Hertz Lease Plan, Inc. v. Urban Transportation & Planning Associates, Inc.

The current practice of “leasing” equipment needed for one’s business brings many obvious benefits. The “lessee” conserves available capital (or borrowing power) and (at least in a true lease) may find rental more advantageous than depreciation as a deduction for income tax purposes. The “lessor” may make more profit from “rental” than he would have from interest on a loan, and may find equipment ownership a more attractive security device than chattel mortgage.

But leasing is not a thornless rose. A lessee may find that, despite having paid rentals totalling more than the full price of the…