How to get out of a printer or copier lease
Most offices that want out of a copier lease are not stuck because of the machine. They are stuck because of a date they missed.
A printer or copier lease is a real commitment for its term. What decides how you get out is written on the first pages of the agreement: the end date, the notice window, the renewal clause and the buyout. Read those four and you know your options.
Can you cancel a copier lease early?
Not the way you cancel a subscription. An equipment lease runs for its full term, and that is true of every leasing company, ours included. The leasing company paid for the machine up front and is collecting that cost over the term.
Getting out early means settling what is left. That can happen through a buyout, an upgrade into a new lease, or a transfer to another business. Each is covered below. If you are near the end of the term, the simplest way out is to not let it renew.
What to read in your lease first
Pull the agreement and find these lines before you call anyone. Our before you lease page shows what each clause looks like on page one.
The term and the start date
The term is the number of months, commonly 36, 48 or 60. The start date is usually the day the equipment was accepted, not the day you signed. Count forward from that date to get your end date.
The notice window and the auto-renewal clause
This is the clause that catches most offices. Many copier leases and service agreements carry an evergreen clause: unless you send written notice that you will not renew inside a set window before the end date, the agreement renews on its own, commonly for another full 12 months.
The window usually runs 90 to 120 days before the end date. The notice has to be in writing, often by certified mail, and it has to go to the leasing company named in the agreement, not to the dealer who sold you the machine. Telling a sales rep on the phone does not count.
Miss the window and you owe another year.
The buyout
Check what the lease says happens at the end.
A fair market value lease lets you return the machine at the end or buy it at its fair market value. It carries a lower monthly payment because you are not paying off the whole machine.
A lease to own, often called a dollar buyout lease, is written so you own the machine for a nominal amount at the end. The monthly payment is higher, and at the end there is nothing to return.
For an early buyout, ask the leasing company for a written payoff figure and how long it is good for.
Return obligations
On a fair market value lease, the agreement says how the machine goes back: who packs it, who ships it, where it goes, and whether there is a return fee. Some agreements bill you until the machine arrives. Read this before your end date, not after.
Service tied to the lease
Look for service and supplies written into the lease itself. When the two are bundled, you often cannot drop the service without breaking the equipment contract, and a page minimum or overage rate may sit inside the same clause.
What are your options?
Buy it out
Ask for the payoff, in writing. On a fair market value lease you can buy the machine at the end. Many leases allow an early buyout, and the figure is based on the payments left. Buying out makes sense when you like the machine, it is paid down, and you plan to keep it.
If you keep it, it still needs service. Price that before you decide.
Upgrade into a new lease
When an office needs a different machine before the term ends, the remaining balance on the old lease can often be settled as part of starting a new one. Whether it works depends on the balance, the new term and the approval. Ask whoever quotes the replacement to show you, in writing, how the old balance is handled.
Return it at the end of the term
On a fair market value lease you can send written notice inside the window and return the machine at the end. Send the notice by the method the agreement names, keep a copy, and keep proof of delivery. Then follow the return instructions line by line.
Transfer it
Some leasing companies allow a lease to be assumed by another business, with the new business approved on credit. It is worth asking about if you are selling or closing an office and the buyer needs the machine. The leasing company has to agree in writing.
How to send a notice of non-renewal
- Find the end date and count back to the start of the notice window.
- Find the notice address. It is the leasing company named in the agreement, not the dealer.
- Write a short letter: your company name, the lease or account number, the equipment serial number, and one sentence saying you will not renew.
- Send it the way the agreement requires, usually certified mail, and keep the receipt.
- Put the end date and the return deadline on your calendar.
Send it early in the window, not on the last day.
Not sure what your lease says? Ask for a Contract Autopsy
Leases are long and the clauses that matter are spread across several pages. Send us your current copier lease and service agreement and we will read them for you, free.
The Contract Autopsy shows three things: what you really pay each month once every fee is added in, each fee on the bill and where it comes from, and the date your non-renewal notice is due. You get it in writing, and you decide what to do with it.
How our leases end
Our leases do not auto-renew. That is a contract term, not a promise on a phone call.
At the end of the term the lease stops and runs month to month until you sign a new one. There is no notice window to track and no extra year to fall into. The standing offer at the end of a term is a newer machine, typically at the same monthly rate. If you would rather keep the machine without a term, month to month is an option too.
Our leases run 12, 24, 36, 48 or 60 months. Service is on the Total Coverage Plan, billed separately, month to month, with no minimum, no overage and no cancellation fee. Because service is not written into the lease, you are never locked into service you are unhappy with. See the office printer lease page for how the lease and the Coverage Plan work together.
FAQ
What happens if I miss the notice window?
On a lease with an evergreen clause, it renews on its own, commonly for another 12 months. Read the renewal clause for the exact length.
Can I get out of a copier lease if I close my business?
The lease is still owed. Ask the leasing company for a payoff or a transfer to another business. A personal guarantee on the lease can make the signer responsible.
Is a lease buyout worth it?
It is worth it when the payoff is close to what the machine is worth to you and you plan to keep it for years. A purchase of a different machine is worth pricing next to it.
Can you review my current lease for me?
Yes. The Contract Autopsy is free. Send the lease and the service agreement, and we show you the all-in monthly cost, every fee, and the date your notice is due.
Do your leases auto-renew?
No. At the end of the term the lease runs month to month until you sign a new one.
Request a quote before your notice window closes. Tell us your end date and your pages per month. The quote shows the machine, the term and every rate, in writing.