Financial Federal Credit

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People's United Equipment Finance Corp.

f/k/a Financial Federal Credit

(A subsidiary of People's United Financial)
Click here for latest news.

Based on Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filings in the state of Florida, People’s United Equipment Finance Corp. is the principal lender for Zeiger Crane Rental, Inc. and its affiliated companies.

This page will provide publicly-available information on People’s United Equipment Finance, and later news and information on new parent company, People’s Bank.

Company Background and Merger with People’s

According to its company website, People’s United Equipment Finance Corp was established as Financial Federal Credit (FFC) in 1989. With approximately “$1.9 billion of assets” the company specializes in providing financing to small and mid-sized companies in the construction, waste management, and ground transportation industries. FFC’s parent company, Financial Federal Corporation, was a publicly-traded company from the mid-1990s until early 2010.

In November 2009 Financial Federal announced that it was being purchased by People’s United Financial, Inc., the publicly-traded bank holding company for People’s United Bank, based in Connecticut. A class of Financial Federal stockholders filed suit against the company in December, alleging that Financial Federal and its directors had “breached their fiduciary duties” by approving the merger. The shareholders claimed that in Financial Federal’s search for a buyer company directors gave “preferential treatment” to People’s “in order to secure employment agreements for certain members of Financial Federal’s management.” The plaintiffs sought an order preventing the merger from moving forward.

On February 10, 2010 the two sides reached a tentative settlement. Among the terms, Financial Federal was required to make “certain additional disclosures related to the proposed merger.”

Having passed that obstacle, Financial Federal’s shareholders officially approved the merger on February 16. Three days later Financial Federal Corp. filed its “Notification of Removal” from the New York Stock Exchange, suspending all trading of the company’s common stock. A second public filing on that date announced that Financial Federal has “completed its merger” with People’s.

According to the company’s website, Financial Federal has changed its name to People’s United Equipment Finance Corp.

Civil Cases in Federal Court

From January 1, 2008 to October 19, 2010, People’s United Equipment has filed 169 lawsuits in federal court to claim over $86 million in allegedly defaulted loans.

Below is a sample table of the FFC lawsuits. Click here for the full list.

Financial Federal Credit Lawsuits in Federal Court
Case Number	Plaintiff	Defendant	Nature of Suit	File Date	Demand
4:10-cv-01220	Financial Federal Credit	Gerrell and Sons Leasing, L.L.C.	190 Contract	4/15/2010	$1,000,880.93
4:10-cv-01175	Financial Federal Credit	Bob Hill Hydraulic Crane Rentals, LLC	190 Contract	4/12/2010	$1,156,232.18
4:10-cv-01001	Financial Federal Credit	Bean et al	190 Contract	3/26/2010	$1,536,312.55
4:09-cv-02277	Financial Federal Credit	Nelson et al	190 Contract	7/17/2009	$1,608,522.23
4:09-cv-01680	Financial Federal Credit	Fletcher et al	190 Contract	6/2/2009	$1,121,007.45
4:09-cv-01471	Financial Federal Credit	M.C. Leasing, Inc. et al	190 Contract	5/15/2009	$1,534,740.04
5:09-cv-01032-DDD	Financial Federal Credit	Malbin et al	190 Contract	5/5/2009	$4,270,734.57
4:09-cv-00997	Financial Federal Credit	Hartmann et al	190 Contract	4/3/2009	$5,315,815.33
4:09-cv-00566	Financial Federal Credit	Goetzl et al	190 Contract	2/25/2009	$1,249,532.78
4:08-cv-03302	Financial Federal Credit	J L J Trucking, Inc. et al	190 Contract	11/7/2008	$1,345,851.36
4:08-cv-02384	Financial Federal Credit	James V. Palmer	190 Contract	8/1/2008	$2,710,823.73
4:08-cv-01703	Financial Federal Credit	Iron Tree Trucking, Inc. et al	190 Contract	5/29/2008	$1,482,903.86
4:08-cv-00207	Financial Federal Credit	Burke et al	190 Contract	1/17/2008	$1,842,304.33
4:08-cv-00178	Financial Federal Credit	Borchardt Trucking, Inc. et al	190 Contract	1/15/2008	$1,509,802.83

Claims in Bankruptcy Court

Based on publicly-available records, People’s United Equipment Finance Corp. has filed over $126 million in claims in bankruptcy cases since the beginning of 2008.

Below is a sample table of some of the PUEFC claims filed between January 1, 2008 to September 29, 2010. Click here for the full listing of claims.

Case Number	Chpt	Bankrupt Party	Filing Date	Terminated Date	Claim
09-07468-dd	11	StarTrans, Inc.	10/5/2009		$12,283,195.60
09-10818	7	Mid-States Express, Inc.	3/27/2009		$5,315,815.33
08-30033	7	Burke Trucking, Inc.	1/8/2008		$1,872,667.82
08-60479-LWD	11	RJM Farms, Inc.	7/31/2008		$1,843,128.69
09-31896-sgj11	11	Gulf Coast Transport, Inc.	3/31/2009		$1,820,184.70
10-30252-lmc	11	Charles Keith Boyd and Claudia Yvette Boyd	2/5/2010		$1,726,246.90
10-30180-lmc	11	PMB Property Management, Inc.	1/29/2010		$1,721,816.03
08-60892-RBK	11	JIM PALMER EQUIPMENT, INC.	7/10/2008		$1,712,174.27
09-10650	7	Whitehead Brothers, Inc.	4/3/2009		$1,642,269.16
09-30895-lmc	7	Boyd Logistics, Inc.	4/28/2009		$1,633,601.55
2:09-bk-03188-RJH	11	SUNRISE CONSTRUCTION, INC.	2/25/2009	8/19/2009	$1,608,522.23
08-09092-jdg	11	Gainey Corporation	10/14/2008		$1,457,522.00
09-54938-wsd	11	Northfield Trucking Company, Inc	5/11/2009		$1,427,325.00

Lender/Debtor Case Studies

The case studies below examine the lending relationship between Financial Federal Credit and certain debtors. Click on the links below to learn more.

FFC loans to Zeiger Crane

FFC loans to StarTrans, Inc.