Recovery

In today’s world where it might seem the only auto-finance element lengthening in time involves terms of consumers’ retail installment sales contracts, Digital Recognition Network (DRN) and American Recovery Service (ARS) are reaching a significant milestone — their 10th anniversary of doing business together in the repossession and recovery spaces.

DRN executive vice president and general manager of fintech Jeremiah Wheeler shared with SubPrime Auto Finance News what it’s like to have a business relationship stretch to a decade.

“I believe it is fairly rare to have such a long-standing relationship with two companies because people and visions change,” Wheeler said. “The main driver behind our long-lasting partnership is the value we both bring to the industry and the process of repossession. We both understand the work that goes into the process of producing very larger returns for lenders.

“Our equal investment in technology to create higher returns for lenders and massive improvements to the agents’ process in the field are major pieces that bond us together,” Wheeler continued. “We will continue to innovate and grow together as we achieve the next level of milestones in this industry and look forward to the next 10 years of success.”

ARS and DRN’s partnership began in 2009 when ARS decided to embrace the use of license plate recognition (LPR) technology through a pilot program for a dispatch center leveraging DRN’s data and analytics. After the successful launch, both DRN and ARS realized the power of combining DRN’s data and analytics with ARS’s recovery operations to generate more revenue opportunities for recovery agents.

Since partnering, ARS has driven the recovery of more than 400,000 vehicles valued at $4.8 billion for auto finance companies. The company indicated those recoveries contributed to more than $110 million in revenue to the repossession agent and affiliate market.

ARS is DRN’s elite provider of live pick-up services.

“The relationship between ARS and DRN has been built on a foundation of a mutual commitment to teamwork and innovative technology,” ARS chief operating officer Dave Copeland said in a blog post on DRN’s website.

“Our mutual collaboration and integrated solutions have illustrated our dedication to delivering the best in class performance for our client partners. We truly value and appreciate the partnership we have built with DRN,” continued Copeland, whose company also is celebrating 25 years of operations in 2019.

After 10 years of working together, Wheeler added in that blog post, “DRN and ARS have cemented our spot at the forefront of revolutionizing the repossession industry by creating and adopting innovative technology to help advance our agents and the recoveries for their lenders. Congratulations, ARS, on your 25 years of excellence. We are excited to continue this partnership for many years to come.”

Wheeler and DRN — also a member of the Auto Intel Council — will be discussing business relationships, fintech and more this summer in Raleigh, N.C. Wheeler is one of a host of experts set to appear during the Automotive Intelligence Summit (AIS), which runs July 23-25.

AIS is gathering of professionals at the edge of technology in auto to provide ample networking opportunities to progress your business and make lasting professional connections. Companies range from firms such as MK & Associates and Deloitte, to digital retailing experts like MotoInsight and CarNow. An early bird registration discount is available through June 14. Registration can be completed here.

The complete AIS agenda and more details are available at www.autointelsummit.com.

Apparently, federal lawmakers heard the concerns from banks, credit unions and finance companies about the challenges of preparing for significant accounting changes in connection with reserving for losses.

A day short of three weeks after a proposal surfaced from six members of the Senate, 10 House representatives crafted potential legislation to delay this major accounting shift for auto-finance providers and other lending operations.

To recap, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is looking to ensure that financial institutions have solid measures in place to ensure they have appropriate reserves for any future losses based on the life of each auto loan. As a result, the board has instituted its new Current Expected Credit Loss model (CECL).

The new model will require higher levels of loan loss reserves and lead to changes in lending practices and portfolio management. It will also require a significant amount of data capture, analysis and modeling to meet the implementation deadline of Dec. 15.

However, both Congressional chambers are looking to delay implementation, possibly into 2022. Rep. Ted Budd, a North Carolina Republican, led the charge for the House bill that was introduced on Tuesday. A similar proposal arrived in the Senate on May 22.

“I never knew when I took office that the implementation of accounting standards would prove to be such an important issue, yet I’ve been pleased to see it provide so many opportunities for working across the aisle in this hyper-partisan era,” Budd said in a news release. “The Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, is moving forward with an accounting standard affecting generally every financial institution in the country and the customers they serve, without a proper study of its broader economic impact. To me, this is yet another example of an unaccountable bureaucracy not taking the appropriate steps to ensure that it is helping instead of hurting folks.

“I am particularly concerned about how this new accounting standard will impact lending in economic recessions and affect access to capital for the consumer in financial downturns. It is now up to us in Congress to make FASB complete this common-sense task and that’s what my bipartisan bill would do if enacted,” Budd went on to say.

Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, a Texas Democrat, added, “CECL affects a very broad part of our business sector who engage in lending, big and small. But those effects are not known, and they too could be big or small. My concern is that we have paid too much attention to the largest entities and not enough to the smallest, where a $10,000 compliance bill just to learn whether you do or do not need to change your business plan, is just too much for some to absorb.”

Experts explained that CECL’s requirements mean finance companies must perform life-of-loan loss forecasting as soon as the provider says yes to a contract. Accounting specialists also said  CECL requires lending institutions to calculate expected credit losses using reasonable and supportable forward-looking macroeconomic and financial forecasts and report the losses on a quarterly or monthly basis.

Industry advocates contend many firms lack the macroeconomic and financial forecasts, historical macro data and tools required to simulate the range of credit loss scenarios required by CECL, making the developments on Capitol Hill welcomed news.

“We welcome the introduction of the CECL Consumer Impact and Study Bill of 2019 by Rep. Vicente Gonzalez and Rep. Ted Budd and appreciate their leadership on this important issue,” said Rob Nichols, who is president and chief executive officer of the American Bankers Association.

“This bipartisan legislation, cosponsored by eight other House lawmakers, would require FASB to delay the implementation of CECL until a quantitative impact study can be completed. A rigorous study conducted by regulators is needed to assess the effect this new standard will have on the ability of financial institutions to serve their customers and support the broader economy, particularly when the economy is under stress,” Nichols continued.

“We urge Congress to quickly consider this bill, as well as the Continued Encouragement for Consumer Lending Act introduced in the Senate, and delay the implementation of CECL until we have a better understanding of its true economic impact,” he went on to say.

National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions president and CEO Dan Berger added, “As it stands, CECL is an unnecessarily complex accounting method that only adds to the mounting regulatory stress placed upon credit unions. Taking the time to fully study the consequences of this new regulation on consumers' access to credit and the economy as a whole is a necessary step that must be taken.”

And Jim Nussle, president and CEO of the Credit Union National Association, made this assertion in a letter to Sen. Thom Tillis, the North Carolina Republican who led the proposal draft in the upper chamber.

“We understand the independence of the FASB and the extent of Congress’ role in setting accounting standards. Thus, we urge Congress to utilize the authority it does have in order to improve CECL, or at a minimum, ensure there is sufficient, relevant information regarding CECL’s impact from which future decisions can be made. We believe the Continued Encouragement for Consumer Lending Act would do just that,” Nussle wrote.

ALS Resolvion, a leading provider of skip tracing and repossession management services, announced on Monday that the company has a new chief operating officer.

Joining ALS Resolvion with more than 20 years of experience in loss mitigation, collections and back office operations, Scott Darling is now the company’s COO after previously serving as senior vice president at Wells Fargo.

Prior to his role at Wells Fargo, Darling held senior positions at Bank of America, Capital One and PayPal.

“Adding an executive with Scott’s talent underscores our commitment to our brand promise of delivering our clients better results at lower risk,” ALS Resolvion chief executive officer Michael Levison said in a news release.

“In his role, Scott will oversee our case management, post repossession operations, compliance operations and corporate development activities,” Levison continued. “His deep experience will undoubtedly take these parts of our business to new levels of effectiveness and will add a strong voice to our executive leadership team.”

Recovery Specialist Insurance Group (RSIG) and Allied Finance Adjusters are prepping for their annual gathering. REPO19 is set to begin on June 18 in Phoenix.

Among the collection of experts set to speak during the three-day event, organizers highlighted the agenda includes Jack Schafer, who is a retired FBI Special Agent in the Behavioral Analysis Program and now an assistant professor at Western Illinois University, along with Internet profiling expert Michelle Stuart, who is a trainer at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., as well as an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia.

The agenda also includes a panel discussion with a collection of finance companies as well as Allied Finance Adjusters business meetings.

The event will be held at the Arizona Grand Resort in Phoenix.

Complete details hotel reservations and conference registration can be found at repo19.com.

ALS Resolvion, a nationwide skip-trace and repossession management firm, has been selected as an honorable mention winner within Digital Defense’s 2018 Client Recognition Award Program, which recognizes organizations that display the highest level of network security.

This accolade arrived soon after ALS Resolvion was named the recipient of Digital Recognition Network’s 2019 Platinum Provider of the Year Award.

Out of 1,600 recurring vulnerability scanning and penetration testing clients, ALS Resolvion said in a news release that it was one of 48 presented with the honorable mention award.

“In this age of data breaches, it is encouraging to see our clients continuing to increase their focus on reducing risk by proactively mitigating network vulnerabilities,” Digital Defense president and chief executive officer Larry Hurtado said. 

As one of the leading forwarding companies in the industry, ALS Resolvion works with sensitive information and utilizes a variety of data sources to secure more than 9,500 repossessions a month. This honor marks ALS Resolvion’s second overall Digital Defense award within the last three years.

“We take our data and network security very seriously and we invest a lot of resources in this area. The award from Digital Defense provides great validation of those efforts,” ALS Resolvion chief technology and compliance officer Keith Yarnell said.

Taking steps involving security likely was a part of ALS Resolvion collecting another award from DRN during the annual North American Repossessors Summit (NARS) held in Irving, Texas.

The award marks the third consecutive year that the forwarding company was honored by DRN for its role in the repossession industry. ALS Resolvion was the 2018 Gold Provider and is excited to be named the 2019 Platinum Provider for achieving the highest number of total repossession assignments and successful repossessions.

“We were excited to award ALS Resolvion with our 2019 Platinum Provider of the Year Award,” said Jeremiah Wheeler, executive vice president and general manager for fintech with DRN, which also is a member of the Auto Intel Council.

“DRN places tremendous value in our relationship with ALS Resolvion. Year after year, they continue to excel and set new standards for excellence. We are pleased to work with a company that is such a leader in the forwarding community,” Wheeler continued.

ALS Resolvion produced more than 92,000 successful repossessions last year. The award was accepted by ALS Resolvion president Jose Mendiola, who said, “We are honored to have received this prestigious award and it’s a testament to all of the hard work our team and network of agents have put in this past year. This is only the beginning for ALS Resolvion.”

Along with handing out five different awards and generating thousands of dollars for an industry-related charity, the American Recovery Association cheered the success of this year’s North American Repossessors Summit (NARS), sponsored by Harding Brooks Insurance.

ARA officials highlighted that the 11th annual event generated “staggering” attendance of more than 600 participants, including recovery and remarketing professionals as well as finance companies.

ARA president Dave Kennedy said that NARS cemented its place as a “must-attend” event for the recovery industry to benefit attendees and exhibitors alike, with sponsorships and exhibitor opportunities selling out months in advance.

“NARS 2019 set the tone for the future. It was amazing — the energy and feeling of unity was felt in every session and networking event,” Kennedy said. “Every year, I am floored by the event’s ability to bring together professionals from all sides of this industry, while also raising thousands to benefit recovery agents in need.”

NARS 2019 kicked off with workshop options and unique networking opportunities for attendees. During NARS’ Locksmithing Workshop, attendees learned a new vertical that could help add to their bottom line. The annual AT&T Stadium Tour led attendees through the facility to a private field-level dining experience, and even a little rain couldn’t keep golfers away from the annual NARS Golf Tournament.

Other networking opportunities at NARS 2019 included the Harding Brooks Insurance sponsored cocktail party and Digital Recognition Network (DRN) sponsored closing party. 

Through a compelling line-up of speakers, NARS 2019 equipped attendees with the practical knowledge and inspiration based on the conference theme, “Adapt, Conquer and Overcome.”

Retired U.S. Navy Seal Mike Sarraille inspired the crowd to practice extreme ownership and have moral courage. Scott Jackson shared his story of having it all, losing it all, and how learning to first adapt and conquer helped him eventually overcome obstacles at every turn in his life. Brandon Gray shared his candid financial expertise on exit-planning during his strategic planning session. The NARS 2019 Keynote speaker, best-selling author Bob Burg, brought the house down with his philosophy on how living life the “go giver way” leads to both professional and personal success. 

NARS 2019 also introduced the first-ever NARS Industry Awards, which honored exemplary industry professionals.

The inaugural honorees included:

— Agent of the Year: Michael Simpson
— Service Representative of the Year: Jon Jendral
— Humanitarian of the Year: Ray Franklin
— Agency Owner of the Year: Richard Grosvenor

Additionally, the prestigious Art Christensen Award was given to Mike Reiter for his outstanding contributions and service to the recovery industry.

In addition, fund-raising efforts contributed more than $20,000 to the Recovery Agents Benefit Fund (RABF), thanks to DRN, Reiter and silent auction sponsors, which included:

— Anthony Gentile of Dynamic Wrecker Sales
— David Kennedy of First Credit Resources
— Fidel Sanchez of Midwest Keyless
— Emily Massey of SCAR
— Mike Sarraille of Echelon Front
— Steve Simons of Paramount Recovery Service

NARS 2020 will be held next April. More details about the 12th annual event will be announced soon. Visit reposummit.com for more information.  

Along with sharing details about a new affiliate benefit program, Digital Recognition Network (DRN) handed out its annual awards to companies that have demonstrated excellence in the repossession industry.

During an appreciation dinner in conjunction with the 2019 North American Repossessors Summit, DRN highlighted that two affiliates tied for the National Affiliate of the Year Award, which recognizes excellence in repossession operations and performance throughout the prior year. The accolade went to Associates Asset Recovery and Specialized Towing and Transportation.

“We are honored and humbled to recognize this year’s affiliate award winners,” said Andy Cameron, senior vice president of fintech at DRN, which also is a member of the Auto Intel Council.

“Our affiliates serve as profiles in excellence within the repossession industry, and our award winners literally go the ‘extra mile’ to provide the license plate scans that serve as the backbone of our organization,” Cameron continued.

DRN also honored eight affiliates with Top Gun awards — regional honors that recognize the companies for their innovation and leadership within the repossession industry in their regions. Those honorees included:

Western Region Top Gun Award
Coastline Recovery Services
South West Recovery

Eastern Region Top Gun Award
Dezba Asset Recovery
Thomas Recovery

Southern Region Top Gun Award
Hide and Seek Recovery
Oklahoma Repossessors

Midwest Region Top Gun Award
Relentless Recovery
Connect 1 Recovery

Additionally, DRN launched what it’s calling the Elevate the Agent member benefit program. This program rewards affiliates who record at least 250,000 license plate scans per month with incentives to elevate their role in the DRN Recovery Circle and receive better benefits by scanning more license plates.

The company explained the Recovery Circle consists of multiple member tiers offering benefits ranging from hardware credits and discounts to free license plate recognition camera systems.

“We are excited to share the Elevate the Agent’ program with our affiliates,” said Jeremiah Wheeler, executive vice president and general manager of fintech at DRN. “It is important that our affiliates know how much we value our relationship with them and the work they do for us.

“This program is designed to demonstrate just that — and to provide key benefits that make their jobs — and hopefully, their lives easier,” Wheeler went on to say.

For more details about the Elevate the Agent program, visit https://drndata.com/drn_elevate_the_agent/.

Toyota Financial Services evidently really likes the results the captive receives from Millennium Capital and Recovery Corp., since the auto-finance provider gave another honor to the forwarding company.

TFS recently handed its Recovery Services Excellence Award to Millennium Capital and Recovery as part of Toyota’s ongoing performance award program that is intended to drive performance results and a competitive spirit among the captive’s recovery service vendors.

Millennium Capital and Recovery added that the award recognizes a vendor’s recovery performance results and compliance and includes a “traveling trophy” that resides in the home office of the current champion for the quarter.

“Millennium is proud to be a long-term partner with Toyota. Our focus is always on providing best in class performance, industry-leading compliance, and world class service. Toyota’s standards of excellence have contributed toward our achieving the highest level of standard for both performance and compliance,” Millennium Capital and Recovery president Jayne Bronchetti said.

“We are honored to receive the recognition from Toyota Financial Services,” Bronchetti continued. “This Recovery Services Excellence Award is truly a team effort encompassing all areas of our business and embodying our teams’ commitments to leveraging technology to drive recovery performance, and to delivering excellence in compliance.”

Back in 2017, Millennium Capital and Recovery became the only recovery management and skip-tracing firm ever to receive the Kaizen Award from Toyota Financial Services.

“Millennium is dedicated to providing value enhancement, process improvement, and successful partnership strategies to our customers. It is a privilege to be a partner with such an outstanding organization as Toyota Financial Services,” Millennium’s chief managing officer Jeffrey Marsh said.

Millennium chief operating officer Scott Wilson added, “We are experiencing industry-changing improvements in recovery performance through the use of technology that is turning high volume transactional data into actionable information and business intelligence that drive our recovery decisioning, and it’s paying off for Millennium’s customers by raising the bar on attainable results.”

Vice president of business operations Diana Moeglin also reacted to the honor from TFS.

“We are proud of our team’s ability to deliver consistent and reliable compliance month after month to meet Toyota’s high standards for all providers. Our performance has been made possible by our recently completed technology platform designed to manage both the placement of assignments as well as our post-recovery performance,” Moeglin said.

“We fully expect our performance in these areas to continue to excel as our dedicated staff becomes more knowledgeable in the use of this technology and the related exception reporting,” she went on to say.

For the second time leading into this week’s North American Repossessors Summit (NARS), Recovery Industry Services Co. (RISC) is bolstering its offerings.

Through its relationship with Hudson Cook, RISC announced it has completed a significant update to the Certified Asset Recovery Specialist (CARS) National Certification program. Improvements include detailed information about repossession insurance, relevant case studies and updates to the laws that govern the self-help repossession process. 

“The updates include a comprehensive review of repossession laws to ensure recovery agents are getting the most relevant and recent compliance education,” said Hudson Cook partner Eric Johnson, who will continue to oversee annual updates to the CARS and CARS Continuing Education courses.

RISC president and chief operating officer Holly Balogh added, “We are excited to continue to foster our relationship with Hudson Cook to provide the most thorough, up-to-date educational material to repossession agents.

RISC chief executive officer Stamatis Ferarolis emphasized the relationship with Hudson Cook, as well.

“Our partnership with Hudson Cook means agents who invest in the CARS program are receiving the most recent and relevant training for collateral recovery,” Ferarolis said. “Anyone who becomes certified on the CARS program can be confident that the material is widely accepted and sought after by creditors in the repossession industry.”  

This announcement arrived on the heels of RISC being set to release an updated version of the Skip-Tracing Certification authored by Alex Price, who is the director of risk solutions at Digital Recognition Network (DRN), and also known as “The Skip Guru.”

To sign up for the CARS program or a new CE course, visit www.riscus.com/Education/. RISC offers a subscription monthly payment option for all education purchases. 

For questions about RISC and the CARS program, contact Balogh at holly@riscus.com.

Repossession agents and other recovery industry professionals looking to sharpen their skip-training efforts have another resource on the horizon.

Recovery Industry Services Co. (RISC), a provider of compliance education and training services, announced on Tuesday that it will be releasing an updated version of the Skip-Tracing Certification Course at the North American Repossessors Summit (NARS). The event is set begin next Thursday in Irving, Texas.

The new course is authored by Alex Price, who is the director of risk solutions at Digital Recognition Network (DRN) and also known as “The Skip Guru.” Price delves into the methodologies and practices of skip-tracing to teach the student how to effectively locate skips while staying in compliance with state and federal regulations.

The course will be available in RISC’s online learning management system and covers all aspects of modern skip-tracing, communication tactics, human nature insights, applicable federal law, data security and the “big three” of skip-tracing.

“On the vast majority of repossession accounts, some level of skip-tracing is needed to locate assets that are difficult to contact or find,” said Stamatis Ferarolis, chief executive officer and founder of RISC.

“Alex Price shares his unique methodologies that he honed over the past 30 years to teach students how to deploy effective communication and cyber techniques to locate the consumer who does not want to be found,” Ferarolis continued.

The updated course will be available as a standalone certification program for skip-tracers and to recovery agents as part of continuing education for the CARS program.

Price participated in an episode of the Auto Remarketing Podcast during last year’s North American Repossessors Summit to discuss how robust technology and data availability work nicely with skip-tracing methods honed early in his career.

The full conversation can be found below.