Leveraged Lease

Leveraged lease

A lease arrangement under which the lessor borrows a large proportion of the funds needed to purchase the asset. The lender has a lien on the assets and a pledge of the lease payments to secure the borrowing.

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leveraged lease

A long-term lease in which a major part of the purchase price of the to-be-leased asset is financed by a third party. Thus, the lessor uses a combination of its own funds and borrowed money in order to purchase the asset that is then leased to another party.

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Leveraged Lease

A lease in which a bank or other financial institution provides the lessor (the party granting the lease and retaining title to the lease good) with credit, which the lessor then uses to finance the lease. For example, suppose a car dealer (lessor) extends a lease to someone buying a car (lessee). The lessor may take a loan from a bank in order to receive capital from the lease of the car while the lessee drives away with the car. The lessee then makes payments on the lease, which the lessor then uses to repay the loan to the bank. Importantly, the lessor may take the leased asset away from the lessee if the lessee defaults, and the bank may do the same if the lessor defaults.