Exemption from Products Liability for Not Being In the Distributive Chain of the Product

In Rivera v. Mahogony Corp., 145 Ill. App. 3d 213, 494 N.E.2d 660, 98 Ill. Dec. 538 (1986), the circuit court entered a summary judgment in favor of the defendant in the plaintiff's products liability action. The circuit court found that the defendant was a "financial" lessor and consequently not in the distributive chain of the product. The court ruled that the lease was primarily a financial transaction where money was provided by one who was not in the business of selling or placing products into the stream of commerce to a lessee, who was a borrower, to enable him to purchase the product. Rivera, 145 Ill. App. 3d at 214. The appellate court affirmed.