OCTOBER 2007 ISSUE No. 70

 

Welcome to the October 2007 edition of
Business Leasing and Finance News

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FOUNDER'S NOTE
By David G. Mayer

See You at ELFA

As we approach the 46^th Annual Convention of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA), in Orlando from October 28-30, we should take note of its theme: Capital for a Changing World. In the opening lines on the ELFA description of this important event, you will read these words: “You don't react to change. You fuel it. The capital you provide, in whatever form it takes, keeps business moving and markets evolving. You don't react to change. You anticipate it. So you need the most up-to-date intelligence on the markets, the players and the products. You don't react to change. You do it….”

In a recent article, the writer said that we should “think big” in business. Win market share by changing how people use your product. Render your “competitors … irrelevant because they lack visibility, credibility and authenticity” that you do. “Real innovation involves creating categories and subcategories with distinctly new value propositions.” See Think Big, By David Aaker, The Wall Street Journal, R:10, Col. 1-5, S.W.Ed (Sept. 15-16, 2007).

Is there a paradox in Aaker’s ideas? Does he really mean that we can think big by marketing our best products in categorical ways that create new opportunities and market share for us? It worked for Westin Hotels, which created a whole new brand and attraction with its “Heavenly Bed” concept. Is the finance world so mature that we can not create something new and significant? I think not. It is not so different from a first-class hotel room. Some companies stand above the rest for their unique perspective, product positioning and mastery of customer service. In the world of finance, we can also stand above the rest, if we meet these criteria.

What is the common thread with the ELFA? If you innovate, and create brands, categories and subcategories of financial products, companies will buy over your competitor and you can increase your visibility, credibility, authenticity, and bottom line. Don’t react or just improve your financial products in small ways. Think about what companies will buy anticipate trends worldwide and innovate to win big in the changing world of finance. We must evolve with or ahead of the markets to succeed in our business these days.

I hope to see you at ELFA and to learn much more about “Capital for a Changing World.” In this regard, please join me at the Captive and Vendor Finance Business Council Breakfast on Monday, October 29, bright and early at 7 a.m., where I will serve on a panel to speak on an emerging product subcategory of technology finance – that of managed services. See you there!

1. Amid Credit Market Turmoil, Syndications Still Use “Perfect Pay” Provisions

Credit market turmoil continues to unfold, changing the landscape for securitizations, syndications, mergers and acquisitions. See Paulson Sees No Quick End to Credit Turmoil-Report, Reuters UK (Sept. 12, 2007). But some aspects of the finance world remain intact including much of the financial services industry and the common technique of syndicating loans, conditional sales and leases of using “perfect pay” clauses in sale and financing contracts. See Some industries not as hard hit by credit market turmoil, Dallas Business Journal (Sept. 6, 2007).

In the current era of credit uncertainty, spawned by subprime mortgages, perfect pay provisions may be subject to changes as lenders increase credit standards and reexamine risk of transactions, particularly in syndications of interests in leases and loans. This may occur even though perfect pay provisions can help smooth payment to funders, ease credit worries about potential defaulting customers and avoid their funder defections from doing these deals due to otherwise troubled credit conditions.

Syndications in Imperfect Credit Markets

In syndications, the financing parties often share credit risk of financings, conditional sales and leases, including their cash flow streams. This type of transaction may occur when the originating creditor transfers rights and benefits in the original transaction with its customer to a buyer or financing entity (funder). The funder typically pays cash for the rights and benefits in the customer’s lease, loan or conditional sale payments based on the present value of the payments, adjusted for risk and the funder’s cost of funds. The funder may be a bank, leasing company, hedge fund or other financier that desires to obtain the benefits of the cash flow from the creditor’s transaction with its customer.

More Background on Syndications

Creditors in the underlying transaction may be lessors, lenders, hedge funds or other financiers. Generally, these entities desire to maintain control of the customer and insist on servicing the transaction for their funders. Funders usually agree to allow the creditor to service the transaction for the funder absent any defaults. In the capacity as servicer, the creditor will act as the collector of rents or other payments from the customer and maintain the contact terms with the customer.

*Technical Point: If the lessor wants to maintain and control its relationship with the lessee or borrower or buyer that it will assign or pledge to the funder, the lessor should retain servicing rights and obligations which include the ability to invoice and collect payments, to respond to customer service requests and, when necessary, to provide collection and equipment management services. In effect, the lessor, as servicer, continues to be the sole or primary contact with the lessee and collects all of the rents and other cash flows payable under the pledged leases and with respect to the equipment. To protect the funder’s rights in the payment stream, these cash flows will typically be paid to a lockbox and deposited into a lockbox account in the name of the lessor but subject to a control agreement with the funder and the bank. If the lessor defaults under its loan, lease or sale agreement, the funder can terminate servicing rights and immediately and directly access its payments.

The lessor and funder intend that rents collected by the lessor from the customer in a given month will exceed the amount that is owed to the funder for that month since the funder usually advances an amount that is somewhat less than the net present value of the future rent streams. However, because the lessor’s billing cycles may be different from the dates on which it must pay the funder and because of lease delinquencies, there may be a shortfall between rent collections and the amount owed to the funder in a particular month.

To illustrate, say an equipment lessor finances the initial acquisition cost of equipment subject to lease. The lessor borrows from a short-term warehouse or revolving loan facility of its funder. The funder advances all or a substantial portion of the purchase price of the equipment to the lessor. The lessor grants funder a pledge of the lease and equipment as collateral for the advance. After the lease has been in the short-term facility for 90 to 120 days, the lessor will either (1) obtain permanent financing for the lease under a term loan facility where the lessor borrows against the stream of payments of the lease, pledging the payments, the lease and equipment as collateral; or (2) sell the payment stream and/or the lease and equipment to the funder at an agreed discount rate under a sale or securitization facility.

Perfect Pay or Service Advance Provisions

To assure payment when due to the funder (and avoid any defaults due to difference in timing between customer payments and funder due dates), the creditor may agree to “perfect pay” provisions in the transfer documents with the funder.

*Term to Know: A “perfect pay” or “servicer advance” provision is a finance industry term that describes a common credit servicing practice of lessors, sellers or lenders (creditor(s)), which also act as a servicer, to advance payments due from a lessee, buyer or borrower (debtor) to a funder under a term loan agreement, purchase and sale agreement or receivables purchase agreement lease. The advance may occur before the debtor makes its payment. The advance by the creditor/servicer is intended to fully pay the amount that the creditor owes to the funder in a timely manner.

Under a “perfect pay” arrangement, the servicer expects its customer (lessee) to reimburse the creditor when the customer (lessee) makes payments under its lease or other documents with the creditor (lessor).

*Tip: As a servicer, your funder should pay some consideration for you to make advances as a component in the calculation of the servicing fee to be paid to the creditor/servicer (lessor). Also, you should insist that, as servicer, you keep late charges collected on late payments from the customer (lessee).

Perfect Pay/Servicer Advances Discretionary

Servicer advances may be discretionary (that is, the servicer may or may not choose to make them at its discretion) or they may be mandatory. Discretionary advances are more typical of a non-recourse relationship between lessor and funder. If the lessor is providing full or partial recourse, servicer advances are more likely to be mandatory since the lessor will be personally liable for defaults under the funding agreement if timely payments are not made.

Whether discretionary or not, the number of advances that the servicer may make will be limited so that the servicer does not continue to “keep current” a lease that is becoming seriously delinquent. Where servicer advances are made, it is extremely important that the lessor continue to track and report delinquency as though it was not making any servicer advances so that its financial statements and reporting to funders will accurately reflect actual portfolio performance.

Servicer advances may also include advances for other out-of-pocket costs and expenses initially paid by the lessor for which the lessee is ultimately liable, such as advances for taxes and insurance, collection costs, protection of collateral and remarketing fees and expenses after a lessee default.

Once the servicer makes a servicing advance, it is entitled, usually on a priority basis, to be reimbursed from future cash flows relating to the leases and equipment which may include rents, tax and insurance reimbursements, and proceeds from casualties and remarketing of the equipment.
 
Sample Contract Provisions for Perfect Pay
 
The servicing agreement and/or funding agreement will establish a payment priority or “waterfall” with servicer advances typically senior to other disbursements, even payments to the funder of rents or principal and interest.
 
All of these features will be spelled out in either a separate servicing agreement between the lessor/servicer and the funder or will be included in servicing provisions within the underlying loan or sale agreement. A typical “servicer advance” provision follows:

Servicer Advances. For each Payment Period [e.g., monthly], if the Servicer determines that any Scheduled Payment (or portion thereof) which was due and payable under a Contract [e.g., lease] during such Payment Period was not received prior to the end of such Payment Period, the Servicer shall make an advance in an amount equal to the amount of such delinquent Scheduled Payment (or portion thereof) on the Settlement Date (each, a “Servicer Advance”). Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, (i) the Servicer shall be required to make a Servicer Advance [i.e., the amount to make the payment to funder perfect as contractually agreed] with respect to any Contract if, and only if, the Servicer determines in good faith that such Servicer Advance will be recoverable from the future Scheduled Payments or other payments with respect to such Contract, (ii) the Servicer shall not make a Servicer Advance for any Contract on or after the day such Contract becomes a Defaulted Contract or is charged-off pursuant to the Servicer’s Credit and Collection Policies and (iii) any successor Servicer, including the Back-up Servicer, will not be obligated to make any Servicer Advances. The Servicer will deposit any Servicer Advances into the Collection Account on or prior to 11:00 a.m. (New York City time) on the related Settlement Date, in immediately available funds.

*Technical Point: The defined terms vary depending on the specifics of the transaction. In this example, “Scheduled Payments” are the periodic payments that have been assigned to funder such as the monthly rent payments. The “Payment Period” is the period during which the assigned Scheduled Payments are due and payable, such as a calendar month. A “Contract” is the lease, conditional sale agreement, equipment finance agreement or other financing agreement under which the Scheduled Payments are made. The “Settlement Date” is the date in the month following the Payment Period on which the Servicer must pay to the funder (or its collection agent) the aggregate amount of the Scheduled Payments that were due and payable during the Payment Period. This payment is made from the rents collected during the month and the servicer advances that are made to cover rent payments not made on time. The “Defaulted Contract” concept limits the number of servicer advances that must be made. For example, a Contract may become a Defaulted Contract under the funding agreement when it becomes 90 days overdue.

Thus, only two servicer advances could be made with respect to that Contract, as it would become a Defaulted Contract at the time that a third servicer advance would otherwise be payable. The provision that exempts Back-up Servicers from making servicer advances depends on the particular arrangements that are made a Back-up Servicer (if one exists).

The lessor/servicer has an inherent motivation to make such advances because it eases administrative burdens, improves relations with its funding sources and ultimately inures to the lessor’s benefit where it has a retained interest in the lease or portfolio. A Back-up Servicer does not have this inherent motivation so it will typically be paid a higher servicing fee if it obligates itself to make servicer advances.
 
The transfer documents should provide that servicer advances will be reimbursed to the servicer, usually on a priority basis, under the payment “waterfall” provisions of the funding agreement. For example:

Settlement Procedures. On each Settlement Date during the term of this Agreement and prior to the occurrence of a Servicer Default, the Servicer shall pay to the following Persons, from the Collection Account, to the extent of available Collections therein, the following amounts in the following order of priority:

 (i) FIRST, to the Servicer, an amount equal to any unreimbursed Servicer Advances, for the payment thereof; . . . .

Ultimately, if particular servicer advances are not reimbursed because the underlying Contract becomes a Defaulted Contract, the lessor/servicer still gets the benefit of servicer advances made because the balance attributable to the Defaulted Contract will be reduced, thereby lessening the amount that the lessor has to pay for the Defaulted Contract, whether under a recourse provision or as a charge against a reserve or excess collateral pool.

Shifting Trends in Perfect Pay Provisions

As credit markets continue to cope with the fallout of the subprime lending crisis, all creditors should take the hint, and probably already have done so, to reexamine how they extend credit, and perfect pay provisions may not be an exempted from this type of review.

*Warning: The potential short-term effect on the perfect pay arrangements could include more demand for stricter provisions in syndication arrangements. In the absence of a weak customer credit, creditors/services may have to field a funder’s request for:

• Increased credit standards for customers transactions;
• Greater recourse by funders to servicer to shore up customer creditworthiness;
• Enhanced waterfall priority for the funders to pay funders first or increase reserves;
• Elevated pricing for the purchase of syndicated transaction; and
• Tougher provisions that entitle the funder to deal with the customer soon after a trigger event or default by customer.

Despite the potential for a downturn in credit, the syndications of financial products and volume targets imposed on finance organizations remain intense and competitive. However, from all indications in the financial markets, syndication players should keep the market operating well, if not perfectly, in the months ahead.

Thanks to Charles Cross, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Greystone Equipment Finance Corporation, for contributing this article.

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2. FASB Scopes Out Leases from Fair Value Amendment

FASB plans to amend Financial Accounting Statement No. 157, Fair Value Measurements. As issued, the amendment would cause problems with direct finance lease and leveraged lease accounting and the value booked for residuals.

FASB issued Financial Accounting Statement No. 157, Fair Value Measurements in September 2006 (Statement 157). It has an effective date for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Calendar year financial statement reports must, therefore, comply in 2008.

Function of Statement 157

Statement 157 defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value in generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), and expands disclosures about fair value measurements. Prior to Statement 157, there were different definitions of fair value throughout US GAAP and limited guidance for applying those definitions in GAAP.

Amendment of Statement 157

FAS 157 amends FAS 13’s definitions of the fair value of leased property at inception and the value of the residual. But, the FASB has decided to revert to the current definitions in Financial Accounting Standards No. 13 (FAS 13).

FAS 157 would allow lessors to consider the value at inception and the residual as the amount at which the lessor could sell the asset for to a third party. The current FAS 13 definition for fair value at inception is the cost to the lessor.

*Technical Point: Although the current definition of residual value lacks a clear definition, market practice has been to use a conservative value to insure quality of earnings and avoid residual write downs.

For high-volume equipment where lessors have good history of lease end results, lessors would take a weighted average value of lessee renewals, lessee purchases and sales to third parties, and they may reduce the number to reflect uncertainty.

*Warning: The result of the changed definitions in FAS 157 would be to cause most direct finance leases done by third-party lessors to be sales-type leases as the equipment cost would generally be higher than the value at which the lessor could sell the equipment (taxes and delivery and installation costs would be ignored by FAS 157). It also would generally eliminate leveraged lease accounting because lessors cannot use leveraged lease accounting if the lease is a sales-type lease. The change in the residual value definition could have forced lessors to book higher residuals.

See FASB Plans to Add Project Amending Accounting on Fair Value Measurements, BNA’s Banking Report, Vol. 89, No. 12 at 495 (Oct 1, 2007) (subscription required).

ELFA Action

The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) Accounting Committee led by Rod Hurd recognized two major issues and asked the FASB to address and rectify them. Fortunately the FASB acted on September 26, 2007 to direct the FASB staff to issue a FASB Staff Position (FSP) paper to scope out leases from FAS 157.

As a result, FAS 13’s provisions regarding the fair value of leased property and value of residuals will remain unchanged. This is another victory in the quest for truth and justice in lease accounting!

Thanks to Bill Bosco for his insights used in this article. Bill is the Principal of Leasing 101, a lease consulting company with expertise in accounting, tax, financial analysis, structuring, pricing and training. He can be reached at 914-522-3233.

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3. Business Aviation to Face More Security When Flying Into or Out of the U.S.

Business jet passengers often enjoy conveniences and privilege that commercial passengers undoubtedly envy. However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) marked the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks with a lengthy Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that, when final, will change the way international business jet passengers travel, maintain anonymity and alter plans at will.

Today, private aircraft generally are not required to clear Customs when departing the United States and arriving private aircraft are only required to provide limited information about passengers onboard after landing in the United States. The proposed rule will make private aircraft arrivals and departures significantly more onerous.

Under 19 U.S.C. 1433(c), the Secretary of DHS has broad authority to regulate all aircraft, including private aircraft, arriving in and departing from the United States. A private aircraft, in contrast to a commercial aircraft, is generally any aircraft engaged in a personal or business flight to or from the United States which is not carrying passengers and/or cargo for commercial purposes. See 19 CFR 122.1(d) and (h).

*Terms to Know: Under Title 19, Section 122.1(d) of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), a “commercial aircraft” is any aircraft, such as a chartered jet, that transports passengers and/or cargo for some payment or other consideration, including money or services rendered. Under 19 CFR Section 122.1(h), a “private aircraft” is any aircraft engaged in a personal or business flight to or from the U.S. which is not: (1) carrying passengers and/or cargo for commercial purposes; or (2) leaving the U.S. carrying neither passengers nor cargo in order to lade passengers and/or cargo in a foreign area for commercial purposes; or (3) returning to the U.S. carrying neither passengers nor cargo in ballast after leaving with passengers and/or cargo for commercial purposes.

DHS uses a risk-based, threat-management approach to analyze risks, and prioritize vulnerabilities. These risks include, among others, the potential that private jets can carry terrorists. See DHS Press Release, Frequently Asked Questions, (September 11, 2007). To make these risk assessments, DHS needs information. Consequently, beginning sometime in 2008, if you use, fly, finance or sell business jets, you should be aware that pilots will be required to electronically transmit information about everyone on board your aircraft to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at least 60 minutes before departure. The NPRM will also require the pilot to report far more information than in the past:

• Passenger and crew information, including:
  • full name;
  • date of birth;
  • gender;
  • citizenship;
  • country of residence;
  • status on board the aircraft (i.e., passenger or crew member);
  • the number, country of issuance, and expiration date of a passport or other travel document;
  • U.S. alien registration number, if any;
  • address while in the United States; and
  • all travel documents validated by the pilot.

• Arriving aircraft information, including:
  • estimated time and place of entering U.S. airspace;
  • the name of the owner and the operator of the aircraft;
  • the name, address and license data for the pilot;
  • expected first point of landing in the U.S.;
  • complete itinerary while in the U.S.; and
  • 24-hour contact information.
    
    
• Departing aircraft information includes:
  • similar information as provided to CBP on arrival.

*Warning: As a pilot, you must transmit this information to CBP electronically at least 60 minutes before departure. If a new passenger is added after the data has been submitted, you must retransmit the information, and are still subjected (anew) to the 60-minute pre-departure window. Unlike the past, the information may not be submitted by telephone, radio or fax. Accordingly, an aircraft departing from a remote field without electronic access would have to land at an airport with such access, transmit the information and wait there for 60 minutes for clearance. Aircraft will not be permitted to depart until the pilot receives a message from CBP acknowledging receipt and granting permission to depart from or land in the United States.

Finally, the NPRM clarifies CBP’s authority to restrict aircraft from landing in the United States. The CBP may base the restriction on security and/or risk assessments. Consequently, CBP may use its assessments to designate specifically where the aircraft may land. It may therefore limit the airports at which aircraft may land or depart.

*Warning: As a pilot, user, owner or lessee, monitor your own passengers to avoid enforcement actions or redirection to an airport potentially distant from your planned destination.

Many of these requirements apply today to commercial aircraft entering or leaving the U.S. The NPRM builds them into airline schedules and business processes. They will not be so compatible with the private business aviation model which emphasizes flexibility, convenience and access to a far wider range of destinations and airfields.

*Tip: These rules will likely become effective early next year. Plan in advance to provide information required by the NPRM. Know your status as a private aircraft or a commercial aircraft (i.e., charters). Know the information you must provide as a private aircraft about your passengers and otherwise. Expect your pilot to know the requirements. Be prepared to provide compliance information in reports to your lessors or lenders who may have concerns about possible enforcement or other actions against the aircraft for non-compliance with the new regulations.

As the U.S. Government continues to impose additional requirements on private aircraft entering and leaving the country, some of the advantages of business aviation may erode. However, the events of 9-11 leave the government with little choice but to assess all potential risks, including private jet travelers. When the NPRM becomes final, travelers will face significant new restrictions in general aviation. It will not be voluntary or temporary; it is simply a sign of the times.

*Action Item: CBP is accepting comments on the NPRM until November 19, 2007. If these regulations affect you, consult your counsel and make comments immediately.

Thanks to Steve McHale for contributing this article. Steve is a partner in the Aviation Team and co-chair of Homeland Security, Defense, and Technology Transfer practice group at Patton Boggs LLP in Washington, D.C. He is a former Deputy Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration.

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4. BLFN’s Finance 101: What Is a “PMSI” or “Purchase Money Security Interest”?

A “purchase money security interest” or “PMSI” refers to special status and rights under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) that may be claimed by financiers and sellers of goods. Their status derives from a public policy that gives them rights to a top priority in goods as collateral when they extend credit to a debtor to purchase the goods. The policy encourages sellers and financiers to promote commerce through the purchase of goods.

*Warning: Lessors and lessees should keep the concept of a “purchase money lease” under UCC Article 2A-309 separate from a “purchase money security interest.”

A purchase money lease arises in the context of determining priority between lessor of goods that become fixtures and a conflicting interest of an encumbrancer or owner of the real estate on which the fixture is located. In other words, the concept of a purchase money lease arises in a priority contest of land owner or mortgage holder against fixture lessor.

*Technical Point: A lease is a "purchase money lease" unless the lessee has possession or use of the goods or the right to possession or use of the goods before the lease agreement is enforceable. Goods can become fixtures when goods so attach to real property as to form a part of the property.

The holder of a “purchase money lease” of such goods win in a contest for priority over the land owner or mortgage holder under UCC Article 2A-309(4) – under the right circumstances.

Two Types of PMSIs

In the financing world, most lenders know that they can obtain a PMSI under the UCC. A PMSI arises when a lender extends credit to a borrower for the purchase of specific “goods,” such as equipment or inventory.

In addition, a seller of goods can also obtain a PMSI on the sale of goods to its buyer. It does so by holding or retaining a security interest in the goods it sells to the debtor. In pre-UCC terms, this credit transaction by a seller was called a “conditional sale.” In a conditional sales transaction, the seller retained “title” to goods until the buyer paid the full purchase price. See Are Purchase-Money Security Interests Confined to Sellers?, The Uniform Commercial Code Law Letter, Vol. 41, No. 5 (July 2007).

As the court in Trejos, 352 B.R. 249 (Bankr. D. Nev. 2006) summarized:

In short, the UCC recognizes two types of purchase-money security interest(s) [sic]: the security interest that arises when a seller of goods takes back a security interest to secure the deferred part of the goods’ purchase price (or when the seller reserves title in the goods sold until he or she is paid); and the security interest that arises when a lender or other financier extends credit to the debtor to enable the debtor to acquire specific goods.

UCC Article 9 uses a complex group of terms to identify a PMSI. Section 9-103(b) of the a “security interest in goods” as

…a purchase-money security interest: (1) to the extent that the goods are purchase-money collateral with respect to that security interest; (2) if the security interest is in inventory that is or was purchase-money collateral, also to the extent that the security interest secures a purchase- money obligation incurred with respect to other inventory in which the secured party holds or held a purchase-money security interest; and (3) also to the extent that the security interest secures a purchase-money obligation incurred with respect to software in which the secured party holds or held a purchase-money security interest.

*Terms to Know: (1) "Purchase-money collateral" means goods or software that secures a purchase-money obligation incurred with respect to that collateral; and (2) "purchase-money obligation" means an obligation of an obligor incurred as all or part of the price of the collateral or for value given to enable the debtor to acquire rights in or the use of the collateral if the value is in fact so used.

A PMSI will not end as a result of a transfer of a debtor’s obligation from one creditor to another, such as when a car dealer transfers to a credit company the car buyer’s finance contract. See In re Trejos, 352 B.R. 249 (Bankr. D. Nev. 2006).

Priority Rules

Under UCC Section 9-324(a), a perfected purchase-money security interest in goods other than inventory or livestock has priority over a conflicting security interest in the same goods. In addition, except for determining priority as to a deposit account under UCC Section 9-327, a perfected security interest in the identifiable proceeds of such goods will also has priority, if the purchase-money security interest is perfected when the debtor receives possession of the collateral or within 20 days thereafter.

*Tip: Purchase money security interests should extend to and cover service contracts relating to the goods involved in the purchase, such as a service contract on an automobile or on a computer purchased with funds from a financier. See In re Murray, 352 B.R. 340 (Bankr. M.D. Ga. 2006). Use caution when you evaluate the extent of a PMSI, especially if your deal includes software and service contracts.

Thanks to Ken Vesledahl of the Patton Boggs LLP Corporate Finance Group in Dallas for editing this article.

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Thanks to BLFN’s Team

I would like to thank BLFN’s team at Patton Boggs LLP. The team includes J. Atwood Jeter, a senior associate in the firm’s business transactions, real estate, and wind energy groups; the Patton Boggs staff editors, Paul Dumansky and Adrian Nicole McCoy; our Project Manager, Melissa Green; Claire Campbell; and our designers, Winston Jackson and Kiasha Sullivan. Thanks also to Douglas C. Boggs, a Business Group/Securities partner and web site reviewer for BLFN, and our Marketing Chief, Mary Kimber, for assisting BLFN through our firm’s editing, design, and posting process.All the best,

David

David G. Mayer
Founder: Business Leasing and Finance News
(formerly Business Leasing News)
Partner: Patton Boggs LLP
2001 Ross Avenue
Suite 3000
Dallas, Texas 75201
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© David G. Mayer 2007
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