Lease end-of-term IT disposition, audit-ready.
Operating-lease IT typically returns 36-60 months in. Two paths at end-of-term: return to lessor (with documented condition + data destruction) or buyout-and-resell (residual value to your account, kit refurbished into the secondary market). We handle both, with the audit pack each requires. Quote within 2 working hours of the lessor's notice-of-return date.
Return-to-lessor vs buyout-and-resell — when each makes sense.
The lease's residual-value clause and your IT team's preference drive the choice. Both paths share the same data destruction discipline; the divergence is what happens to the hardware after.
- Return to lessor · Default for most lessor agreements. Asset-list reconciled, condition documented, NIST 800-88 wipe per device, return-to-lessor logistics. Lessor-ready audit pack.
- Buyout and resell · When the buyout price is below secondary-market resale value. We quote the buyout CAD, pay the lessor, refurbish, remarket — net CAD to your account.
- Buyout for redeployment · Sometimes the kit is worth more in your hands than in the secondary market. Buyout, wipe (NIST 800-88 Clear), redeploy internally.
- Hybrid · Mixed lots — some return, some buyout. We quote per device class. Audit pack documents both paths separately.
Documentation lessors expect at end-of-term
- ♦ Asset list reconciled against lessor's original schedule (serial numbers must match).
- ♦ Condition assessment per device — working / minor wear / damaged / non-working.
- ♦ NIST 800-88 wipe log per data-bearing device with method (Clear / Purge / Destroy).
- ♦ Photo evidence of pickup, transit, and arrival at lessor's nominated return depot.
- ♦ Return Certificate naming method, operator, witness, completion timestamp.
- ♦ Original packaging where required (some lessors charge for missing packaging).
- ♦ Configuration restored to factory default where lessor specifies.
When buyout beats return.
Operating-lease residual values are typically set conservatively at lease inception — the lessor wants to be safe. Three to five years later, the actual secondary-market value of standard enterprise IT often exceeds the residual.
Worked example: a HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen10 with 256GB RAM and 4× NVMe drives might have a lease residual of C$800 set at inception in 2022. Current 2026 secondary-market refurb value is C$1,200-2,400. Buyout at C$800, refurb-and-remarket at C$1,500 indicative, net C$700 to the customer's account after destruction-and-logistics costs. For a 100-server lease, that's ~C$70K of value otherwise left on the table.
The buyout decision should be driven by current-week secondary-market data rather than the lessor's residual. We run that calculation per asset and recommend per-line which path makes sense.
Maxicom Canada — frequently asked
How early before lease end-of-term should we engage?
Ideal: 60-90 days before the lessor's notice-of-return date. That leaves time for asset-list reconciliation, buyout-vs-return decision per device, and either path's logistics. Tighter timelines (under 30 days) are workable but compress site survey + decision-making.
Can you buyout from the lessor on our behalf?
We can structure the engagement that way. The buyout is technically your transaction with the lessor (we don't novate the lease); we provide the indicative CAD value to support your decision and the operational handling once the buyout is executed.