CINCINNATI—Car lease marketplace Swapalease.com reports car lease credit applicants registered just a 54.3% approval rate for July.
July’s credit approval rate is a decrease from the prior month (68.8%). One year earlier, the approvals rate was just slightly higher, reaching 57.7%. Overall, this year’s credit approval numbers have been somewhat lower than in years past, the company stated.
“This dip in lease credit approvals continues to be attributed to several factors that include a higher volume of lease applicants with less-than-stellar credit worthiness, as well as a higher number of applicants looking for vehicles in higher-priced categories,” the company said. “During this time of year, Swapalease.com typically sees a dip in the approval ratings because students with lower credit scores are looking for vehicle leases entering the new college school year.”
“Both the state of the economy and the increased number of applicants indicate that more consumers are ready to lease vehicles,” said Scot Hall, executive vice president of Swapalease.com. “Unfortunately, their credit doesn’t always reflect that readiness. As the economy continues to improve, giving more people the incentive to lease vehicles out of their reach, we expect the number of declines to be higher than normal.”
Swapalease.com matches a person wanting out of their existing vehicle lease contract with a car shopper looking to take over a short-term vehicle lease.