3 Crazy Stories From a Lease Admin

Think you’ve had some ups and downs? When closing a transaction in 1999, a client asked to close the deal on his yacht…in Monaco. And the client flew the entire office equipment team down for a weekend to do so. Then in 2009 after the financial crisis, the same client closed a transaction in the dealer’s offices and drove away in a 2002 Buick LeSabre with over 200,000 miles on it.

Financials please? A $100 million dealer in the Southwest was working to close a $2 million lease transaction from a large general contractor. The company was privately owned and had never borrowed money in their 62-year history. NEVER. When asked for updated financials, they provided them. THEY WERE HANDWRITTEN. Deal still got done, but talk about running the business on the back of a napkin…wow.

Forces of nature? As you know, getting spousal signature on some lease agreements is standard if a smaller business is structured and owned a certain way. But in 2004, a lease administrator was a little taken aback when, after asking for the spousal guarantee, the docs came back in a big inky mess. It turns out the spouse was signing the docs on the hood of her car when an unexpected storm with monsoon-grade rain blew through. Unable to read the signatures (or the docs), the lease admin tried again. On take two, the docs came back dry…really dry. This time, the spouse signed the docs while the couple lounged out back around their fire ring. At some point during the evening, a spark drifted out of the fire and onto the documents, turning them into a curled, blackened disaster. Well, third time’s a charm, right? Not really…but there was enough of the documentation left after the dog (yes, you read that right – it was a Schnauzer, if you’re taking notes) got through with it. On the bright side, the look on the customer’s face as he handed over the mauled docs and had to explain that – for real this time – the dog ate his homework, was priceless.