With the sixth annual North American Repossessors Summit (NARS) set to begin on Thursday, industry leaders reiterated their commitments as they formed the Council of Repossession Professionals.

This group consists of two members from each of the following trade groups:

— Allied Finance Adjusters (AFA)

— American Lenders Service Co. (ALSCO)

— American Recovery Association (ARA)

— California Association of Licensed Repossessors (CALR)

— Florida Alliance of Certified Asset Recovery Specialists (FLACARS)

— Illinois Recovery Association (IRA)

— Recovery Specialists Insurance Group (RSIG)

— Rocky Mountain Repossessors Association (RMRA)

— Time Finance Adjusters (TFA)

“The NARS planning committee is proud to support the formation of the Council of Repossession Professionals and welcomes the opportunity of working together with members of the council in the future,” said Art Christensen, committee chairman and president at American Recovery Management Solutions.

“This newly formed partnership of industry leaders will serve as the long awaited single voice for our industry,” Christensen continued on the event’s LinkedIn page.

“In the future when members of our industry are confronted with unfair demands and given unreasonable contracts to sign, they no longer have to deal with it alone,” he went on to say. “When appropriate, it’s now possible that a response can be sent from a committee of professionals representing all repossessors and their respective associations.”

In a press release posted on AFA’s website, council leaders cited two examples of how this new entity smoothed out a situation to the benefit of repo agencies.

First, the council resolved an issue with Consolidated Asset Recovery Systems (CARS) regarding contracts that contained language limiting liability on a claim to the amount CARS had paid the agency in the 12 months immediately leading up to the incident giving rise to the claim.

Officials said they reached a resolution “with a few phone calls” as CARS agreed to strike that language from its contract and further agreed to reinstate anyone who refused to sign a contract specifically due to that language.

“The council is very much encouraged by the professional manner in which CARS engaged in the process. Their cooperation is appreciated and credited for a quick and amicable solution,” officials said.

The council highlighted that it is having ongoing discussions with Digital Recognition Network, which after negotiations chose to strike contract stipulations that required repossessors to purchase a $5 million insurance policy.

“After talking to a representative group from the council, DRN agreed that they would change that part of the contract and they agreed that agents can simply strike through the offending clause and initial it,” officials said. “There are other aspects of the DRN contract that the council is working on. So far, the council has found DRN to be cooperative and willing to remain in discussions in order to find fair and equitable solutions to these issues.”