Lease

NEW YORK -- More than 25 percent of the people who got new cars this year decided to lease instead of buy. Lease payments are lower than auto-loan payments, so you can drive a car for less.When judging a lease, shoppers usually look only at the monthly payment. That works if you're sure you will keep the lease for its full term, and if, at the end of the lease, you will turn in the car and lease a new one. Given two comparable leases for the same car, the one with the lower monthly cost is best.

The Columbia Association has extended its lease on its lakefront headquarters for three years, allowing the staff and board more time to determine where it should house the homeowners association in the future. The lease on the building, which is owned by General Growth Properties, originally was set to expire in August 2007, but a renewed lease now sets the date in 2010, said Karen Hawkins, an association spokeswoman. "Being able to remain here at our current address ... for another three years gives us another opportunity to make the best possible choice for a future location of our CA headquarters," Hawkins said.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Rams have chosen to risk being evicted from their practice facility rather than accept a long-term lease to remain at Rams Park.John Shaw, Rams executive vice president, said that the Magnolia School District -- through the city of Anaheim -- notified the Rams recently that it had rejected the team's offer to double the rent for a two-year extension at Rams Park, the old Juliette Low School."I'd be frankly surprised if the school board tried to evict us," Shaw said.

Before Sykesville leases the Gatehouse, Cottage 15 at Springfield Hospital Center, from the state, the town attorney is recommending "significant scrutiny.""We should go in and look as if we are buying the property," said attorney Dennis J. Hoover at last night's Council meeting. "It would be nice to have a $1 building, but can we afford it?"The state is asking for the town's signature on a 30-year lease at a nominal cost: $1 a year."The rental is low, but we are undertaking maintenance and insurance responsibilities," said Mr. Hoover.

Officials in Cincinnati are considering offering Bengals owner Mike Brown a year-to-year lease in exchange for his keeping the team in town while leaders work out the details for building stadiums for the football team and the Reds."

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management has become the latest federal agency to capitalize on the depressed commercial real estate market, signing a 10-year lease for 14,542 square feet of office space at the Marsh & McLennan building at 300 W. Pratt St.The agency's local office will be moving out of the Garmatz Federal Courthouse, along with other agencies, to make room for an expansion of the space devoted to courts.John Thompson, a spokesman in Philadelphia for the General Services Administration, which handles real estate leasing for other federal agencies, said the personnel agency will move to its new quarters in July.

NEW YORK -- A certain stench has surrounded the popular business of auto leasing. People like the idea; one out of every four new cars is now driven on a lease. But because a lease is complicated, unscrupulous salespeople can rip you off.Starting this month, you'll have a new tool for fighting back. Twenty major lessors have voluntarily agreed to disclose, on their contracts, the so-called "capitalized cost" of the car you plan to lease. Some are starting now; others are dragging their feet because of dealer opposition.

After top city officials revoked a million-dollar lease on a building she partly owned, Baltimore Comptroller Jacqueline F. McLean tried to rent the same property to the city in an arrangement that would have avoided public scrutiny.Mrs. McLean's apparent attempt to sidestep the Board of Estimates is one of the issues in a grand jury investigation by Maryland's special prosecutor, say City Hall sources and others familiar with the case.The revised lease proposal, which called for a month-to-month rental, was short-lived.

An Anne Arundel County foundation that arranges for foster families and other support services for troubled youths announced yesterday that it will move to the city-owned Brokerage complex in Baltimore.The Martin Pollak Project signed a 10-year lease for 20,000 square feet of space and is expected to move 80 full- and part-time employees to the Brokerage, said Brian E. Messaris, an attorney representing the group.The lease is subject to approval by the city Board of Estimates and calls for a rent of $6.60 annually per square foot of space, rising to $10 a foot by 2005.

Everyman Theatre signed a new three-year lease Friday at its current location at 1727 N. Charles St. But a theater spokesman said the company still plans to move into its new home in Town Theatre in the fall of 2011. "The move isn't being delayed," Managing Director Ian Tresselt says. "We're still very much on track." In November 2006, Everyman announced that it would move into the renovated vaudeville house at 315 W. Fayette St., doubling the current number of seats to about 300. Initially, that move was projected to occur in the fall of 2009.