How to Get a Business Car Lease With No Credit Check
There are a few ways to get a business car lease with no credit check against your personal score: applying with your business credit, using a cosigner, or taking over someone else’s lease. Here’s what you should know to make them happen.
How to Get a Business Car Lease With No Credit Check
To get a business car lease with no credit check—or at least no personal credit check—you must have a sufficiently well-established business and business credit history. In other words, your company must qualify for a lease on its own merits.
Typically, achieving this starts with setting up your business as a separate legal entity. Rather than operate as a sole proprietorship, file the paperwork necessary to register your company as a limited liability company (LLC) or corporation.
You’ll receive an Employer Identification Number (EIN), which will be the taxpayer identification number you use when you apply for a business car lease under your business’s identity.
You can further establish your business as a distinct entity with steps like:
- Opening a business bank account and keeping it in good standing
- Getting a dedicated business phone number and adding it to 411 listings
- Using a separate business address, not a personal residence or P.O. box
- Opening a business credit card under your company’s name
In addition to formalizing your business setup, you also need to build business credit with the major business credit bureaus. Essentially, that involves opening tradelines that report to Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), Experian Business, and Equifax Business.
Lastly, having more time in business can help too, though there isn’t much you can do about it. Not only does it give you more time to build positive credit history, but you may need to meet a minimum—such as two years—as a separate requirement.
Leasing vs. Buying
Before you go through the effort of searching for business lease options, consider whether it’s really the right move for your business. Depending on your circumstances, goals, and preferences, buying may be a better fit.
Car leasing gives you access to newer vehicles with lower upfront costs and predictable payments during the lease term. It's often the better choice if you don’t want to tie up a lot of capital, prefer to drive a newer car, or plan to upgrade every few years.
However, buying gives your company full ownership of the vehicle. That can be the smarter move if you plan to keep the car long-term or use it heavily. There are no mileage limits or lease-end fees, and you can resell the vehicle or use it as collateral.
Buying may require a larger down payment or financing approval, but it often results in lower total costs over time if you drive the car into the ground.
The ratio of business to personal use of the car can also influence whether it makes sense to lease or buy, as it significantly changes the tax implications. It can be worth consulting a tax expert for advice on which makes the most sense for you.
If you’re more interested in buying, consider pursuing business auto loans without personal guarantee or working with no credit check hard money lenders.
Build Your Business Credit
If you decide to lease a vehicle in your company’s name—without relying on your personal credit score—you’ll need strong business credit. That means opening business tradelines in your company’s name that report to the major business credit bureaus.
Unfortunately, this isn’t always easy when you’re first starting out. Traditional lenders may be reluctant to work with new business owners, so you’ll often have the most success with opening vendor tradelines.
Vendor tradelines come from suppliers, often providing net 30 terms, meaning you have 30 days to pay your invoices.
You can also use alternative credit-building tools like eCredable. We report your qualified ongoing business expenses to the credit bureaus, transforming them into additional vendor tradelines.
As your business credit grows, you can start applying for financial tradelines, like business credit cards, lines of credit, and loans.
These accounts tend to have a more significant impact on your credit score but are harder to qualify for. Most require a minimum time in business, established revenue, and an existing business credit history.
No matter which type of tradeline you’re using, the key to building business credit is to make your payments early or on time. Payment history is the number one factor in most business credit scoring models.
Get a Cosigner or Take Over Another Lease
If your business isn’t ready to qualify for a lease on its own, you still have a couple of options: use a cosigner or take over someone else’s lease.
A cosigner is someone who agrees to back your lease and take responsibility for lease payments if your business can’t make them. If they’re well qualified—with a good credit score and strong finances—lenders may be more likely to approve your application.
However, cosigning is a significant favor that involves taking on real risk. If your business misses a lease payment, your cosigner’s personal credit score could take a hit in addition to them being forced to cover the debt.
Another way to get a business vehicle without going through a traditional credit check is by taking over an existing lease. This is called a lease assumption or lease transfer.
In many cases, when someone with a lease wants out of it early—maybe because they’re downsizing, relocating, or no longer need the vehicle— you can take over the remaining term without jumping through as many hoops as you would to get your own.
Because you’re not initiating a brand-new lease, the credit requirements are often more flexible. Some lease takeover programs even skip the hard credit check entirely, depending on the leasing company and structure of the deal.
Where to Get a Business Car Lease With No Credit Check
1. CarsDirect
CarsDirect is an online car-buying service that connects borrowers to dealerships and lenders across the country. It doesn’t provide funding itself, but it helps customers with poor credit or no credit find a viable financing option through its large network.
If you're looking for a business car lease or auto loan with minimal credit requirements, CarsDirect can help you locate a car dealership more likely to approve your finance application, even if you don’t have a strong credit history.
2. Auto Credit Express
Auto Credit Express is another auto financing and leasing platform that can make sense for those who have a bad credit score, no credit, or even recent bankruptcies.
After an online application that doesn’t involve a hard credit check, Auto Credit Express matches you with lenders and dealerships in its network who may be more likely to work with less qualified borrowers and lessees.
3. My Autoloan
My Autoloan is an online marketplace that offers access to multiple car financing options, including lease buyouts, traditional car loans, and leases. It caters to a wide range of credit profiles and helps users compare up to four offers at once.
While lenders in its network may still check credit, the platform is known for including options for those with a low credit score. When applying through My Autoloan, you may find car loan and lease programs with more flexible approval criteria.
Build Business Credit With eCredable
eCredable’s Business Lift program can help you build business credit fast by reporting your recurring business expenses as vendor tradelines, including up to two years of unreported monthly payment history.
Our clients see an average increase of 32 points in each relevant business credit score within the first three months. Get started with no credit check today.