IceEyes

Hi everybody,

I have a 2009 C350 Sport and I would like to transfer the lease I have on this car to someone else.

I have a listing for my car on Swapalease.com and many people contact me for assuming the lease.

However, out of the 5 people I have initiated a lease transfer process with -- through MB Financial -- NONE of them were approved for credit.

We are not talking about people with average or tarnished credit. One of these people already had a MB Financial lease which was expiring in a month, the other had 780 credit score with no issues in his credit report, another one who have gone in and out of leases 10 times in the last 5 years with no issues, in one case I had two people filling out a co-signed application with both of them having over 750 score, etc.

I called MB Financial Customer Service several times regarding this and I tried to find out what kind of a magical criteria they are seeking for lease transfer prospects -- since it seemed only Bill Gates could qualify after all these people were rejected. They absolutely do not give out that information and they gave me the runaround like "uh, sir 780 score is good but it doesn't mean that they don't have a hight debt/credit ratio, they must have some other issues with their credit for sure"....

Obviously, the credit criteria MB Financial has for lease assumptions is way more stringent than it is for brand new leases. Not knowing what they are looking for is killing me though.... I have been spending all this time to get together with prospects, get a car wash, show them the car, test-drive, etc -- just to be punkblocked by MB Financial afterwards.

Have any of you guys heard of these difficulties before? What is wrong with MB Financial? I am very frustrated!

Thanks in advance for your response.

IceEyes

Bump...

None of the sponsors who work in the field have an idea either?

IceEyes

AN UPDATE: Today I called one of the people who tried to transfer my lease (unsuccessfully, of course) and I asked him what kind of an explanation regarding the negative credit decision he received from MB Financial. He told me that he received a one page letter informing him that his application was denied and if he needs further information, please contact MB Financial, blah blah blah..... Here comes the funny part: After receiving the credit denial letter this guy goes to his Mercedes Dealership and gets a NEW LEASE on a C350 this time APPROVED by MB Financial!!!

What is MB Financial doing? Are they trying to discourage the lease transfer candidates to get into a NEW LEASE instead? Isn't this illegal? I will be contacting my attorney and the Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner to pursue the legal route dealing with these ba$tards. Please let me know if you personally had a similar problem with MB Financial and we might turn this into a Class Action Lawsuit if there is enough evidence.

Thanks.

MBLease

Having the same problem trying to transfer the lease on my ML 350. So far two people denied with credit scores above 800 and no explanation from MB Financial!!! Very frustrating, getting phone calls from people who are interested every day so I'll just keep trying. In addition to that, they're telling me that they only accept online credit applications from the first two applicants, everything after that has to be mailed. What kind of policy is that??? Makes absolutely no sense.

mac911

I hope it isn't this hard to finance at the end of the lease if you want to buy your own car that was leased?

Seems like a good way to make sure they keep moving new cars.

This is sad. Good luck everyone.

storm10

If MBF denies lease transfer - they must give a clear reason.
Anyone with 780 Fico Score (if it's true) can not be denied, and you can't have 780 Score with poor debt/credit ratio. However, you can have bad income/spending ratio. For example: if you show that you make $3,000 per month, but your credit report shows $2,900 in monthly obligations - you will be automatically declined. If you show that your income is $10k per month - they will look at where you work, and if it's unbelievable - they will ask for proof of income. They can also decline if you already have open car loans. Also, they can deny, if you are into the lease for less than 6 months or have less than 6 month to the end.

When you go the Dealership, they usually know how to submit credit application to the bank to make sure it will be acceptable and resolve any issues before submission. Also Dealers take trade-in vehicle, which helps.

Blk04cobra1

Since I deal with MBF on a daily basis, I find it hard to believe they would deny credit on a lease transfer, then approve it on a new lease. I hate to say this, but I don't think we are getting the whole story. If this is the case, a law suit is going to cost you more money than it's worth.

IceEyes

To storm10;
I am pretty sure that at least two of the applicants who got denied had excellent credit with more than 780 credit score and one of them is actually my doctor. He already has a BMW 750IL himself (which he paid in full, in cash) and he was trying to assume my lease for his daughter's need for a car. I am pretty sure all of you are aware of the payrates of doctors.... Also, the car in question is not a Mercedes McLaren F1 or anything like that -- it is a $40k car.

To Blk04cobra1;
Rest assured that you are getting the whole story from my point of view... Upon my persistent inquiries to MBF, their customer service supervisor finally admitted that they have much more stringent terms for lease assumptions than they do for new leases -- but again she did not specify a certain criteria which I can seek for among the potential buyers. In addition, I have another friend who told me that he has been experiencing the exact same problem transferring his C300 for 3 months by now. I think this problem occurs more common than you think.

I talked to my lawyer today about what can be done regarding this unethical (but not illegal) practice of MBF to discourage lease transfers in order to sell more new leases. He told me that I have absolutely no case.... It is because MBF doesn't deny "ME" the credit personally, I have no claim. He suggested that the potential buyers need to pursue the issue with the help of a lawyer if they suspect any wrongdoing on MBF's side. So there is absolutely no legal tools for the current lease holder to make MBF transparent or ethical about their lease transfer policy. Bummer.

I think I will write to MB Corporate and tell them what I have been experiencing as well as the fact that I will "never, ever, not in this lifetime" buy or lease a Mercedes again and I will discourage everybody I come in contact with from doing so. If the stars align right, corporate might start questioning if this unethical practice is doing more damage to the brand than the new leases it generates. Or maybe MB corporate doesn't even know that the MB Financial (since it is a different company) is doing this to boost their sales numbers.

It is very hard to build a lifetime of good reputation and brand name like Mercedes has, and I honestly don't think that MB Corporate would like their brand name to be tarnished with these kinds of unethical credit practices. Even the Better Business Bureau has a rating of "F" for MB Financial based on all the complaints they received from customers and MBF's unwillingness to resolve those complaints. Look it up here, if you don't believe me: http://www.bbb.org/dallas/business-r...ke-tx-90027523

WB5280

Exact same problems with MBF for me. I found 4 different buyers all with Ficos over 700 and they wouldn't approve a single one of them. Ended up giving it to this company in Denver that finds someone to take over the lease. Lease stayed in my name but everything is going fine with it...Their site is theleasebrokers.com

IceEyes

WB5280, I have an update and a recommendation for you:

1) DO NOT use the lease brokers -- generally they are shady businesses which end up either not paying you/MBF the lease payments, or damaging the car that YOU will have to return back to MBF at the end of the lease. Just search the internet for these scams, there are more of them than you can count. I remember some lease brokers getting in touch with me to "loan" my car to them but a quick internet search revealed a lot of complaints and issues with these companies.

2) Finally my lease is transferred to somebody else by MBF. Although I still don't know why this particular lease candidate "qualified" for the lease transfer while the others did not, I suspect that it has something to do with company-to-company lease transfer. See, my car was leased under my company's name and all the "persons" trying to transfer this lease were denied by MBF. The successful lease candidate however, wanted to assume the lease under "his company's name" -- not under his own name. I think that did the trick for MBF.

IceEyes

WB5280, I conducted a little research on the internet for you and found out the following:

- www.theleasebrokers.com is a relatively new website, owned by a company called "Alpine Automotive Management" in Lafayette, CO.

- At the same address, there is another company called "Alpine Autosport" which acts as a second-hand auto dealership.

- There are all kinds of fraud complaints about this "Alpine Autosport" company on the internet, just as an example: http://www.dealerrater.com/dealer/Al...-review-19392/

- My recommendation to you is GET OUT of your agreement with them while and if you can.

Good luck.

bmac979

Being a lender, I would like to shed some light on this conversation.
When evaluating a buyer for credit, income and credit score are one of the factors. Another factor, and a very important one, is loan to value. If the loan to value on the vehicle is upside down, the finance company will not transfer the lease. Although, since it was a business lease that changes everything and it makes since why it was finally transferred to another business. A loan/lease is an investment for the lender, so when it's transferred, it needs to transfer to a similar buyer. For example, would you want your investment portfolio transfered to an investment firm 1/25th the size? A lender doesn't want to transfer a loan to a $200,000 a year doctor when it was originally signed by a $5m a year business.

Also, any experienced information about the leasebrokers.com would be appreciated.

clkwork

I'm seriously starting to doubt that MBF approves any transfers at all. One buyer who applied to assume my lease had far superior credit, income, and was pre-approved for a much more expensive lease through MBF but was declined my transfer. If the buyer was being honest to me about his financial situation then MBF's behavior appears borderline fraudulent.

On a side note you cannot transfer possession of your vehicle to a broker under the terms of your lease agreement. You are liable for all payments and return of the vehicle in good condition at the end of term unless your transfer is approved through MBF. Those places are scams and you would be wise to avoid them.

Dericious

I think this is happening quite a bit. I just got turned down for a lease transfer on a Lexus. 780 credit score, <10% revolving ratio, and debt to income is about 15% with the new payment maybe moving that needle 1%.

Seems like a sham as any dealer i talk to this would be a slam dunk.

@BMAC i dont' understand you LTV argument. Almost all leases are upside down, especially when through a captive financing company that usually uses inflated residuals. The credit risk would be no different if the assuming party was considered equivalent in credit risk.

The best part is they have no concept of your balance sheet form a credit app. I could have $2mm or $200 in liquid assets and none of that would ever be reported on the app.

My guess is if dealers aren't selling their quotas, lease transfers dont' get approved. It's just a mirage of "flexibility" they want people to have.

Kar don

I had a denial with MBF but had it worked through. My friend had a lot of issues with them on his E350, they told him that the new person's credit had to be BETTER than his own credit. Very strict criteria... not sure why.

killbill

I know this is a very old post. I just wanted to do an update on this wb5280 guy posting above. His name is William Buckley and he is the owner of theleasebrokers.com which is an absolute scam. He has stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars and is being looked for by many people including law enforcement. He has skipped town and is MIA! If anyone can find ANY info on this guy please pm me ASAP! Thanks!!!

UBETNY

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clkwork

Just to update my post, an applicant for my black series was finally approved but it was insane how many people applied and were declined. Apparently they are only approving people with near perfect credit and unquestionable income. IMO they should be using the same standards for transfer as they use for a new lease unless they stipulate the exact criteria in the contract. I'm sure someone could successfully litigate this issue if they really wanted to.

galtMB

I have had a similar result and I think it

What happened:
Tried to take over a lease on an e63 AMG

My situation:
No auto debt (except current amex balance which is paid monthly)
Credit score over 800
No mortgage or any other form of debt
Why Lease? The vehicle is for a business (although will be leased in my name)

MB denied my application. When I tried to get the reasons they were super evasive. I offered to make all lease payments up front and to show substantial bank balances as well as investment balances.

Result: I am sure I could walk in and buy/lease a MB vehicle new from a dealer. In fact I almost did. However, the more I thought about it I decided instead to lease a BMW. Why: they will transfer the lease if I would like to get out early. Also, I think MB finance practices are a bit disingenuous and prefer to lease a car from someone who is willing to actually provide good service on the way in and the way out. And why should they? Because they will get repeat business that way....

I trust others will do the same..

brooklync63

I also would like to add to this post. I have had six applicants all get denied from Mercedes Financial. People making more money than myself with near perfect credit scores. After this situation, I would never ever lease another Mercedes. Everyone has been getting denied with zero answers and zero explanations. I'm pretty over this. I plan to write a letter to Mercedes for their lack of accountability. This is unacceptable. Sorry for the rant!

galtMB

On the back of brooklyn63nc's comment:

I decided to try to take over the lease on a BMW. The process has been a great experience so far. Not only because I was approved (which was no surprise given I have a high credit rating), but because of the way BMW has handled--it really shows their commitment to the highest level of service--even when it is not a juicy transaction for them.

MBUSA was not even willing to give me an explanation. They said I would receive a letter in 10 days. From others, we know that letter says almost nothing. The entire lease transfer process from BMW NA has taken less than the time it takes to get a BS letter from MB USA.

I now have a big bias to purchase through BMW going forward, and worse, a big bias against MB. MB has some great cars--but there are also some great BMWs and Audis. Lucky for us car enthusiasts--it is a competitive market.

MB should really take note. Not because they lost my business, but for every person like me who writes something--there are many thinking the same thing in silence. Not to mention feedback is readily available from customers....

brooklync63

Well put Galt! I've dealt with BMW in assuming a total of seven different cars through them. In every situation, I was approved immediately, and if not, I was told exactly what I needed to provide (ie new W2 or something) in order to get approved. No joke, on one automobile, I initiated the transfer on a Tuesday morning and by that Friday (a mere three days later), the car was already in the new lessee's name. They are amazing when it comes to their customer service. Mercedes can learn something from them. This is absolutely the last MB I will ever lease. And as a person with a huge automotive influence amongst my friends and family (I'm the car guy/nut), I will ensure that my relatives/friends do not lease Mercedes's either. This has been the most frustrating four months. Decline after decline after decline with zero explanation. I'm done.

Veng3ful

On SwapALease, there are probably 10 times more Mercedes available than any other manufacturer. These MBF lease transfer issues to qualified buyers would explain it. I have been trying to figure out for about a week why SO many Mercedes are available for lease transfer.

It is sad that MBF will not approve qualified buyers. Great information to know!

I guess I will be looking at BMW, Audi or Infiniti based on these posts.

Thank you to everyone for the insightful commentary!

phantomcypher

I too have gone through BMW Financial last year without a hitch.

I actually lived next to the BMW financial headquarters in Hilliard, Ohio. Wonderful people and great process.

Although you should note that BMWFS prefers to approve applicants with HIGHER credit scores than the people who currently own the car.

Good luck hunting!

catalina

Hi Everyone, I was just going to apply for a lease assumption. After reading all of your posts I think I better skip this deal which came my way.
Any advise?
Thanks,
Debbie