New Hires/Promotions in the Leasing Business
and Related Industries

Travis Bannister was promoted to Client Engagement & Operations Manager, Fleet Mobility Division, AP Equipment Financing, Bend, Oregon.  He is located in Manchester, New Hampshire. He joined Ape April, 2024. Previously, he was at Merchants Fleet, starting March, 2019. Full Bio:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/travis-bannister-a1471a44/details/experience/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/travis-bannister-a1471a44/

Darren Higuchi was hired as Senior Vice President of Credit & Capital Markets, First National Capital Corporation (FNCC), Irvine, California. Previously, he was Senior Vice President, Commercial Finance & Syndications, California First Leasing Corporation (February, 2021 - March, 2024); Senior Vice President, Syndications, California First National Bank (March, 2010 - February, 2021); Vice President, California First Leasing Corporation (October, 1992 - February, 2020).
https://www.linkedin.com/in/darren-higuchi-34903517/

Connie Schmidt was hired as Vice President of Business Development, FundLogic LLC, Dunedin, Florida. Previously, she was Vice President of Business Development, River Capital Finance (January, 2021 - August, 2022); Vice President of Originations, Alliance Funding Group (January, 2018 - December, 2020). Full Bio:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/connielschmidt/details/experience/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/connielschmidt/

Jeff Schubert was hired as Vice President, Business Development, Kapitus, New York, New York. He is located in Bradenton, Florida. Previously, he was Director of Working Capital, Oakmont Capital Services (April, 2023 - July, 2024); Director of Sales/Strategic Account Manager, Business Development Product Manager, Marlin Capital Solutions/PEAC Solutions (May, 2019 - February, 2023). Full Bio:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffschubert/details/experience/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffschubert/

(Retired)

Bill Summers retired July 12, 2024, after 30 years and 8 months. He previously was CEO Civista Leasing & Finance, a division of Civista Bank where he held the position of SVP/Leasing & Finance. He was the CEO of Vision Financial Group, Inc. (VFG) from January 2018 to October 2022. Civista Bank acquired VFG in October 2022.He lives in the Nashville Metropolitan Area.  Full Bio:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/summerswilliamp/details/experience/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/summerswilliamp

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Readers Concerned about Chesswood Group Limited:
Questions on the Postponement Situation due to
Financial Reporting Discovered by Chesswood Itself
By Kit Menkin, Editor

www.ChesswoodGroup.com
www.PawneeLeasing.com
www.TandemFinance.com
www.VaultPay.ca
www.VaultCredit.com
www.Rifco.net
www.WaypointInvestmentPartners.com
www.EasyLegal.ca

Many readers have emailed that several of the above website addresses don't open. Leasing News wrote about it in the first story that Pawnee Leasing had stopped originations, Rifco Net has a press release they were closed, several ex-Tandem Finance sales personnel told about their being
let go and what was happening to the company.

In trying to update the "No Longer taking Broker/Discounting Business plus Leasing Companies Out of Business" list, I emailed Gary Souverein, whom I have known since he became head of Pawnee Leasing. He simply responded they were not taking any originations.

Gary didn't add anything else nor did I ask him. I know he ran a solid business and evidently events beyond his control shut him down. I didn’t consider listing his company as “out of business.” Hopefully Pawnee returns to doing business.

Information a reader told me off the record, "Rifco had a great CEO who was pushed out after Chesswood acquired another great operation shut down by putting someone with no industry knowledge in charge."

Tandem also was a Leasing News advertiser, as was Pawnee. Contacts there emailed me, including several salesmen, who were let go and looking for a new job.

Leasing News wrote about Barry Shafran, who was let go as head of Chesswood (he was to remain on the board of directors, I believe). Barry Shafran ran a very tight ship and this would never have happened on his watch. Leasing New wrote about how sad it was that he was let go.

Seeking Alpha is one of my sources. They had information that the board was a minority and investors were a majority. One Seeking Alpha contributor wrote, "The board is controlled by some very large shareholders but I think there is a split between the U.S. and Canadian Board members. Most of the problems are in the U.S. and the Canadian side feels like they are collateral damage."

It will be interesting to see the results of the restated earnings.

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Leasing and Finance Industry Help Wanted
Excellent Compensation/Marketing Support
Plus other openings for successful, growing funders

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click image to view larger

The Salary Needed to Buy a Home in 50 U.S. Cities

In 2024, the median salary for the typical American home buyer has risen to $104,339—up from $88,000 just two years prior.

Despite record-high home prices, housing demand continues to outpace supply, even with mortgage rates at their highest in over a decade. As one bright spot, housing inventory is steadily increasing, with the number of homes for sale up almost 19% in May compared to the previous year. This growth in inventory could help ease the cost of home ownership looking ahead.

The Cost of Home Ownership in 2024

Below, we rank U.S. metro areas based on the salary needed to buy a median-priced home.

As the most expensive city overall, residents in San Jose require a salary of $463,887 for a median-priced home in 2024—more than quadruple the national average.

Since 2023, this required salary has skyrocketed almost $100,000, soaring to a monthly payment of $10,824 to own a home. One reason why San Jose prices are sky-high: it sits at the heart of Silicon Valley. On average, homes on the market sell in roughly nine days.

Like San Jose, the San Francisco metro area is highly unaffordable. In May, median home prices stood at $1.3 million. The metro area houses more billionaires than anywhere in the world, in addition to having among the most individuals with $100 million in investable wealth globally.

New York City residents need an annual salary of $186,123, making it the sixth-highest in the country. While the annual growth in home prices fell into negative territory, the required salary to own a home jumped over $25,000 since last year. Overall, just 30% of New Yorkers own homes, compared to the 66% national average.

On the other hand, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis are the most affordable metro areas in the dataset, where a salary under $70,000 can buy a median-priced home.

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##### Press Release #######################

IFSC Transforms Financial Operations with
LTi Technology Solutions' Robust ASPIRE Platform

LTi Technology Solutions (LTi), a leader in lease and loan technology to equipment and asset finance companies, is proud to announce that International Financial Service Corporation (IFSC) has chosen and successfully implemented LTi’s ASPIRE platform.

 Following an extensive two-year search, IFSC selected ASPIRE for its robust functionality and customizable configuration features tailored to specialized equipment. ASPIRE was perfectly tailored to drive IFSC’s ambitious expansion and growth plans, ensuring compliance and seamless management, even with complex leasing arrangements.

Bob Seeds Jr., President of International Financial Services Corporation, said, “Strategically, our goal was to invest heavily in new technology and after two years of thoughtful analysis we found the perfect solution with LTi’s ASPIRE platform. The integration and implementation was fast and seamless and we have a partner in our growth with LTi. It has transformed our operations.”

Tara Aasand, VP of Sales and Relationship Management of LTi shared, “One of our key strategic priorities at LTi is customer service. Our focus is to make sure our customers have the robust functionality they need to be successful. IFSC was on our legacy system. It was important for IFSC to have the technology that ASPIRE provides to help streamline their business so they have the opportunity to keep growing.”

Adding functionality was the main goal for IFSC. What proved strategically significant for IFSC was ASPIRE’s capacity to automate the invoicing and cash application processes, configure invoices and statements, store them securely in the document repository and the ability to seamlessly email them without manual intervention. In addition, the ability to set up, send, and receive NACHA files for ACH and PAP electronic payments, and automate payment return files was a big win in process streamlining.

About International Financial Services Corporation (IFSC)
Headquartered in Libertyville, IL, IFSC is a direct lender focused on financing heavy equipment in amounts above $100,000. Founded in 1981, IFSC has over forty years of experience serving more than 25 industries in the United States. They have funded over $1 Billion in transactions and finance Fortune 500 companies to startups.

### Press Release #########################

Maxim Commercial Capital Fills
Capital Void in Q2 2024

Hard-asset based lender expanded team
with five new hires to meet demand

 Maxim Commercial Capital (“Maxim”) reported strong results for the second quarter of 2024. While many competitors have tightened their credit windows and other lenders have closed their businesses, Maxim continues to expand. To support its growth, the hard-asset secured lender hired five new team members for key positions in credit, operations, and collections during the period. Maxim provides loans and leases from $10,000 to $3 million secured by class 6 and 8 trucks, trailers, heavy equipment, and real estate for entrepreneurs nationwide.


Michael Kianmahd, Maxim’s CEO, said, “Our asset-secured financing model was designed to fulfill the capital needs of non-bankable borrowers regardless of the economy.

“Our expanded team of nearly 30 professionals together with continual improvements to our credit model and scoring tools enables us to fund deals with confidence for borrowers with challenged credit, as well as those with excellent credit seeking a flexible solution.”

Finance brokers across the nation submitted a record number of applications during the period for small business owners seeking growth capital or cash out financing to pay down expensive liabilities. Maxim’s Structured Finance program provides up to 70% combined loan-to-value (CLTV) financing secured by a 1st, 2nd or 3rd lien against real estate, and up to 65% financing secured by heavy equipment.

Structured Finance transactions during the quarter included a $410,000, 5-year term loan for experienced restaurateurs based in New York, secured by a 1st lien against a residence owned and occupied by the borrowers’ family. The borrowers used the capital to pay off MCA debt held by five lenders, complete property improvements, and expand their catering services. In another transaction, Maxim funded a $200,000, 5-year term loan secured by a 2nd lien on the borrower’s North Carolina primary residence at 57% CLTV. The borrower is using the capital to expand her virtual health-and-wellness platform.

Truck financings during Q2 2024 included 72% purchase financing for a start up owner-operator with a 596 FICO and limited credit history to buy his first truck, a 2020 Kenworth T680 with 426K miles, for $49,000 with the help of a guarantor; 76% purchase financing for an experienced owner-operator with a 615 FICO and previously discharged bankruptcy to buy a 2021 Kenworth T680 with 317k miles for $52,000; and, 75% financing for an experienced owner-operator with a 538 FICO to buy a 2019 Freightliner Cascadia with 590K miles for $40,000.

Financings for Heavy Construction Equipment during the period included a $105K, 42-month term loan for a contractor in Maryland with 12-years of experience to expand his business with a second dump truck, a 2019 Kenworth T880; and, a $51K, 36-month term loan for a start up contractor in North Carolina with an 800+ FICO to buy a 2014 Mack GU713 quad axle dump truck.

#### Press Release ########################

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Watch at Home
by Fernando Croce, Leasing News Movie Reviewer

Blessed with offbeat beauty and a one-of-a-kind ethereal presence, Shelley Duvall (1949-2024) brought humor and poignancy to roles large and small. Check out our list for some of her best screen roles.

Brewster McCloud (1970): Duvall made her film debut (as well as the first of several collaborations with her mentor, director Robert Altman) in this madcap comic fantasy, a staple of freewheeling Seventies cinema. The title character (played by Bud Cort) is a young oddball living in the Houston Astrodome, so obsessed with taking literal flight that he works on a pair of artificial wings. His enemies—ranging from avaricious bosses to loudmouthed bigots—start dying around him, which kicks off an investigation by a slick police detective (Michael Murphy). A mysterious woman (Sally Kellerman) acts as Brewster’s guardian, but things take a turn when he falls for a tour guide named Suzanne (Duvall). Unpredictable from beginning to end and brimming with outlandish characters, Altman’s cult film is like nothing else out there.

Thieves Like Us (1974): Duvall and Altman reteam in this flavorful crime drama set in Mississippi during the Depression. A remake of Nicholas Ray’s classic “They Live by Night,” the story follows the tragic destinies of a trio of escaped convicts, Bowie (Keith Carradine), Chicamaw (John Schuck), and T-Dub (Bert Remsen). On the run from a botched bank robbery, Bowie meets and promptly falls in love with Keechie (Duvall), the daughter of a garageman. Their blossoming romance is threatened by Bowie’s life of crime, particularly as the police close in on their fragile idyll. Trading the original’s film-noir sense of entrapment for a naturalistic human comedy, Altman offers a beautifully detailed evocation of Thirties Americana marvelously anchored by the poignant chemistry between Carradine and Duvall.

3 Women (1977): The greatest of the films Duvall made with Altman, this impressionistic masterpiece is one of American cinema’s most dreamlike visions. Pinky Rose (Sissy Spacek) is a shy young drifter who finds work in a spa for elderly patients in a small California town. There, she grows obsessed with Millie Lammoreaux (Duvall), the outgoing, self-assured chatterbox she works with. The two become roommates, and Millie gets involved with a Hollywood stunt-double (Robert Fortier) married to a mysterious, pregnant artist (Janice Rule). When Pinky leaps into their swimming pool following a quarrel, she emerges with a new confidence that seems to be modeled after her friend. Are the women switching places? Duvall’s uniquely dazed persona is a perfect fit for the private worlds of Altman’s sometimes bewildering, always exhilarating enigma.

The Shining (1980): Duvall brings a tremulous human quality to this frigid horror classic from legendary director Stanley Kubrick, who adapts the Stephen King novel and in the process turns a haunted-house yarn into a deeply unsettling meditation on how evil can renew itself through the ages. Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) is a writer who brings his wife, Wendy (Duvall), and son, Danny (Danny Lloyd) for a stay at the isolated Overlook Hotel. The family has the enormous place all to themselves, but, as Jack’s mind turns frighteningly erratic and Danny encounters strange visions in the corridors, it becomes clear that they are not exactly alone. Though it hardly lacks shocks, it is Kubrick’s stunning combination of music, mood and camera movement that makes the film so indelibly creepy.

Popeye (1980): Duvall is perfectly cast in her final movie for Altman, an enchanting musical adaptation of the popular comic-book characters. Popeye the sailor (Robin Williams, making his film debut) comes to the seaside town of Sweethaven in search of the father who abandoned him, and readily meets a slew of peculiar residents. Among them is Olive Oyl (Duvall), who’s engaged to the powerful local bully, Captain Bluto (Paul L. Smith). The two fall in love, as Popeye decides to care for an orphaned baby named Swee’Pea. When Bluto kidnaps Swee’Pea, the gruff but kind Popeye must rise to the occasion... with a little help from a can of spinach. Originally deemed a failure but aged into a fascinating project beloved by cinephiles, the film is utterly priceless just for Duvall’s magical “He Needs Me” song.

Fernando Croce is a nationally recognized film reviewer and has been contributing to Leasing News since 2008. His reviews appear each Friday.

Mixed Breed Cucunucu
Kittery, Maine  Adopt-a-Dog

Raya

Female
Puppy
Medium
Harlequin, Black
Short coat
Vaccinations up to date
Good inhume with Other dogs, children
Adoption Fee: $525
CHARACTERISTICS
Smart, Loyal, Funny, Couch, Affectionate, Athletic, Curious, Brave, Dignified, Gentle, Loves, Quiet, Protective, Playful, Independent, Friendly

Raya was found alone near a grocery store and was taken safely to Luna Foundation in Aruba. The people who found her named her Raya, as Raya means friend.

Raya is 13 pounds and about three months old. She is microchipped and up to date on her vaccinations.

Raya checks off all the boxes -
- Leash Trained
- Social
- Sleeps through the night in her crate
- Knows basic commands
- Affectionate

Things Raya loves:
- A good bone or toy (when she can’t find anyone to play with)
- Other dogs
- People, Adult and Children!
- Running on the beach (or anywhere!)

For those unfamiliar with the Cunucu breed; A Cunucu is the native island dog of Aruba. They are known to be extremely intelligent, loyal, athletic, and loving. Cunucus make outstanding family dogs and companions

If you would like to meet Raya, please fill out an adoption form here:
https://www.luna-aruba.com/adoption-application

Kittery, ME
lunaapplicationsaruba@gmail.com
(617) 529-4895

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View list of deals

News Briefs

U.S. Economic Growth Accelerates,
    Outpacing Forecasts
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/25/business/economy/us-gdp-economy-inflation.html

Cold-Storage Giant Lineage Raises
    $4.4 Billion in IPO
https://www.wsj.com/articles/cold-storage-giant-lineage-raises-4-4-billion-in-public-offering-809196a6?mod=business_lead_pos1

GATX, Rail North America, Rail
    International/Engine Leasing All Up
https://ir.gatx.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2024/GATX-Corporation-Reports-2024-Second-quarter-Results/default.aspx

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Automakers hit ‘significant storm,’ as buyers
    reject lofty prices at time of huge capital outlays
https://apnews.com/article/auto-industry-storm-affordable-vehicles-capital-cost-c169120b3a3b12b7066209af1c48899a

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Sports Briefs---

Giants fall to Dodgers on back-to-back HRs
    from Nick Ahmed, Shohei Ohtani in 8th
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/giants/article/giants-fall-dodgers-hrs-nick-ahmed-shohei-ohtani-19596658.php

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California News Briefs---

Vintage Wine Estates files for bankruptcy
    reorganization, starts selling assets
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/industrynews/vintage-wine-estates-bankruptcy-reorganization-filing/

One of California’s largest wine companies
has filed for bankruptcy
https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/wine/article/vintage-wine-estates-bankruptcy-19593810.php

Giants fall to Dodgers on back-to-back HRs
from Nick Ahmed, Shohei Ohtani in 8th
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/giants/article/giants-fall-dodgers-hrs-nick-ahmed-shohei-ohtani-19596658.php

Burgundian-inspired wine event, now in 10th year,
headlines Russian River Wine Weekend
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/lifestyle/la-paulee-russian-river-valley-wine-weekend/

Try this light, delightfully bitter red wine
from a promising new Bay Area winery
https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/wine/article/terah-bajjalieh-barbera-california-19568364.php

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Gimme that Wine

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJnQoi8DSE8    

Former Google exec rolls Healdsburg’s Armida,
    Idlewild wineries into new business
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/industrynews/david-drummond-overshine-wine-armida-idlewild-acquisition/

Winery Hiring Adjusts from Post-Pandemic Surge
June declined 32% versus a year ago to 455
https://www.winebusiness.com/news/article/290216

The State of Washington (Cabernet)...is really good,
& getting even better! Part II
https://joelbutlermw.substack.com/p/the-state-of-washington-cabernetis-378

Arborum Napa Valley Commits $1 Million to Local and  
Environmental Causes Before August 20 Wine Release
https://www.winebusiness.com/news/article/290278