Lease guide

What your car lease has to show you: a checklist

Regulation M lists what a covered lease must disclose. Use it as a checklist before you sign, and ask about anything you cannot find.

Published October 26, 2026

One rule, many boxes

A car lease is a stack of pages, and the numbers that matter are scattered through it. Regulation M, the federal consumer leasing rule, lists what the lessor has to disclose in a covered lease. Use that list as a checklist. If you cannot find an item, that is a question for the lessor before you sign.

Does the rule cover your lease?

Regulation M defines a consumer lease as one for personal, family or household use, for a period of more than four months, with a total contractual obligation not above a threshold that is adjusted each year. Leases for business or commercial use, or made to an organization, are outside it. If your lease is in a company's name, ask which disclosures you will receive.

The money items

Amount due at lease signing or delivery. Itemized by type and amount, including any refundable security deposit, advance payment and capitalized cost reduction. For motor vehicle leases it also shows how the amount will be paid: trade-in allowance, rebates, other credits and cash.
Payment schedule and total of periodic payments. How many payments, how much, and when.
Other charges. The total of other charges you pay the lessor that are not in the periodic payments, itemized.
Total of payments. Described as the amount you will have paid by the end of the lease.
Fees and taxes. The total dollar amount of official and license fees, registration, title and taxes required in connection with the lease.

The step-by-step payment calculation, from gross capitalized cost to base payment, is a separate required box. We walk through it in Money factor vs APR.

The use items

Maintenance responsibilities. Whether you or the lessor must maintain and service the vehicle, with a brief description.
Wear and use standard. The lessor's standard for wear and use, which the rule says must be reasonable. For motor vehicles, the lease must carry a notice that you may be charged for excessive wear based on the lessor's standards for normal use, and it must specify the amount or method for determining any excess mileage charge.
Purchase option. Whether you have the option to buy, and if so the price at the end of the term, or the price or method and timing during the term.

The protection items

Insurance. Either the types, amounts and cost if the lessor provides it, or the types and amounts of coverage you must carry.
Warranties. A statement identifying the express warranties or guarantees from the manufacturer or lessor that apply to you.
Late and default charges. The amount or method, which the rule says must be reasonable.
Security interest. A description of any security interest the lessor holds, other than a security deposit, and the property it covers.
Early termination. See our guide to ending a car lease early.

A rule about the word "rate"

If a lessor shows a percentage rate in an advertisement or in the lease documents, the rule requires a notice that this percentage may not measure the overall cost of financing the lease. The lessor may not call it an "annual percentage rate" or an equivalent term. That is why you see money factors and rent charges instead.

A fast pass before you sign

Locate the amount due at signing and confirm every line is something you agreed to.
Match the total of payments to the monthly payment times the number of payments, plus the amount due at signing.
Find the mileage allowance and the per-mile charge. Multiply by your real annual mileage.
Read the wear standard. If it is vague, ask for the written guide.
Find the purchase price at lease end, or ask how it is set.
Confirm the insurance you must carry and what it costs.
Ask for a copy of the final contract before you take delivery.

Common questions

What if a required item is missing from my lease?

Ask the lessor to point to it. If you cannot find it, get the answer in writing before signing. Regulation M lists what a covered lease must disclose, and the CFPB publishes the rule.

Does the lease have to show an APR?

No. The rule says a lessor may not use the term annual percentage rate. If a percentage rate is shown, it must carry a notice that it may not measure the overall cost of financing the lease.

Do I have to buy the car at the end of a lease?

No. The lease must state whether you have an option to purchase and the price or method. Whether to use it is your decision.

Sources

General information, not legal or financial advice. Worldwide Auto Leasing is not a lender; leases are written by the manufacturer's captive bank or a partner bank and are subject to credit approval. Your own lease contract controls your rights and obligations.