I don't know it a lease purchase would work with someone you don't already know and trust. For example, I know one guy, a good friend of mine, who did a lease purchase with another good friend of mine. The owner bought the van and then the driver pays everything, just as if he owns it. He pays the bank note to the bank, maintenance and repair, upgrades and additions to the van like insulation, a Fan-Tastic Fan vent, whatever he wants to do, everything. He does check with the owner before making any kind of permanent additions or changes to the van, of course In addition to everything, he pays the owner $400 a month for the privilege of leasing the van.
The owner set it up with the carrier that the drivers is the one who deals with the carrier on any issues, and for the most part, the owner doesn't even think much about the van at all. If something goes wrong, if a payment to the bank is late, or some other payment doesn't get paid on time, the van would go back to the owner and the driver gives up any and all interest and investment in the van. Period. The owner can take it back or not, his call. Depends on the situations and how he may want to handle it. A lease was drawn up to that effect.
It's going on 3 years now and the van will be paid off in a few months. So far, not a single late payment and all maintenance has been properly performed, etc. The lease is for 5 years, so even when the van is paid off the $400 monthly lease payment will still go to the owner, something that the driver is more than willing to live with, as the owner is the one who took all the risks up front.
Once the van is paid off, a provision in the lease makes the driver a co-owner of the van, with his percentage of ownership being 75% in the event that it is mutually agreed upon to sell the van at any time before the lease is up, minus however much is still owed to the owner via the $400 per month lease payments remaining at the time the van is sold. Assuming the van is not sold before the end of the lease, the driver continues to pay the $400 per month until the 5 year lease expires, and he can at any time pay a lump sum and buy out the lease, or he can make payments of more than $400 to shorten the time of the lease.
Essentially, the driver is buying the van, and is paying the owner $400 times 60 months = $24,000 for the opportunity of getting his own van. I think the van cost about $25,000 and his bank note payments are like $500. The driver is paying seemingly a lot for his van, and the owner isn't getting nearly what he would have if he were doing a 60/40 split, but the driver is getting a van out of the deal and the owner gets $400 a month for doing essentially nothing.
Both are happy, and it's a win-win situation. But like I said, I don't think this could be done unless both parties know each other well and trust each other. The owner did this because the driver's credit was so messed up that he couldn't get a loan on his own, and while the owner knows the situation with his credit and still trusts the driver, he didn't want to co-sign on a note just the same, cause that never works out well, and it would have handcuffed the owner if something went wrong. So he gave the driver virtual ownership, and all the responsibilities and feelings of ownership that go with it. It's worked well.
Someone might be able to come up with some variant of this situation and see if it works, at least on paper.
Slow and steady, even in expediting, wins the race - Aesop
