If anyone has more info re Chase, please post it. I have someone ready to take over my lease as of an hour ago (hope they qualify), but there is no way I want to be on the hook for anything once this deal is done, and that would be insanity for anyone to live with that potential liability (payments, damage, total loss, etc. - what if the transferee let his insurance lapse!).

Still, I believe leasetrader.com and Chase were both pretty clear about a "full" assumption and no residual liability to me.

 

Jim,

I would trust no one other than Chase themselves. If they tell you you will be fully released, then clearly you should be. Perhaps you ought to ask them to send a sample assumption/termination contract for your review? If you don't want to lose the potential buyer, then you could go ahead and commence the process with the buyer with the express understanding that it's conditioned on Chase fully releasing as they say they will do.

Hopefully, the person you spoke with at Chase gave you accurate info. It shoudl be fairly straightforward to confirm - I just want to suggest that you do so since I agree completely that anything other than a full release is too risky for my blood.

Again, please let me know what you find out - I am mroe than a little curious. Good luck

Eric

 

To your first point, I'm not really sure if Chase discourage lease assumptions or not, it never came up with them.

To your second point, once you sign over the lease to the new party, you are completely out of the lease including all obligations to that lease. The lease assumption is a complete lease transfer and you no longer have any obligation to the car, or the leasing company, once both parties sign on the dotted line and it's finalized through Chase.

If the person that assumes the lease from you never makes another payment it has nothing to do with you. If they total the car it has nothing to do with you. It's just like selling the car, once you sign over the title anything that happens after that is not your responsibility.

Did Chase give you that information?

Rob

 

Rob,

I spoke with Chase and with Swapalease some months ago when I was misguided enough to think about getting rid of my Porsche. Both said that I would not be released from liability. Again, perhaps I would only be secondarily liable and they woudl have to go after the new lessee first for costs, damages, etc., however, that is not what I understood. Swapalease in particular said they were very familiar with this problem with their clients who are Chase lessees. This was one reason they came up with their own "insurance" product, whereby for a cost equal to one month lease payemnt, they insure that the new lessee will make all requisite lease payments for the remainder of the lease term. However, they also acknowledged that other types of liablity (wrecking the car, third party injury, outright theft of the car at the end of the lease term - however unlikely some of these may be) are NOT covered and that with Chase I would remain liable despite the purported "assumption" by the new lessee. At the time, I understood that the assumption was not a full legal assumption and I passed.

Two possibilities: One, I was misinformed. Two, Chase has changed their policies since my 12/03 lease.

Rob - did you actually do this with Chase? If so, was your paperwork clean on the assumption?

 

I will post more info as soon as I get paperwork from Chase but might be next week. Chase tells me it takes about 4 weeks with mail back and forth and I am very worried about the timing as it will probably be very frustrating for the buyer, knowing my own impatience when "new Porsche" is in the air.

 

I received the paperwork from Chase, Swapalease never mentioned any of that insurance stuff, however, I would certainly not take their word for it. Speak to Chase directly. I will call them tomorrow and post what that conversation is like.

So far this process has taken much longer than 4 weeks. More like 8 weeks, really ridiculous.... I'll keep you posted.

Rob

 

Per swapalease website since 10/1/03 Chase no longer holds original leasee reponsible in any way.

 

I am surprised that you could lease a car from chase in NY -- It was my understanding that they would no longer lease to NY residents because of the court cases holding the leaser responsible for liability. This is a growing problem not just in NY.

The balloon loan is the way around bank liability -- I would think this is the problem with a NY to NY lease flip.

 

i agree with er996, and i think that his advice is correct. at the same time, i do not think that riad is completely correct. there are lease assumptions where the leasor reserves the right to go after the original leasee. i have transferred the lease of a bmw motorcycle to a good friend and am involved in just that type of transfer-since it is a good friend who will never be uninsured, i decided to take the risk-if it was a stranger, i would never have done it. as er996 says-speak to chase, and get it in writing that you are absolved of all responsibility when the lease is transferred. otherwise, you will have to decide what level of risk that you want to accept.

 

I spoke to Chase today (third call/person there) and again it was stated clearly that I will be completely off the hook. Though I didn't ask specifically, the way they talked made it sound like this was in fact a recent change in their policy. I'll have the initial paperwork in a couple days and will check further.