and any fees for late payment.

Youll also have to pay for safety and emissions inspections and any traffic tickets.

If you end your lease early, you may have to pay substantial early termination charges.

At the end of the lease, if you dont buy the vehicle, you may have to pay a disposition fee and charges for excess miles and excessive wear.

bull; You can compare different lease offers and negotiate some terms.

Items to consider include the agreed-upon value of the vehicle.

A lower value can reduce your monthly payment, upfront payments, including the capitalized cost reduction, the length of the lease, the monthly lease payment, any end-of-lease fees and charges.

bull; Ask about the mileage allowed and per-mile charges for excess miles and the option to purchase either at lease-end or earlier.

bull; Find out whether your lease includes gap coverage, which protects you if the vehicle is stolen or totaled in an accident.

bull; When you lease a vehicle, you have the right to use it for an agreed-upon number of months and miles, turn it in at lease-end, pay any end-of-lease fees and charges, and walk away.

bull; Take advantage of any warranties, recalls, or other services that apply to the vehicle.

bull; You may be responsible for excessive wear charges when you return the vehicle. The standards for excessive wear, such as for body damage or worn tires, are in your lease agreement.

Watch out for double first payments. Leases usually require you to make the first monthly payment up front, but sometimes the down payment includes this; other times it doesnt.

Make sure you are not paying it twice.

Grosvenor Corporate Finance, which is part of independent contract hire specialist Grosvenor Contracts, was launched to provide dealers with an alternative source of contract hire and leasing for their fleet customers.

Offering fast quotations, quick underwriting decisions and a two-way reciprocal relationship, Giles Bolton (pictured), head of corporate finance, says the approach they are adopting is winning huge plaudits and with 58 dealerships joining the scheme so far, orders have soared well beyond their early expectations.

Having previously worked for manufacturer finance teams I know from personal experience how incredibly frustrating it can be for dealerships to have to wait for credit decisions because the opportunity can be lost, said Bolton.

This is why Grosvenor Corporate Finance was established because we felt we could offer dealerships a viable alternative with greater efficiency and competitive pricing in mind.

Grosvenor Contracts has helped many vehicle dealerships with contract hire solutions now it says this new division gives dealerships a dedicated team to work with.

Our independence means we can make our own underwriting decisions in-house and because we do not have a call centre it is straightforward for dealerships to access our quotation and customer services teams and build a great relationship with them, said Bolton.

Also, the fact that we already work with many small businesses appeals to motor dealerships as most need a contract hire partner that understands this sector and is prepared to work hard to win business in it.

We have always had a culture of working hard for every vehicle, and are now working with a growing number of dealerships to win business because we are as determined as they are to secure the orders.

Credit Agricole Egypt, Arab African International Bank and Blom Bank Egypt are among the lenders who will use the service to make decisions on requests for credit.

Launched last year, the credit origination service is based on a multi-tenant installation of Ficos Blaze Advisor business rules management system, hosted by I-Score. The service includes credit risk analytics developed by Fico, and offers lenders the ability to rapidly deploy preconfigured strategies that comply with Egyptian regulations, and change their lending criteria to match their risk appetite and market demands. It should lead to quicker decisions for Egyptian businesses and people looking for funding.

As a hosted solution, the credit origination service enables member banks of any size to access Ficos analytics and decisioning capabilities. Each lenders data and decision logic is kept absolutely secure.

The use of credit is growing rapidly in Egypt, said Mr Mohamed Refaat El Houshi, managing director of I-Score. This provides many opportunities for banks and credit grantors to increase their customer base, grow credit portfolios and generate more profit. It is vitally important that credit be granted appropriately and managed effectively. Ficos analytics and software, deployed on our infrastructure, will help banks across the country make faster credit decisions while controlling risk.

The I-Score Egyptian Credit Bureau is a database of credit information covering small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and consumers in the country. Authorised users (I-Score members) will be entitled to access the database to carry out creditworthiness checks, allied to Ficos analytics. I-Score holds more than 95% of credit data on individuals and SMEs from commercial banks in Egypt.

Arches Health Plan, a nonprofit insurance company and co-op owned solely by its members, announced that Eric Sorenson has become the newest member of its executive team, as chief information officer and chief information security officer. Sorenson brings more than 15 years of experience in health care technology and information security to Arches.

ThomasARTS, a marketing company with offices in Utah, New York, California, Minnesota and Texas, has announced that Jeff Olsen has joined the agency as creative director, in its Farmington office. He will be responsible for managing the creative development process for a number of regional and national clients, as well as providing creative support for the agency’s other offices nationally.

Security Service Federal Credit Union has announced the promotion of Renae Cunningham to assistant vice president of member service for the Northern Utah district. Cunningham has more than 12 years of experience in the financial services industry. She previously worked for Beehive Credit Union, which merged with Security Service in 2010.

The rebrand of Howard Smith, Robert Horne and PaperCo to Paperlinx follows a number of restructuring measures, which resulted in around 190 job losses and culminated in the consolidation of the three merchanting arms sales teams in to one account management team late last year.

As of last Friday, Howard Smith, Robert Horne and PaperCo, sales offices began answering phones as Paperlinx.

The exciting thing for our customers and, I have to say, our sales team, is that they now have the opportunity to have a single relationship, rather than multiple relationships and the opportunity to trade all of products, said Carr.

The three merchanting brands will continue to exist, on paper at least, as invoices will still be sent from the three individual trading legal companies, at least until the companies are merged into one single legal entity. However, Carr stressed that there were no short term plans to create a single legal structure.

By continuing to trade Howard Smith, Robert Horne and PaperCo as legal entities, Paperlinx will continue to be able offer three lines of credit.

Most of our customers have been running with multiple accounts anyway, and thats been the problem operationally, because in many instances we had three sales reps calling on the same customer it just didnt make sense, said Carr.

What the customer wants is to be able say I want that product, that product and that product. The fact that they come from three different places [for invoicing purposes], they dont mind, as long as were utilising the best lines of credit for them theyre getting the same service, the same terms, the same everything as far as theyre concerned its a win-win, he added.

However, Carr stressed that the company would take a pragmatic view on the issuing of credit across the three lines.

Weve been making decisions on credit based on our exposure across the whole UK for a long time, irrespective of where a customers account is. When I became UK finance director I insisted that we set up a UK credit committee for precisely that reason, so instead of making three different credit decisions for a customer, we make one in the background and thats something weve been doing for a number of years.

Carr dismissed some customers fears that the operational changes to Paperlinxs sales operations and the withdrawal of the Howard Smith, Robert Horne and PaperCo names would result in customers credit lines being reduced.

Ive heard comments put around by rivals that the changes mean were going to one credit line and that means that customers credit will effectively be cut by two thirds. Thats absolute rubbish. Weve effectively been running our credit lines as joint credit lines for at least four or five years, so the customers will see no difference in their credit.

According to Carr, the latest changes will also not directly result in any additional job cuts, following the 200 UK job losses that were announced last November.

Of course we cant afford to be complacent and we always need to review our cost base, but in terms of the sales team in commercial print were where we need to be.

The commercial print operations have already begun operating as Paperlinx, while the wide-format, consumables and packaging operations will move begin operating as Paperlinx in pretty quick time.

We really want one name, one badge. The back office is already operating under one banner now the front office is following suit, said Carr.

Tweet

What we know

Car buyers with bad credit that are interested in easy qualify car loans should probably attempt to raise their credit scores before applying – which is something that requires a basic understanding of how the FICO scoring system actually works.

Here at Auto Credit Express we know this is true because weve spent more than two decades helping car buyers with damaged credit find just the right new car dealers that can give them their best opportunities for auto loan approvals.

We also believe that one of the best explanations of credit scoring would certainly come from the people at FICO – the company that created what is currently the most widely-used credit score.

About a year and a half ago they conducted a joint TweetChat with Bankrate.com. We thought this discussion would be so worthwhile for credit-challenged consumers that we decided to list a few of those questions and answers here:

TweetChat Q and A

Does my credit score determine whether I get credit?

Your score will likely play a big part in that decision, but lenders wont all view your score the same way. Thats because lenders have different tolerances for risk. Some lenders will require a higher score than others do for the same basic credit product. Also, lenders often will consider other information in addition to your score as they make their decision. This can include information from your credit application (such as income, length of time on your job, own vs. rent), any prior credit experience you have had with that lender, and the value of the property (auto or real estate) you want to buy.

What can I do to significantly improve my credit score in the next couple of days?

There are no quick fixes when it comes to improving your credit standing. Getting a good FICO® Score is the result of maintaining responsible credit habits over time. The most import of these habits are:

o Pay your bills on time
o Keep any credit card balances low
o Apply for new credit only when necessary

You also should check your credit reports for accuracy. You can get your reports for free once each year from www.annualcreditreport.com.

Does checking my own credit report or credit score hurt my FICO Score?

No. When you check your own FICO Score or credit report, the resulting inquiry on your credit report is ignored by the FICO scoring formula and will never hurt your FICO Score.

Are the FICO Scores sold to consumers by myFICO.com an approximation of the score lenders see?

FICO Scores sold by myFICO.com are precisely the same scores used in credit decisions by thousands of US lenders and other businesses, large and small. Other websites may sell scores that imitate the FICO Score in look and feel, but they use different formulas, have different score ranges, and may mislead people into taking inappropriate actions with their credit. Genuine FICO Scores are always clearly labeled as such.

As we see it

Understanding the credit scoring process is especially important for car buyers with damaged credit that are interested in easy qualify car loans and therefore need to start the credit repair process before applying for a loan.

Another important thing to keep in mind is Auto Credit Express specializes in helping applicants with bruised credit find those dealers that can give them their best chances for approved auto loans.

So if youre ready to reestablish your car credit, you can begin now by filling out our online auto loans application.

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Later this month Big Issue Invest, the social investment arm of The Big Issue, is launching a national scheme with credit agency Experian that could help 5.2 million social tenants establish or improve their existing credit ratings based on their track record of regularly paying rent on time.

Spurred by the welfare reforms, which are expected to increase tenant debt and require increased digital inclusion, some of the biggest housing associations in England plan to use the free service to help them tackle loan sharks and doorstep lenders.

Under the scheme, Experian will collect data, including tenants’ names, addresses and history of rent payments, to create a real-time rental database which would be available to landlords and lenders.

At present, many social tenants have no credit history because many have only basic bank accounts or none at all and often make cash payments. This also means they can struggle to prove their identities, causing problems when registering with a GP or getting phone contracts.

Big Issue Invest has carried out a pilot of the project with Places for People and Riverside and now plans to roll it out nationwide.

It has already entered discussions with Affinity Sutton, Circle Group, Hyde, East Thames, Sanctuary Group, Birmingham Council, Solihull Community Housing, Catalyst, Genesis and South Yorkshire Housing Association.

The Placeshapers group of housing associations, representing around 700,000 homes, has endorsed the scheme to its 95 members, and the National Housing Federation is also understood to support it.

To implement the scheme landlords will have to notify tenants, although they do not need consent to share their data with Experian.

Big Issue Invest said it would improve credit decisions for the 30 per cent of social tenants without a rating, and would also benefit the remaining 70 per cent who do have one. It should not reduce credit ratings of tenants in rent arrears.

Research by consultancy Policis found that social tenants – especially younger people – were broadly supportive of rental data sharing.

Sarah Forster, director of development at Big Issue Invest, said: ‘I hope this is scaled-up nationally so all tenants can share data. Using rental payments data could be the credit scoring method of the future for social tenants.’

On the surface seems like a good idea.  However, because these loans are government guaranteed, such a change plays right into the hands of those who make a living gaming the education system for their own profit at the expense of the students just like banks did  to home buyers a while back.

To understand this, think about a loan like a car loan where there is no government guarantee. The reason a car dealer cant charge double the cost of the car for those who must take out a loan is because the banks wont lend it due to the risk being too high (the loan amount is much greater than the money they would get if they repossessed and sold the car).  However if the government guaranteed the  loan, there would  no longer be anything to limit what gets charged.  If the government guaranteed car loans, overnight, the amount the dealers charged would go way up because now the banks would have no trouble lending the money no matter how much more the loan was than the cost of the car because they arent actually taking any risk any more.  If the borrower defaults, the government will make up their losses.

Unfortunately, the education business has now filled up with people gaming the system the same way the brokers gamed the housing market issuing loans for outrageous amounts that the buyer could never pay back because the government will guarantee them and thus there is no risk to the lenders.  That is one of the major reasons tuitions are so high today. 

With cars, if the government were going to guarantee them, they could at least safeguard against the gamers by requiring the borrower to meet standard credit requirements and limiting the loan to the sticker price of the car.   However, loans for education are basically intangible and students often dont have much of a credit history so whose to judge how much they can charge for education ?  Lets say Im a small college X and I would like to get a lot of money so I declare that the cost of an English degree is 100,000.   If the students could only pay cash, all I would get would be a handful of rich people.  Everyone else would say they couldnt afford it.  But what if I could say, you dont need any money, well get you a loan for 100,000.  Some students and their parents would probably view this suspiciously but with every college playing the same game, they may have little choice.  Now technically they can afford it because they need only afford the monthly payments.  Eventually they graduate and discover theres no way theyll be able to pay it off and stop making payments.  Then the government will step in and pay back the bank and the school gets to keep its money so theres no incentive for either of them to make the cost of the English degree realistic or to cut their own costs. 

Rajgir: Union finance minister P Chidambaram on Saturday set ambitious targets for the commercial banks in Bihar and asked them to open more branches in the state and provide easy loans for education, agriculture and small scale industries.

Attending the 44th state-level bankers committee meeting at the Rajgir International Convention Centre, he expressed concern over the poor number of bank branches per 1000 population, saying the national average is one branch for 12,000 population but in Bihar it is 22,000. Last year, 1700 branches were to be opened in the state but only 135 could materialize. He set them a target of opening at least 750 branches in 2013-14.

But since he’s 94, he thought leasing might be a good option. So earlier this year he ventured to a Broward County car dealer where he traded in his 1993 Lexus as part of the deal.

After the negotiations and signing a two-year lease he describes being “as long as a newspaper page” with a lot of fine print, Ehrlich said he wasn’t given as much for his trade-in as he was told.

“The salesman was so nice. He acted like he was my best friend,” Ehrlich said.

When all was said and done, he said he’s sorry he leased because the process was confusing.

The Palm Beach Post recently has received a number of calls from people in their 90s and from their relatives about their car-leasing experiences.

A Texas man called saying he was upset to learn his 95-year-old mother who lives in Palm Beach County signed a four-year lease. He’s not sure she should be driving and felt like she had been taken advantage of.

Another local resident in his 90s asked how he could get out of the lease he signed after being “worn down” during a five-hour ordeal at the car dealer.

No matter what your age, if you’re leasing a car and aren’t familiar with how it works, it’s a good idea to educate yourself first. It also doesn’t hurt to take someone else with you. If you become confused during the process, don’t sign anything. Just leave.

Al Payne, regional director of Seniors vs. Crime, a project of the Florida Attorney General’s Office, said he has received numerous phone calls from seniors who leased vehicles and then regretted it. Payne said that often the callers have signed a contract without reading it.

“Read your contract before you put your signature on it,” Payne said.

Most people assume leasing a car is similar to renting, but leasing is simply another method of financing a vehicle, said Gregg Fidan of RealCarTips.com.

“Most dealers will give you a fair deal if you are informed. If they sense you have not done your research, and can take advantage of you, they will. There are so many numbers and things like residual values and capitalized costs,” Fidan said.

Fidan recommends going through the non-profit checkbook.org and using its LeaseWise service. The fee is $350, and the company obtains bids from dealerships in your area and negotiates the best lease on your behalf. Checkbook.org can be reached at 1-800-475-7283.

Here’s some advice from the Federal Reserve, which offers a “Keys to Leasing” brochure on its website, federalreserve.gov:

Consider beginning, middle, and end-of-lease costs.

At the beginning of the lease, you may have to pay your first monthly payment; a refundable security deposit or your last monthly payment; other fees for licenses, registration, and title; a capitalized cost reduction (like a down payment); an acquisition fee (also called a processing or assignment fee); freight or destination charges; and state or local taxes.

During the lease, you will have to pay your monthly payment; any additional taxes not included in the payment such as sales, use, and personal property taxes; insurance premiums; ongoing maintenance costs; and any fees for late payment. You’ll also have to pay for safety and emissions inspections and any traffic tickets.

If you end your lease early, you may have to pay substantial early termination charges.

At the end of the lease, if you don’t buy the vehicle, you may have to pay a disposition fee and charges for excess miles and excessive wear.

You can compare different lease offers and negotiate some terms.

Items to consider include the agreed-upon value of the vehicle–a lower value can reduce your monthly payment, up-front payments, including the capitalized cost reduction, the length of the lease, the monthly lease payment, any end-of-lease fees and charges.

Ask about the mileage allowed and per-mile charges for excess miles and the option to purchase either at lease-end or earlier.

Find out whether your lease includes “gap” coverage, which protects you if the vehicle is stolen or totaled in an accident.

When you lease a vehicle, you have the right to use it for an agreed-upon number of months and miles, turn it in at lease-end, pay any end-of-lease fees and charges, and “walk away.”

Take advantage of any warranties, recalls, or other services that apply to the vehicle.

You may be responsible for excessive wear charges when you return the vehicle. The standards for excessive wear, such as for body damage or worn tires, are in your lease agreement.

You could also face substantial payments if you end the lease early. The earlier you end the lease, the greater these charges are likely to be.