What's actually going on
At maturity, the leasing company expects either the equipment back or a payment. Keeping the machine without agreeing to a buyout means the contract keeps running.
Unreturned equipment is usually billed at the stated fair market or full replacement value, which is higher than the buyout you could have negotiated.
What to do in the next 48 hours
- 1If maturity has passed, call the leasing company today and ask what is owed to close the account.
- 2Ask specifically whether they will accept the equipment back now and what the return authorization process is.
- 3Get any settlement figure in writing before paying anything.
- 4Record the final meter and photograph the machine so the closing invoice can be verified.
The honest tradeoffs
- Keeping a machine you never intended to buy is the most expensive way to own a copier, because you pay lease payments and then a full-value purchase.
- Paying a negotiated buyout now is nearly always cheaper than letting the account go to collections, where it can be reported against the business's credit.
Your next step
- Get help closing this outSend us what you have and we will map the fastest way to end it cleanly.
- Prepare the return properlyAuthorization, wipe documentation, packaging and freight.
- Record your final meterProtects you when the closing invoice arrives.
- Browse all leasing answersEvery lease question in one place.
Questions people ask next
- What happens if I keep a leased copier after the lease ends?
- Billing usually continues, and the leasing company can invoice the equipment at fair market or full replacement value. Unpaid balances can go to collections and be reported against the business's credit.
- Can I still return a copier after the lease has matured?
- Often yes. Call the leasing company, request a return authorization and ask for the amount required to close the account. Get both in writing before shipping anything.
More on a lease that's ending
- My copier lease is ending and I don't know what to do
- My lease auto-renewed and I never agreed to it
- I have to return a copier and I don't know the rules
- My copier lease is expiring: what are my actual options?
- I need out of my copier lease early
- How an evergreen clause keeps renewing my lease
- Should I rent, lease or buy the next copier?
- My lease deadline is days away: what do I do in the next 48 hours?
Elsewhere in the answer library
- My copier bill keeps going up and nobody can explain why
- I think I'm overpaying but I can't prove it
- My copier keeps jamming and I've stopped trusting it