# 99 Year Lease

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-year-lease/143808>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [December 19, 2002, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-year-lease/143808 "2002-12-19T15:05:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![vertigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3ec8ea/32.png) [@vertigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vertigo)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-year-lease/143808/1 "2002-12-19T15:05:33Z")

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Obviously the 99 year lease term was a function of pre Y2K convention.

For a hundred year lease, it would have read “00” and who would make a lease for zero years in length? No one, I say.

😛

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**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-year-lease/143808/2 "2002-12-20T00:48:31Z")

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A chance to nitpick Cecil:

> [@](#):
>
> You are perfectly free–this being the land of the same–to draw up a lease for whatever term you wish, a millenium or twenty minutes. The 99 year figure has certain obvious advantages, being a nice, solid number to satisfy the bankers, but still being wide open for all practical purposes.

You can draw it up, but it’s another matter whether government entities like the IRS or SEC will recognize it as such. Apparently, leasing in lieu of capitalizing an asset is an accounting finagle that dates back to medieval times.

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**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-year-lease/143808/3 "2002-12-20T02:27:42Z")

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Welcome to the SDMB, and thank you for posting your comment.  
Please include a link to Cecil’s column if it’s on the straight dope web site.  
To include a link, it can be as simple as including the web page location in your post (make sure there is a space **before** and **after** the text of the URL).

Cecil’s column can be found on-line at this link:  
[Why are leases made for 99-year terms? (22-Jul-1977)](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_138.html)

* * *

moderator, «[**Comments on Cecil’s Columns**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=1)»

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**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-year-lease/143808/4 "2002-12-20T15:20:31Z")

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And what the heck did Cecil mean by “ **the hubba-hubba colonists** ” ?!?

I always thought the early American colonials were kinda prudish.

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**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-year-lease/143808/5 "2002-12-20T15:50:34Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by tracer \*  
> \*\*And what the heck did Cecil mean by “ **the hubba-hubba colonists** ” ?!?
> 
> I always thought the early American colonials were kinda prudish. \*\*

One of the more interesting parts of my college American History class was the discussion of the characters of the different colonies. IIRC, Massachussetts and Pennsylvania were more prudish and tended to force out their misfits, and the ranks of these rejects would collect in Rhode Island.

As for “hubba-hubba”, maybe that means “pushy” rather than “horny”.