Incomplete applications a deal killer in equipment finance

Simple missteps such as incomplete applications and inconsistent information can kill equipment finance deals. 

Too many applications are “missing so many things” that are important for borrowers below the A-credit tier, Troy Vosberg, president of equipment finance platform Finance Scope and vice president of the American Association of Commercial Finance Brokers, said May 19 during a panel discussion at Equipment Finance Connect 2026 in Houston.  

Vosberg said dealers too often send lenders applications that lack basic information, including:

• Driver’s licenses;
• Equipment serial numbers;
• Miles on used equipment; and
• Model specifications. 

It’s also crucial for dealers to ensure that customers provide consistent information to lenders when explaining credit blemishes, Vosberg said. 

“When you’re looking at someone who is not in that higher level of credit, the way that they are going to get approved is by explaining what happened in those circumstances and trying to relay that information directly to that credit underwriting team,” he said.  

From a lender standpoint, inconsistent information “kills underwriters,” Ritzon Fernandez, senior vice president of sales at Equify Financial, said during the discussion. 

“When that incomplete package comes in, as a risk professional, you freeze up because the story just is out of whack,” he said. “So when you get something that’s inconsistent or incomplete, the process just freezes because you can’t put the story together.” 

Asking questions  

A thorough list of questions is key to preventing inconsistencies and incomplete applications, Fernandez said. 

To this end, lenders should provide their dealers with questions they can ask and play a more active role in getting to know the customer to gauge creditworthiness, Kirk Mann, executive vice president and head of transportation and vendor solutions at Mitsubishi HC Capital America, said during a fireside chat at Equipment Finance Connect.  

“There are plenty of dealerships where the dealer principle is remarkably accessible and more than willing to have a conversation,” he said.  

Mann said that his company gives dealers roughly five pages of questions they can ask and curate over time. 

“We have dealers that have real strategic thoughts about how they want to approach their market and we can play into that if we’re having that conversation as a level up,” he said. 

Mitsubishi HC Capital America’s strongest segments have an approval rate of roughly 80%, Mann said.  

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