Equipment Sale-Leaseback Lenders: How These Programs Work (2026)
How equipment sale-leaseback lenders structure deals, what they require, and how brokers place them — plus when a leaseback beats a bank loan.
What a Sale-Leaseback Is
A business owns equipment outright — machines, trucks, medical devices — and needs cash. In a sale-leaseback, the business sells that equipment to a funding company and immediately leases it back. The business gets a lump of working capital, keeps using the equipment exactly as before, and makes fixed monthly lease payments. At the end of the term, it typically buys the equipment back for a small residual.
For owners, it converts idle equity into cash without a bank. For brokers, it is one of the highest-commission products in equipment finance — and one most new brokers never learn to spot.
How Sale-Leaseback Lenders Evaluate Deals
Because the loan is secured by equipment the borrower already owns, these lenders focus on three things:
- The equipment itself. Make, model, year, condition, hours/miles, and — most importantly — liquidation value. Lenders order appraisals or use valuation guides. Hard assets with strong resale markets (construction, trucking, machine tools) are the sweet spot. Specialized or soft collateral is harder to place.
- Ownership and title. Clean title, no undisclosed liens. A UCC search is standard; existing liens must be paid off or worked around.
- Cash flow. The business must show it can cover the new lease payment from operations. Bank statements carry more weight than credit score.
Deal Sizes, Terms, and Commissions
Typical sale-leasebacks run $25,000 to $500,000+, with terms of 24-60 months. Advance rates are usually 50-80% of the equipment's forced liquidation value — not what the owner paid for it. Commissions for brokers commonly run 2-5 points, and because these borrowers are often declined everywhere else, competition among brokers is thin. A single $150,000 leaseback at 3 points pays $4,500.
When to Bring It Up
Sale-leaseback fits when a business needs cash for expansion, payroll, a slow season, or paying down expensive debt — and owns equipment free and clear. It is often the right answer when the bank says no and the owner thinks they are out of options. Red flags: equipment that is already heavily liened, businesses with declining revenue hoping the cash will reverse it, or owners who cannot document ownership.
Placing These Deals as a Broker
Not every equipment lender does sale-leasebacks — it is a specialty. You need funding sources that handle used equipment valuation, title work, and UCC filings in-house. The Academy's lender directory flags which funding sources accept sale-leaseback files, and the training walks through packaging one from application to funding — all inside the $97 lifetime membership. See the lender directory.