Help / Faq Lease Transfers, Lease Assumptions and Short Term auto Leases.

There are two methods to contact sellers. You can find these two conveniently placed buttons at the bottom of each auto listing:

Registered Buyers

You may use a LeaseTrader internal e-mail system to contact sellers early in your search, to ask questions that are not answered by the information provided on the listing or about information missing on the listing such as:
What is the current mileage on the car?
What is the Residual value or buyout price of the car?

Credit Verified Buyers

Once you are serious about pusuing taking over a lease with LeaseTrader.
We suggest algo that you submit a credit application so that the seller is able to decide which potential buyer to choose to transfer the lease to as they will see whether or not you are a good take-over candidate.
Note that your Buyer registration is good on multiple vehicles.
If your initial vehicle doesn’t work out, you don’t need to re-register with LeaseTrader, simply contact another seller.

You've found the auto that fits your needs now what?

Follow these easy steps and you'll be on your way to a successful experience: As a buyer, you will be assuming a lease contract.
First thing you'll need to do is to contact the Seller to arrange a meeting in at mutually convenient time and place to view the auto, the lease contract, and the service records. You should allow 45 minutes to an hour for this meeting; make sure when you call the Seller and ask that they bring the lease contract to the meeting.

The Lease Contract: All your rights and obligations are specified in the Lease Contract, so it's important that you read and verify your understanding of the lease contract before finalizing a deal.

The Basic Terms of the Lease: Check the sellers contract for the ending date (the date the lease agreement ends); the total miles allowed, the cost per mile of additional miles beyond the standard allowance; the monthly payment; the end-of-lease terms, including the buy-out value (buying your leased auto at the end of the lease can be attractive), any end of lease disposition fees; excess wear and tear provisions; security deposit requirements.

The Vehicle: As with any auto purchase, take a good look at the condition of the vehicle. You will be responsible for the condition of the vehicle at lease end. Unless you’re mechanically inclined, we recommend you get the car checked by a third party; contact LeaseTrader if you’d like a recommendation for an inspection service. Verify that the current mileage on the odometer meets your expectations.

Additional Questions to Ask the Seller: If you haven’t already, now is the time to discuss any other questions that may be important to you, including confirming which person will pay the transfer fees, how you will handle security deposit transfer, etc.

Once you’re ready to move forward, and agreed with the Seller on a transfer, the Seller will contact LeaseTrader to let us know of your deal.

LeaseTrader will contact you to verify that you do indeed want to proceed. After you verify yes, LeaseTrader will submit your credit information to the financial institution for their credit decision.

Remember, if you have any questions during the process, you can e-mail or call LeaseTrader; we're here to help you!

Each Leasing Company has their own policies regarding finalizing the lease transfer process. Some will require your signatures notarized; others may require you to meet at an auto dealer or bank branch. LeaseTrader helps guide you through the process to make it as easy as possible for you.

Once Seller and Buyer have completed the Leasing Company requirements for the lease transfer (i.e. signed the appropriate transfer documents, buyer has provided proof of insurance, both parties have paid the appropriate fees, and any other specific requirements of the leasing company), you’re now ready to hand over the keys to the new lessee.

Generally speaking, we recommend the Seller ensure all transfer documents are completed and are properly forwarded to the leasing company. It’s also prudent to confirm that the leasing company received and processed the transfer two weeks after you forwarded the documents.

As the Buyer, you should expect to begin receiving monthly lease payment statements. If you don’t receive your monthly statement by a week before the payment due date, please call your new leasing company to ensure your statement is being processed properly. Remember, it is your responsibility to make the lease payments.

Typically the license plates on the vehicle are the property of the leasing company and should remain on the vehicle. For the specifics of your states policies and for cross-state transfers, please contact the local Department of Motor Vehicles office or your leasing company.

Some leasing companies can complete the process in as little as one day while others may take several business days. How long it takes depends on a few things. First is the credit application approval process, which generally takes 24 to 72 hours. The second factor entails the creation and processing of the required lease transfer documents, which generally takes 3 to 5 business days. Lastly mail and paperwork turnaround times must also be taken into consideration. Typically, it takes between 7 to 14 business days to complete the entire process. If you’d like information on the typical time frame for a specific leasing company, please Contact Us and we will be happy to share our experiences with you.

LeaseTrader protects customer information by using state of the art 128-bit Secure Socket Layer(SSL) encryption supplied by Verisign or others SSL providers.

The listings are updated in real time at LeaseTrader. When Sellers list their vehicles, they appear immediately on the website. When Sellers make any changes or add missing information to their listing it appears as soon as they save the information in our website.

Most leases, if not all of the vehicles listed on LeaseTrader.com are closed-end leases, reflecting a residual value.

Most all of the vehicles listed for lease transfers in LeaseTrader.com are being offered by the original lease holders looking to transfer out of their lease and get out of their current car lease payment.

Most leasing companies allow car lease transfers, however very few do not, and some have specific restrictions.

Call a LeaseTrader Transfer Specialist or your Leasing Company to find out their policies regarding car lease transfers or lease assumptions.

Nearly all leasing companies allow car lease transfers; however none of them actively promote or advertise this service. Time and costs associated with the car lease transfer to the leasing companies is one of the reasons why they don’t.

LeaseTrader does not advocate subleasing in any way whatsoever, and the LeaseTrader Marketplace is not to be used for the advertising or seeking of subleases. LeaseTrader’s lease transfer is a true transfer of equity, done by the leasing company, with full contractual coverage by all of the parties involved.
Very Important:
Lease transferring or a lease assumption is NOT “Subleasing” since a sublease is NOT allowed by leasing companies and is in fact illegal in many states.
 

A great number of transfers are between people in different states. We work with a national transportation company that delivers the vehicle to your location. You can negotiate with the owner as to who pays any costs involved.

We are pleased to inform that we are now accepting Canadian listings. We have received a lot of interest from Canadian lessees and lease buyers.

Click where it says "Contact Seller" if you would like to make an offer on the lease or if you simply like to assume the lease Click where it says "Contact Seller" Log in if you are a registered user or create a new account. Complete the credit application if you would like to get pre-approved. You will be contacted within 24 hours with the results.

Buyer Programs and Credit Verification Fee: The cost to join our buyer programs varies from $39.95 to $79.95.
The buyer programs include 1 credit All buyer programs are for 60 days of membership and include having your credit verified once.
The buyer program provides you lots of tools and with information to enhance, facilitate and expedite, your lease transfer experience. LeaseTrader is available to assist you throughout the entire lease transfer process.
In addition to the buyers program, at the initiation of the lease transfer process LeaseTrader charges the buyer $149.95* after rebate.

Leasing fees: Most financial Institutions charge a fee to process the car lease transfer paperwork. This fee varies from $0-$650 and is payable directly to the Finance Institution (e.g. Mercedes Benz Credit). You can negotiate with the person transferring the lease as to who pays any fees involved.

Other: If you are in a different state, there may be transportation and optional third party inspection costs. You can negotiate with the person transferring the car lease as to who pays these fees. For more info on this, visit our Services section.

One of the advantages of taking-over a car lease is to simply continue to pay the monthly car lease payments until the lease term ends.

Yes, up until the final transfer documentation is signed you can back out at any time. Note that any fees collected by LeaseTrader are non-refundable if you decide to stop a transfer once the transfer process has begun.

You can negotiate with the person transferring the lease as to who pays any costs involved.

In most cases you can return the vehicle once the lease is up at a dealership in YOUR area. This is the case even if you take-over a lease from a different state.

Yes, most leases have a lease end purchase option. The amount to be paid will be specified in the contract (residual value or lease end buyout). If this info is not displayed in the listing, you may contact the seller for additional information.

Most Leasing Companies will let you extend the lease term. However, it all depends on the original lease agreement and what the leasing company decides to do. For more details please contact the leasing company directly.

From the Sign-In area you can click on Forgot Password? to request your username and password. Just enter the email address you have included in your LeaseTrader account, and the username and password will be emailed to you. If you have any difficulty obtaining the username and/or password, please Contact Us.

Save thousands of dollars - You simply take-over someone else's monthly car lease payments for the time remaining on the lease. No down payments required. E.g. Someone gave a $3500 down payment on a BMW lease to lower the car lease payments to $349 per month. When you take-over the lease, you simply continue paying the $349 until the end of the lease. You do not have to pay the $3500 down payment.
More car more often - Taking over a lease gives you flexibility to lease a vehicle for a short amount of time . Even for a year if you like without the long term commitment.

A longer term commitment.
Regular lease terms are usually 36, 48, or 60 months (5 years).
Down payment.
In many vehicles there is usually a down payment involved which you do not get back when the car lease is over.
Negotiating with a car salesman.
You have to negotiate the purchase price of the vehicle, the term of the lease, the excess mileage charge, and the interest rate included in the lease payment. This is something that a lot of us try to stay away from.
In both auto leasing and taking over a car lease can generally be extended and you have to make sure not to exceed the mileage allowance on the car lease and not exceed normal wear and tear on the vehicle. .

Yes, it is possible to terminate most car leases prior to the scheduled end date; however there are normally significant financial implications to the lessee when doing so. Each leasing company has their own policies, but most will charge some form of early termination penalty. It is not unusual for these charges to be in excess of several thousand dollars. This makes transferring a car lease through LeaseTrader such a valuable service.

The car lease transfer process is almost the same for most leasing companies.
The individual wishing to take over the lease submits a credit application to the leasing company. The leasing company will make a decision on the credit worthiness of the applicant. If approved, lease transfer documents are prepared by leasing company and signed by the original and assuming lessees. The transfer is complete when the signed documents are returned to the leasing company and processed. There are variations in the fees and details for each leasing company. The LeaseTrader Team is on board to assist with these variations and details as you navigate through the car lease transfer process.

Although we cannot give any guarantees, we have a constantly updated waiting list of individuals looking to take-over leases. We tend to receive various applications per vehicle. People nationwide search our listings and constantly fill out Wish Lists. LeaseTrader's patent pending system automatically notifies all the people who requested your vehicle the second you put it online.

For the most up to date leasing company transfer policy information we recommend that you contact the leasing company directly or for your convenience LeaseTrader has included the basic lease transfer policies for many leasing companies within Leasing Company Information.

Independent of our pre-screening process, all of the lease transfers require the approval of the finance company involved in each particular lease (e.g. Wells Fargo Finance). Most finance companies charge separate fees in connection with transferring a car lease. The individual taking over your car lease typically pays these fees. These fees range from $0- $650.00. To this end, since we usually receive various applications per listing, we require candidates to undergo a pre-screening process to determine who is the most suitable to take-over candidate for your lease. These candidates may undergo a credit check and pay a $29.95 to LeaseTrader.

Each leasing company has their own policy for how to handle security deposits during a lease assumption. Most transfer the security deposit to the assuming lessee, while others return the deposit to the original lessee and require a new deposit from the assuming lessee. Some of them did not require a security deposit to begin with. Information on how leasing companies handle security deposits is included within Lease Company Information.

The individual assuming the lease will be responsible for the lease-end terms as stated in the original lease contract. Lease-end charges may include disposition fees, excess mileage fees and excess wear & tear assessments. All potential lease-end charges will be outlined in the original lease document. The Lease Buyer would be responsible for any termination charges, or disposition fees at lease end.

Normally the terms of the lease, including monthly payment amount, mileage allowed and lease-end date remain fixed and are controlled by the leasing company. However, the Buyer and Seller of a lease are free to negotiate the details of the car lease transfer, as long as they do not interfere with the rules set forth by the lease agreement or are in violation of any laws. A common example of a negotiable item is who will pay the leasing company's transfer fees, transportation fees, inspection fees etc. These agreements are made between the individual Buyer and Seller; therefore LeaseTrader does not have any control over the items being negotiated and assumes no responsibility for such agreements.

It generally takes on average about three weeks to get all the documentation processed but some of the leasing companies could take up to 7 weeks. LeaseTrader is available to assist in the lease transfer process. Contact our LeaseTrader transfer team to find out more about this service, at 1-800-770-0207 Mon-Fri 9 AM to 6:00 Pm EST.

The lease transfer process is final when the leasing company receives all required lease transfer documents and fees for the transaction. LeaseTrader will advise you on how to complete the necessary documents and when to submit the fees in each situation. LeaseTrader will be happy to share our transferring experience with the procedures of all major leasing companies, please Contact Us with any questions or concerns you may have.

A great number of transfers are between people in different States. Some restrictions on lease transfers are set by the particular leasing company involved.
Restrictions for each leasing company may be included in Lease Company Information.
You can negotiate with the person taking over the lease as to who pays any costs involved in transporting the vehicle to another state.