Have you ever been tripped up by a blanket lien? Members of the Iowa-Nebraska Equipment Dealers Association are increasingly confronting issues regarding security interests held by banks in equipment they either purchase outright or accept in trade on other equipment from customers. Samuel I. Kreamer, J.D., C.P.A. of Kreamer Law Firm has put together three forms he has prepared to help protect dealers from losses due to unreleased interests. Please read the following memo and download available forms for your use: [Blank Lien forms] It is suggested that DEALERS SHOULD ALSO DO A UCC SEARCH ON THE CUSTOMER’S NAME (AS WELL… Read More »
[Author: Samuel I. Kreamer, J.D., C.P.A., Kreamer Law Firm, P.C., 2016 | Keywords: Business, Operations, Liens] As we are all aware, banks (or other lenders) take a VERY dim view of customers who do not repay their loans. To increase the odds that their loan will get repaid, lenders routinely require borrowers to grant the lender the right to repossess and sell specific assets in satisfaction of their loan. This is alternately stated as: the borrower grants the lender a security interest (a “Lien”) in a specific asset (the “Collateral”). Sometimes borrowers try to sell (or use as trade-in) the bank’s… Read More »
[Author: Samuel I. Kreamer, J.D., C.P.A., Kreamer Law Firm, P.C., 2016 | Keywords: Business, Operations, Liens] For some, the answer to this question is, “tens of thousands of dollars.” This is an increasingly common situation facing dealers. An item is taken by a dealer as a trade-in from a customer on a new purchase. After the trade-in item is sold, the dealer receives a demand letter or even a lawsuit from the customer’s bank. Sound familiar? The end result could be that not only did the dealer get too little for the equipment sold to the customer, but the dealer is now… Read More »
[2016 | Keywords: Business, Operations, Service] Equipment dealers continually strive to run an efficient and productive service department. From reducing redundancy to scheduling and communicating with road techs, innovative ideas and cutting edge technology are helping them reach this goal. Kunau Implement, a Case-IH dealership with locations in Preston and Dewitt, Iowa, tracks and communicates with its service techs on the road using a combination of Garmin GPS units and Fleetmatics software. The software allows a dispatcher to see which trucks are on the road and where they are located at any given time. “Basically, we’re keeping track of our… Read More »
[Author: Will Rogers, Director of Government Affairs, 2015 | Keywords: Business, Operations, Mediation] If crop prices remain low and net farm income stays below the profit margin for significant period of time, you may have an ag customer default on a loan and file for bankruptcy. To date, we at the Association have already heard of three cases of farmers defaulting on payments involving equipment loans in the millions. While these amounts may not be typical of your customer base, you should prepare for the inventible in case commodity prices fail to rebound commodity prices. One of the toughest challenges you may… Read More »
