The American Recovery Association (ARA) recently announced the new theme for the North American Repossessors Summit (NARS), which will return as an in-person event in October.
That theme, “Resilience: Rising Above and Committed to Building a Stronger Industry,” ties in significantly with a cautionary alert ARA sent soon afterward about a proposal working its way through Congress that would expand the definition of a debt collector and potentially increase risks to finance companies.
With headline sponsor Harding Brooks Insurance, ARA highlighted that with unity at the forefront of the summit, the NARS planning committee comprised of volunteers from all sides of the recovery industry established a theme that is designed to reflect the need for the entire industry to come together to rebuild and move forward in the wake of the pandemic.
Taking into consideration the unique obstacles business owners have overcome in the past year, ARA said it arrived at its theme for NARS that’s also sponsored by MVTRAC and set to take place at the Omni Las Colinas Hotel in Irving, Texas, on Oct. 7-8.
“We are thrilled to welcome back an in-person NARS event in 2021,” ARA president Dave Kennedy said in a news release. “While we planned a great NARS 2020 prior to postponing, the committee recognized the fundamental shift that the entire industry experienced over the past year. We knew we needed to bring an overall theme that represented the strength and perseverance our industry has shown.”
After having to be postponed due to safety issues and travel restrictions, ARA said the 12th NARS summit will bring recovery professionals from all over the country to be together once again and connect person-to-person.
During the summit, there will be various opportunities for exhibitors and sponsors, breakout sessions that foster collaboration and education and dynamic, inspiring speakers from within the industry and beyond. With the goals of establishing repossession standards and addressing the state of the industry, NARS 2021 will include empowering sessions that focus on fortifying the industry to withstand any obstacle.
Registration is open at reposummit.com, with extended regular registration pricing until Aug. 15. In addition, to incentivize and encourage business owners to bring members of their staff, the NARS committee has introduced discounted tiered pricing after the first two registrations.
ARA members also can receive early-bird registration prices until two weeks from the conference.
Controversial bill advances in House
In a separate message, ARA recapped what happened on the U.S. House floor on Thursday that could impact what's being discussed during NARS.
ARA said the House passed the Comprehensive Debt Collection Improvement Act (H.R. 2547) by a vote of 215-207. The measure, which now heads to the Senate for consideration, may have a “devastating” impact on the repossession industry, according to the association.
ARA recapped that Article 9-609 of the Uniform Commercial Code allows finance companies and their agents to repossess a vehicle as long there is no breach of peace.
“We are considered “enforcing a security interest” and not collecting a debt. And, until now it was understood that we are not under the requirements of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act,” ARA said.
“All of this might change. If left unchallenged, the recovery professional would be reclassified as a debt collector,” the association continued.
ARA went into six more elements about how the measure could impact vehicle repossessions, including:
• As debt collectors, repossession agents would have to notify the debtor by a written notice, specifying the amount of money owed, who the creditor is, and advise them of what action they should take if they contest the debt.
• All contact with the consumer would need to contain language identifying yourself as a debt collector. Contact must be free of profane or abusive language (so agents need to hold their tongue or face a federal lawsuit).
• It would strengthen the government’s grip over a repossession agency’s name (like “Final Notice” or anything vaguely aggressive) or anything that could be at all misconstrued as a governmental agency (like “Nevada Recovery Bureau” for example).
• It could make it a federal offense to damage any property in the course of a repossession. Hitting a mailbox, or even drag marks on a driveway could be considered an FDCPA violation, which would allow the consumer to sue finance companies and repo agents in federal court.
• Even a third party (a neighbor, a relative, etc.) seeing the repossession in process may be a violation by “publicizing” the debt, which is forbidden by the FDCPA. Debt collectors are not allowed to make the existence of a debt known to uninvolved third parties. This alone could easily make a repossession from a place of employment impossible if a car on the hook is seen by any other employee there.
• It would restrict the times of day or night when you might be in contact with the consumer, even inadvertently. A debtor coming out to the driveway to interrupt a repossession would be a violation if it occurred after 9 p.m., for instance.
“All this could make repossession activity unbelievably complicated and legally risky,” ARA said.
The association emphasized the Repo Alliance is its “best line of defense.” The alliance is working with lobbyists at Van Scoyoc Associates in Washington D.C., and already speaking to members of Congress about the unintended and adverse consequences of this change to reclassify repossession agents as a debt collector.
To help support the efforts of the Repo Alliance, go to this website.
Wrongful repossessions already burdened the industry, and it’s an issue that intensified since the pandemic began.
With insurance companies already wary of absorbing too much liability, the repossession industry is again getting squeezed to secure coverage.
Mike Peplinski, vice president of the Harding Brooks Insurance Agency, appeared on the Auto Remarketing Podcast for a frank discussion about the growing challenges of repossession agencies having adequate insurance.
To listen to this episode, click on the link available below, or visit the Auto Remarketing Podcast page.
Download and subscribe to the Auto Remarketing Podcast on iTunes or on Google Play.
Coming on the heels of multiple discussions during Used Car Week 2019 about improving efficiencies during the recovery process, a pair of KAR Global business units rolled out key platform enhancements meant to accomplish that objective.
Recovery Database Network (RDN) and Clearplan announced a pair of “innovative” improvements on Tuesday designed to enable better account management for both finance companies and recovery agents.
According to a news release, the features include standardized data fields for updates, making data entry more efficient for agents and providing much-needed clarity to the thousands of daily updates between agents and finance companies.
Furthermore, a real-time geostamping feature for agent updates adds transparency by confirming the location of the agent at the time of the update, according to the companies.
“RDN and Clearplan are committed to continuously making enhancements, and these new features enable our clients to leverage the latest technology and take control of their data,” said Justin Zane, president of RDN and Clearplan. “Keeping up with the more than 500,000 text messages sent each day has been nearly impossible for agents and lenders, but having standardized updates enables them to extract more value from field data and operations.
“Reporting is significantly enhanced, leading to efficiency, better decision making and ultimately more profitability for lenders and agents alike,” Zane continued.
Recovery agents can utilize the new features on both the RDN platform and the Clearplan app. Finance companies can interact with the augmented data points on the RDN platform.
The Check-In Update field and the New Address Discount field can provide drop-down lists of standard status updates, focusing on actionable data. Choosing from a list of options instead of typing in a free-form text response can save “priceless time for the agent and results in clear, unambiguous updates,” the companies said.
Furthermore, RDN and Clearplan believe finance companies can experience substantial advantage from cleaner, more purposeful data.
“Both agents and lenders benefit from the ability to filter and sort through more easily decipherable updates, extracting valuable data points and flagging items that require action,” the companies said.
Finally, RDN and Clearplan explained the geostamping functionality can measure the distance between the agent and the recovery address and can automatically mark where the agent is located when the update is entered, for complete transparency between agent and finance company.
For more than 10 years, RDN’s software-as-a-service technology has been designed to deliver improved recovery performance and increased operational efficiency for finance companies while providing full security and transparency.
Similarly, Clearplan’s digital platform can provide recovery agents, drivers, forwarders and finance companies with a centralized, mobile, cloud-based hub for repossession workflow and logistics management.
Together, Clearplan and RDN, both business units of KAR Global, can connect thousands of recovery agents and finance companies to a streamlined vehicle recovery process — “with reduced redundancies and increased actionable data.”
For more information, visit recoverydatabase.net.
About a month after rolling out its “mobile only” policy, ALS Resolvion announced this week that the skip-tracing and repossession management firm completed the integration between its proprietary operating system (Wombat) into the forwarder platform fueled by Recovery Database Network (RDN), which is a division of KAR Auction Services.
ALS Resolvion chief executive officer Michael Levison said in a news release, “This is a big step forward for us.
“We have been integrated into the lender side of RDN for years. However, this new integration completes and creates real time connectivity to the agent side of RDN, which is the system of record for a large percentage of our repossession agency partners,” continued Levison, who is slated to be among the speakers during Repo Con, which is part of Used Car Week that runs from Nov. 11-15 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas.
Back in July, ALS Resolvion said under its new policy, the company will provide involuntary repossession assignments only to repossession agencies that are deploying mobile technology at the repo truck level.
And now it’s fully integrated with RDN.
“This integration accomplishes a number of important objectives for both our company and our clients," ALS Resolvion post repossession operations manager Danny Mullen said.
“In addition to creating significant operating and communication efficiencies with our agency network, it also greatly strengthens our overall compliance program as it allows us to change case status in real time in the agent’s system of record,” Mullen added.
From RDN’s perspective, the integration development also is positive.
“We continue to invest in enhancing the level of connectivity with agency users,” said Justin Zane, chief executive officer of RDN and Clear Plan.
“ALS Resolvion is a major source of business for many of our users and this new functionality will significantly increase the efficiency and compliance profile of those relationships," Zane went on to say.
ALS Resolvion is reinforcing its commitment to being a mobile company, citing two specific reasons for an updated strategy.
The provider of national repossession management services recently announced that it has fully implemented what the company believes is the industry’s first “mobile only” policy.
Under this new policy, ALS Resolvion said it will provide involuntary repossession assignments only to repossession agencies that are deploying mobile technology at the repo truck level.
The company explained its “mobile only” policy is intended to address two of the most challenging remaining compliance issues surrounding the repossession process:
1. The ability to communicate changes in case status in real time down to the repo truck level.
“Many of the unintended repossessions that take place today are the result of a lender closing a repossession assignment but notification of that change does not make it to repo truck driver before the vehicle is recovered,” ALS Resolvion said in a news release. “This specific issue has been a key focus of the CFPB as it reviews lender repossession practices.
2. When a vehicle is repossessed, the finance company needs to know immediately in order to update its records.
“If a customer makes payment before the lender knows the car has already been repossessed, problems can ensue,” ALS Resolvion added. “Real-time communication of the repossession helps mitigate this risk.”
ALS Resolvion chief executive officer Michael Levison elaborated about this decision.
“For the first time, regardless of the repossession management system a lender uses, we can provide real time communication to our entire agent network down to the truck level,” Levison said.
“This is the first time that a forwarder has been able to offer this capability to lenders and it could only be accomplished through a series of complex integrations between multiple systems that we have now completed,” he continued.
ALS Resolvion repossession manager Danny Mullen added, “The issue of unintended repossessions is at the top of the priority list for regulators that monitor repossession activities.
“While our mobile only policy does not necessarily guarantee that there will be no unintended repossessions due to communication gaps, it is a big step in that direction,” Mullen went on to say.
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/.
