The most economical and lowest support cost for your office equipment leasing is keeping your organization on a consistent refresh cycle. With that being the case, how do organizations that sign an office equipment lease agreement for 5 years get stuck living out 6 or even 7 year terms without ever signing on for a new lease agreement? The short answer is leasing automatic renewals.
Business owners consistently find leasing to be the most cost-effective financing option for office equipment today and it’s easy to see why with the benefits of increased cash flow and working capital that this option allows. Nearly all office equipment leases have automatic renewals built into the terms and conditions in some form or another. We’ll take a look at some automatic renewal examples that we’ve seen and show you how to navigate a successful lease notification, renewal or termination for your organization.
Finding the Automatic Renewal Clause in Your Lease Agreement
Generally, automatic renewals will be noted in the terms and conditions of your leasing agreement. Here are a few examples of how this can be worded.
This agreement will continue from the billing date for the term shown and will be extended automatically for successive (1) month terms unless you (a) send us written notice between ninety (90) days and one hundred fifty (150) days from the end of any term of your decision to return or purchase the equipment or renew this lease and (b) you purchase or return the equipment as specified in your notice within ten (10) days after the end of the term.
Unless otherwise stated in an addendum hereto, this Agreement will renew for 12-month term(s) unless you send us written notice between 90 and 150 days (before the end of any term) that you want to purchase or return the Equipment, and your timely return of the equipment.
If the contract is canceled prior to expiration date; a prorated penalty fee will be assessed, otherwise this agreement is automatically renewed for a like period at the then-current contract rates.
This agreement shall automatically renew for successive annual periods, subject to the receipt by this corporation of the non-refundable annual maintenance charge and lease payment in effect at the time of renewal and provided that the customer is not then in default. In addition to any other rights under this Agreement, either party may terminate this agreement at any time by giving 30 days prior written notice to the other party.
At the end of the term of this Agreement (or any renewal term) (the “End Date”), this agreement will renew for an additional one-year period under the same terms unless a) you provide us written notice, at least 60 days prior to the End Date, of your intent to return the Equipment, and b) you timely return the Equipment to the location designated by us, at your expense.
Each automatic renewal should have three major parts:
- Automatic Renewal Term Length – A clear statement of the automatic renewal term length such as one-month, six-month, or even one-year terms.
- Notice Period – The approved period to submit notice to terminate the lease without renewal such as 60 days before the end of the current lease term.
- Equipment Return Period – The length of time that your organization has to ship back the leased equipment at the end of the lease term.
Submitting Notification
Take the time to carefully read through your printer or copier lease terms and conditions to identify all three parts of the automatic renewal clause. With a clear understanding of the required timeline, you can identify the window of opportunity to submit your letter giving notice of the intended plan for the copy machine lease at the end of the term.
Your lease end notification letter should at a minimum include the following information:
- The leasing company’s details
- The specific lease account number that you will be discontinuing
- The serial numbers of the copiers and printers that are included on the current lease
- Your contact information with a request to have confirmation of receipt sent back
This lease end notification letter isn’t binding and you’ll still have the option to extend your lease with the current leasing provider. By submitting the notification letter, you’re not committing to any one direction, you're merely affording your organization the opportunity to look at all of your options before making a final decision on whether or not to continue with your current lease provider.
Once you’ve signed your letter, you’ll want to send versions via snail mail to the leasing office and email to cover all of your bases. If you’re unsure of what this should look like, contact our Client Success Team with any questions that you have as you’re going through the process at AOSClientSuccess@GetAOS.com or (800) 346-6920.
Final Thoughts
By reading through the terms and conditions of your copier or printer lease, you can identify the termination requirements ahead of time so that you don’t get stuck in a never-ending automatic renewal cycle. This way you'll be in a great position when you're ready to update your equipment.
