With the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau pledging to intensify regulations that govern all kinds of debt collections, skip-tracing and investigations tool provider BellesLink described the five general requirements finance companies request of repossession agencies.

BellesLink founder Paul Kulas emphasized these five requirements are necessary for large repo operations as well as one-man, one-truck shops. Kulas included:

— Yearly corporate financial statements

— Proof of general liability policies

—Secure facilities, including vehicle yard, personal property storage and disposal

—Disaster recovery planning

—Data security and back-up

“These requirements for facilities, back-office and planning aren’t the domain of big business. These are things every good business addresses in their operations,” Kulas said in a blog post on his company’s website.

“In the recovery industry, CFPB compliance is still the topic everyone is talking about. Compliance has felt like a winter storm you know is coming, but hasn’t arrived yet,” he added.

Perhaps the “storm” Kulas referenced is getting closer for service providers in the repossession and recovery industries. CFPB director Richard Cordray touched on debt collection during a wide-ranging public speaking appearance last week at the University of Michigan School of Law.

“Collection of consumer debts is appropriate and helps maintain access to credit. But some debt collection practices have long been a source of frustration for many consumers, generating a heavy volume of complaints at all levels of government,” Cordray said.

“We are supervising and enforcing the law against debt collectors. We have already signaled that we will be writing a comprehensive set of new rules to govern this market. These rules will update federal law, which has not kept up with changes in technology or market practices, and has never before been implemented by regulations to clarify collectors’ obligations and the rights of consumers,” he continued.

Cordray estimated more than 30 million Americans — one in seven consumers — came out of the financial crisis with one or more debts in collection for amounts averaging $1,500 per person.

“In all of our work, we are striving to strike the right balance in writing rules, conducting examinations, and handling investigations. Our efforts reflect concern about access to credit and do not reflect a one-sided perspective to maximize consumer protection or industry deterrence at all costs,” Cordray said.

“There is such a thing as doing too little, and there is such a thing as doing too much. We are aiming instead at doing justice. On the facts of each matter, we quite simply are focused on getting things right, as best we can ascertain it,” he went on to say.

With what’s coming from the CFPB still being a fluid situation, Kulas plans to join Alex Price from MasterFiles for a series of roundtable discussions and presentations titled, “Effective Skip Tracing Through Compliant Communications,” during the next North American Repossessors Summit (NARS). The annual gathering of finance company executives, repossession operators and other service providers is set for March 12 through March 14 in Irving, Texas.

More details can be found at www.reposummit.com.