In today’s message:

  • How getting equipment may harm personal credit reports
  • Some humour…
  • Helping your clients buy or sell equipment

How getting equipment may harm personal credit reports

If a business is incorporated, the owners usually think it’s the business that borrows the money to acquire new or used equipment. But, in a way, the owners are borrowing, too. And this can have an effect on their credit reports.

Virtually all institutions that offer loans or leases to small and medium-sized companies require the owners to co-sign all borrowing documents. So even though the company’s name is at the top of the page, the owner’s name still shows up at the bottom.

This is, in part, because experience shows that most individuals who co-sign are motivated to make sure their company makes every monthly payment. But there are some individuals who are not always so motivated. These folks sometimes have a bad credit history already. That’s why one of the first things we look at before offering credit to a business is the personal credit report of the owner.

Why this can be a problem for the owner with good credit is that whenever lenders request a credit report, their requests are listed on subsequent credit reports. Multiple requests may give the appearance either that the owner is shopping for credit and may therefore be in financial difficulty, or that the other lenders have refused to give credit to him or her for a good reason that we don’t yet know. This may not affect the credit score, but it will appear on the credit report that includes the credit score.

An easy solution includes two preventive steps:

  1. With any credit application, always provide a recent copy of your personal credit report, because if you request your own report, that request does not affect subsequent reports. Reputable lenders – like Aquilian Financial – will be happy to accept your copy of the report and abstain from making their own requests. This method avoids multiple lender requests. Your own personal credit report can be obtained through the mail for free from Equifax orTransUnion. If you need immediate access, they charge a small fee. Aquilian Financial, and most of the lenders we know, want to see an Equifax report.
  2. When buying equipment from a dealer, do not use their in-house financing, unless their brand manufacturer is advertising a fixed, low rate for everyone. Equipment dealers often compensate for slim profit margins on the sale of equipment by earning large fees on financing the same pieces. They do this by shopping your credit around to the highest bidder. Aquilian can often beat the dealers’ rates without beating up your credit.

Some humour

Here are a few gems from the master of one-liners, Canadian comic Stewart Francis:

 

My dad has a weird hobby: he collects empty bottles… which sounds so much better than “alcoholic.”

In school I wanted to join the debating team… but someone talked me out of it.

There’s a man in my neighbourhood who is in the Guiness Book of World Recordsfor having forty-three concussions; he lives very close, actually, just a stone’s throw away…

And even though I’m proud that my father invented the rear-view mirror, we’re not as close as we appear.

My doctor thinks I’m taking hallucinogenic drugs… how do I know?… let’s just say a little bird told me.

I was wondering why a Frisbee appears larger, the closer it gets… and then it hit me.

My girlfriend thinks I’m very mature. She also thinks I’m incapable of being faithful.. My wife, on the other hand…

I’m a very proud Canadian who is very proud of the educational system in Canadia…

Did I already tell you my Alheimer’s joke?


Helping businesses buy or sell equipment

  • Does a client have equipment they’d like to sell, but buyers don’t have enough cash?
  • Does a client want to buy from a private seller who wants only cash?
  • Does your client have an employee who could be an owner-operator, if only they could get financing?
  • Does an owner-operator want to replace equipment or get an additional unit?
  • Is a bank or leasing company saying, “No”?
  • Want to find the lowest rate for financing equipment?

We can help, at no cost or obligation.


Thanks for taking the time to read this, and have a great weekend.

Aquilian Financial provides loan, leasing, and employee health benefits solutions.

Contact: Email (eric@aquilian.ca)

or Phone 647.479.8764 or Toll-free: 1.844.252.0524

or download our credit application.

Eric Grossman, CPA, CGA  –  Aquilian Financial

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