Florida Leasing Company Not Named in Florida AG Suit

The Attorney General of Florida has entered into two settlement agreements, one with Wells Fargo Financial Leasing, Inc. and the other with Lyon Financial Services, Inc. d/b/a U.S. Bancorp Business Equipment Finance Group.

The terms are substantially identical and apply only to ex-Norvergence customers existing or doing business in Florida.

Under the terms of these settlements, the customer must make all payments due on the Matrix device rental agreement through January 31, 2005. A notice of the settlement offer will be mailed to each affected customer, who will have 30 days from receipt to accept the offer and 30 days from acceptance of the offer to bring lease payments current as of January 31, 2005. Any late fees or penalties charged after July 15, 2004 will be forgiven and, if collected, will be credited to the customer.

Patriot was the first to settle, their attorney stating it was less expensive to defend the small number of leases.

The 12 leasing companies that the Attorney General originally named in October, 2004: Wells Fargo, Commerce Commercial Leasing, LLC, Court Square Leasing Corporation, Dolphin Capital Corporation, IFC Credit Corporation, National City Commercial Capital Corporation (formerly known as Information Leasing Corporation), Irwin Business Finance, Liberty Bank Leasing, Patriot Leasing Co. Inc., Popular Leasing U.S.A., Inc., Preferred Leasing, LLC and Sterling National Bank.

Reportedly one leasing company located in Florida, RG-Crown Leasing, was not named in the law suit. Allegedly they do have NorVergence leases. A spokesman informed Leasing News that they believe the suit only involves leasing companies headquartered elsewhere. R-G Crown Bank Leasing is a division of R-G Crown Bank, a Central Florida based Federal Savings Bank with over $1 billion in assets