CINCINNATI -

Back to school means once again the approval rate for lease transfer applications is headed back down. 

Swapalease.com reported vehicle lease credit applicants registered just a 54.3 percent approval rate for July, explaining the decline both on a sequential and year-over-year basis stemmed from in part because of college students leveraging the site in hopes of landing a better vehicle to drive to campus.

Site officials indicted July’s credit approval showed a decrease from the previous month (68.8 percent) as well as a year ago (57.7 percent). Overall, Swapalease.com pointed out that this year’s credit approval numbers have been somewhat lower than in years past.

Executive vice president Scot Hall explained this dip in lease credit approvals continues to be attributed to several factors that include a higher volume of lease applicants with less-than-stellar credit worthiness, as well as a higher number of applicants looking for vehicles in higher-priced categories.

Hall added that during this time of year, Swapalease.com typically sees a dip in the approval ratings because students with lower credit scores are looking for vehicle leases entering the new college school year.

“Both the state of the economy and the increased number of applicants indicate that more consumers are ready to lease vehicles,” Hall said. “Unfortunately, their credit doesn’t always reflect that readiness.

“As the economy continues to improve, giving more people the incentive to lease vehicles out of their reach, we expect to the number of declines to be higher than normal,” he went on to say.