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Factoring is big business in America. The Commercial Finance Association (CFA) reported total factoring volume of $74.3 billion in 2010. This figure is particularly impressive when compared to the statistics for asset-based lending. According to CFA, the total volume of asset-based loans outstanding at year-end 2010 was $66. 1 biJlion, with total credit line commitments of $180.7 billion.1
Notwithstanding this highly respectable volume of factoring, the mention of factoring among sophisticated financial and bankruptcy lawyers tends to evoke indulgent smiles as if one had quaintly suggested a horse-and-buggy ride. Unless, of course, the sophisticated financial or bankruptcy lawyer is faced with an actual factoring question. The ensuing confused reaction is usually followed by the rapid assumption that factoring must be just a variant of a secured loan. After all, we all know that there are only two types of lending: secured and unsecured. Well, that is true, but financing encompasses more than lending, and while factoring is a form of financing, it is not a form of lending. Indeed, as a point of etiquette, one should never refer to a factor as a lender. They like and deserve to be called by the honorable title of "Factor."
Before the main volume of American Factoring Law was published in December 2009, the literature on American factoring consisted of a few articles, some relatively brief sections in commercial finance treatises and marketing brochures issued by factors themselves. There was no comprehensive treatise on factoring law that could explain why the factoring agreement you were reading was structured the way it was, how it differed from other factoring agreements and whether the courts were likely to enforce the provisions of your factoring agreement and the operational procedures of your factor in the way you hoped they would.
American Factoring Law has definitively changed all ofthat. It is a comprehensive, well organized, exhaustively researched and, above all, clear statement and explanation of modern factoring law. Whether you are a neophyte in the world of factoring or a seasoned practitioner, this book is a must-have for your law library, and possibly for your own office bookcase.
This book has everything you ever wanted to know about factoring but had no one to ask. It includes not only descriptive explanations...