Do not work with these people - there are plenty of legitimate equipment finance companies out there!
I am an attorney representing my clients, who leased pedicure chairs and flatscreen tv's to start their small business nail salon in 2008. They entered into a 36 month lease for 4K deposit, 4K first and last payment, 2K/month, and a 550 doc prep fee. They have spent over 86K for approx 40K worth of equipment.
They were told that they would pay $1 to own the equipment when the lease was over. They paid all payments on time and figures the lease was over after the last payment. A month went by and they received another bill for 2K. Upon inquiry, they were told that they have renewed their lease for another year because they did not state in writing that they wanted to purchase the equipment, although this was agreed to and understood when they executed the lease.
They were pressured into signing the documents in the presence of a messener notary who personal brought them the documents to sign. The lease and signatures all have different and conflicting dates on them. They were also pressured into signing personal guarantees. The terms on the contract are so small and yet so outrageously one-sided that no person represented by counsel would ever sign this agreement. Unfortunately, it seems this company preys upon small businesses, giving false assurances and confusing them with complex legal verbiage and disclaimers in order to get away with this system. I am currently pursuing all legal options for my clients, including joining other plaintiffs, and filing unfair debt collection practices act.
The value of these products after three years is negligible, actually negative if you consider disposal costs and my clients have been told they would have to deliver the products, weighing thousands of pounds at their own expense to Five Point if they don't pay the additional year of rent.
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