I started a new retail business and needed equipment to accept credit cards. I signed a 48 month lease agreement with Ladco Leasing only after I was assured that I could return the equipment and terminate the lease if I sold the business before the 48 months was up. I was reluctant to sign the lease under those circumstances but the representative said the lease was just a formality—many businesses have to cancel their contract and Ladco would work with them. I never got to see the original copy of the lease and the copy I was sent several weeks later was almost illegible. After one year I sold the business and returned the equipment to Ladco and Ladco started playing hard ball.
Ladco refused to honor their verbal agreement or to terminate the lease. They demanded I pay the entire lease in full. The amount they wanted was about 10 times the value of the equipment. At that time they said that they had no use for the equipment I returned as they were NOT an equipment leasing company—they were a loan company to the leasing company, but they refused to tell me who actually leased the equipment to us. When I said I wanted to contact my lawyer, they informed me that there was a clause in the lease I signed which wavied my right to legal advise or a hearing. When I told them I was broke and couldn't afford to pay, they said they had looked into my credit report and had already figured how I could pay it by maxing out several credit cards. They have threatened to sue me and have already destroyed my credit, as credit card accounts with whom I've had long-standing good credit are now cancelling my accounts! Ladco Leasing totally misrepresented themselves or I would never have signed the contract.
0 comments