CINCINNATI, Ohio — Car lease marketplace Swapalease.com reports car lease credit applicants registered a 67.6% approval rate in January, a decrease from the December rate of 71.4%.

January experienced a slightly lower number of applicants with qualifications for taking over another person’s lease contract during the month, registering 5.6% fewer approvals than the month of December. However, January saw a significant increase in approval ratings from January 2018 approval numbers, where only 57.8% of lease applicants were approved last year.

Since January 2018, lease credit approval ratings rose consistently with only slight fluctuations throughout the year. December was the second-highest month of the year for credit approvals in 2018.

“We expect to see an increase in lease applicants as well as an increase in approval ratings as we get further into the new year — just like we saw in 2018,” said Executive Vice President Scot Hall. “Shoppers relied heavily on alternative outlets like Swapalease.com to list and shop for leases toward the end of the year, especially as lease shoppers look to tap into lease payments set in 2017 and 2018 as opposed to the payment deals they’re being quoted at dealerships.”