Basic Question for Business Lease Agreement

[fretiag]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Signed in Florida, Agreement under California law, signed digitally.

Hi,

my now closed company signed a lease agreement with a company, which turned out to have "broken the law" by missing regulatory licenses to carry the lean and lease items to me.

Most contracts should be void if it or parts of it violates the law.

Is there any specific detail you could point me to that I could read up on?

Thank you for the help.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Signed in Florida, Agreement under California law, signed digitally.

Hi,

my now closed company signed a lease agreement with a company, which turned out to have "broken the law" by missing regulatory licenses to carry the lean and lease items to me.

Most contracts should be void if it or parts of it violates the law.

Is there any specific detail you could point me to that I could read up on?

Thank you for the help.

For how long is your lease? Are you trying to get out of it early?

An entire contract is not necessarily void even if parts of it may be unenforceable.

 

[fretiag]

For how long is your lease? Are you trying to get out of it early?

An entire contract is not necessarily void even if parts of it may be unenforceable.

The lease was for 2 years. My business returned all equipment just a few month after.

 

[quincy]

The lease was for 2 years. My business returned all equipment just a few month after.

More clarification, please.

Your (now-closed) business leased business equipment from a company out of California. You agreed to lease the equipment for two years.

Did you lease the equipment for two years? Did you make all lease payments as agreed?

Was there still time left on the lease when you returned the equipment?

Are you still obligated under the terms of the lease to continue payments for what remains on the two year lease, even though your business is closed and you no longer have the equipment?

I really need more information on what exactly this is all about. What are you hoping to do with the knowledge that the company you leased equipment from might have violated laws? Are you hoping to avoid a breach of contract suit?

 

[fretiag]

More clarification, please.

Your (now-closed) business leased business equipment from a company out of California. You agreed to lease the equipment for two years.

Did you lease the equipment for two years? Did you make all lease payments as agreed?

Was there still time left on the lease when you returned the equipment?

Are you still obligated under the terms of the lease to continue payments for what remains on the two year lease, even though your business is closed and you no longer have the equipment?

I really need more information on what exactly this is all about. What are you hoping to do with the knowledge that the company you leased equipment from might have violated laws? Are you hoping to avoid a breach of contract suit?

Sorry for the delay.
To keep a very long story short. I needed equipment and a finance company agreed to purchase them and lease it to me. I had a verbal agreement and the day I traveled to a different state to look at the equipment, they hiked the rate and changed some terms. Following that, they sent several copies of the agreement each with small mistakes and typos and they ended up burring a interim rent 2 times the monthly rent, even though I was told that there will only be a first payment, 30 days after the lease commences.

This placed me in a position where I couldn't cover the cost of the machines, as the machines needed to produce to pay for themselves and the margins were tight.
The equipment was repoed.

The equipment that was leased needed special federal licenses that the finance company didn't have, meaning that by law they had no right to own the equipment to lease it to begin with.

I am looking at options to reverse / void the contract based ont he fact that the finance company didn't have the legal right to lease this equipment to me to begin with.

Thank you

 

[Silverplum]

More clarification, please.

Your (now-closed) business leased business equipment from a company out of California. You agreed to lease the equipment for two years.

Did you lease the equipment for two years? Did you make all lease payments as agreed?

Was there still time left on the lease when you returned the equipment?

Are you still obligated under the terms of the lease to continue payments for what remains on the two year lease, even though your business is closed and you no longer have the equipment?

I really need more information on what exactly this is all about. What are you hoping to do with the knowledge that the company you leased equipment from might have violated laws? Are you hoping to avoid a breach of contract suit?

This is why no asker should label his/her question as "basic." It's not basic. If it was, the answer would easily be found on the internet.

 

[fretiag]

This is why no asker should label his/her question as "basic." It's not basic. If it was, the answer would easily be found on the internet.

I am sorry you don't see this as a basic question, but technically it is.

Can a finance company execute on a lease on items that they needed a license / registration and did not.

 

[quincy]

This is why no asker should label his/her question as "basic." It's not basic. If it was, the answer would easily be found on the internet.

^^^^
LIKE

Your question really is not a "basic" lease agreement question, fretiag.

I still question the ownership of the equipment.

This is what would be typical with a lease: A company owns equipment that you want to lease for your own business. You lease the equipment through the company's finance division. The ownership of the equipment does not change from the business to the finance company. The finance company does not purchase the equipment. The company retains ownership.

In your situation, you failed to make the lease payments to the finance company so the equipment was repossessed by the finance company for the owner of the equipment (the California company).

Does this sound correct?

Another question: If the terms of the lease agreement changed when you went to look at the equipment, why did you sign the agreement?

 

[fretiag]

^^^^
LIKE

Your question really is not a "basic" lease agreement question, fretiag.

I still question the ownership of the equipment.

This is what would be typical with a lease: A company owns equipment that you want to lease for your own business. You lease the equipment through the company's finance division. The ownership of the equipment does not change from the business to the finance company. The finance company does not purchase the equipment. The company retains ownership.

In your situation, you failed to make the lease payments to the finance company so the equipment was repossessed by the finance company for the owner of the equipment (the California company).

Does this sound correct?

Another question: If the terms of the lease agreement changed when you went to look at the equipment, why did you sign the agreement?

The finance company bought the equipment to lease it to me.
The finance company was the owner of the equipment, there were no other companies involved.
I basically got a check delivered to the seller of the equipment and was able to take the equipment with me.

I didn't realize the terms were changed until after I had traveled and signed the docs.
This did not work the way I wanted, but I know the finance company did not abide by all regulatory laws and I they used shady techniques.
I want to protect myself as much as I can.

 

[quincy]

The finance company bought the equipment to lease it to me.
The finance company was the owner of the equipment, there were no other companies involved.
I basically got a check delivered to the seller of the equipment and was able to take the equipment with me.

I didn't realize the terms were changed until after I had traveled and signed the docs.
This did not work the way I wanted, but I know the finance company did not abide by all regulatory laws and I they used shady techniques.
I want to protect myself as much as I can.

Which "regulatory laws" do you believe the finance company violated?

Is the finance company based in California, in Florida, or in the state you traveled to when you went to look at the equipment?

I am afraid that the bottom line for this thread of yours, fretiag, is going to be that you will have to have your lease agreement and all facts reviewed personally by an attorney in your area. There are far too many questions that need answers, and far too many facts that still need to be disclosed by you, to tell you whether the lease agreement you signed could be unenforceable. It is possible, but I cannot tell you how probable it would be - this even if the finance company violated a state agency regulation or law.