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RISC taps DRN’s ‘Skip Guru’ for updated training program

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.

ACA International fears House bill targeting robocalls would limit legitimate collections activities

ACA International questioned a proposal to regulate telephone communications from the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman based on the assertion it could do more harm than good.

The organization that brings together third-party collection agencies, law firms, asset buying companies, creditors and vendor affiliates explained the potential House legislation would sweep illegal robocalls and legitimate non-telemarketing business calls into one category.

The Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (HR 946) was reintroduced back in February by Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., a Democrat from New Jersey.

According to a news release from the lawmaker, Pallone’s bill would direct the Federal Communications Commission to enact “strong” consumer protections for authorized calls and empower the FCC with strong enforcement tools to reign in robocallers. 

The committee chairman said the legislation would also ensure that consumers have the ability to stop calls they’d previously authorized and require incoming calls to have authentic caller identification information before they are delivered to customers.

“Americans are fed up with robocalls.  It is incredibly annoying to repeatedly get unwanted calls from people you don’t know and don’t want to talk to,” Pallone said.  “Despite previous efforts like the Do Not Call Registry, robocalls are still on the rise. The Stopping Bad Robocalls Act will equip consumer protection agencies with innovative, new tools designed to stop the abusive practices by robocallers and better restrict unauthorized robocalls.”

ACA International insisted the measure would harm consumers by stymieing the free flow of information between thousands of legitimate businesses and consumers, emphasizing concerns that Pallone’s legislation presents an overly broad characterization of what is considered a robocall including a problematic expanded definition of what is considered an autodialer.

“If the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act was appropriately tailored to focus on bad actors that are making abusive and illegal robocalls, we would be in staunch support of such efforts,” ACA International chief executive officer Mark Neeb said in a news release.

“ACA members strongly agree that consumers deserve to be treated fairly and respectfully,” Neeb said. “However, the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act is not tailored to that goal and it instead does more harm than good by creating additional confusion, in an already confusing marketplace for determining how to comply with the severely outdated Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) of 1991.”

The latest online information available from the House’s official website indicated HR 946 remains within the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

“When Congress enacted the TCPA, it was for the purpose of limiting abusive telemarketing calls, yet Rep. Pallone’s legislation would mark an even further departure from that original laudable goal of stopping sales calls that consumers have not consented to receive, while doing nothing to deter illegal robocallers who have no interest in following the law,” Neeb said.

“Consumers often need the communications that legitimate businesses provide them and creating new onerous requirements for communicating with them is harmful,” he said.

The Stopping Bad Robocalls Act includes these potential actions:

— Amending the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) to ensure that the FCC has the authority and the tools to take strong, quick action when they track down robocallers

— Allowing consumers to revoke consent they had previously given to receive calls at any time and in any reasonable manner

— Codifying a reassigned number database to put robocallers on notice when a telephone number they may have previously been authorized to call has been given to a new customer who has not authorized their call

— Limiting the number of robocalls exempted from the TCPA under the FCC’s rules

— Requiring calls to have verified caller identification information associated with a call before the call can be put through

— Extending the statute of limitations from one year to four years for callers violating robocall prohibitions

Pallone said an estimated 26.3 billion unwanted calls were placed in the U.S. last year, representing a 46-percent increase in unwanted calls over the previous year. What the lawmaker called a “staggering number of unwanted calls” are returning huge profit margins for robocallers, according to the House member, with every dollar spent by robocallers returning as much as $20 profit — a 2,000 percent profit margin.

Though Pallone acknowledged some robocalls are initiated by legitimate companies, the lawmaker added robocalls are also used by scammers to steal from consumers, with more than 22 million Americans losing a total of $9.5 billion in robocall scams in 2016 alone, according to his office.

Pallone’s proposal also was applauded by various consumer groups.

“The Stopping Bad Robocalls Act will apply essential and meaningful consumer protections from unwanted robocalls if the FCC should fail to rein in robocalls from telemarketers and debt collectors, student loan servicers and others,” said Margot Saunders, senior counsel at the National Consumer Law Center.

Consumer Reports policy analyst Maureen Mahoney added, “The robocalls problem is out of control and, without action from Congress, will only get worse. This legislation would tackle the growing problem of ‘spoofed’ calls that trick consumers into answering, by ensuring phone companies implement technology to stop these unwanted calls before they reach the consumer at no additional cost. 

“Consumer Reports applauds Congressman Pallone for his leadership in addressing this growing problem,” Mahoney said.

National Creditors Connection’s ‘superstar’ returns in new executive role

Taylor Thurman is back with National Creditors Connection Inc. (NCCI).

The loss-reduction outsourcing (LRO) company recently announced Thurman returned to be its director of sales in the auto-finance market. NCCI indicated Thurman will be leading all market development and sales initiatives for the auto-finance segment.

“We are excited and humbled to have our superstar back home at NCCI,” NCCI president Rick Rodriguez said.

“NCCI is known for helping clients reduce losses, and Taylor’s knowledge and relentless drive will enable NCCI to continue to deliver our absolute best to our auto-finance partners,” Rodriguez continued.

Thurman spent three years with NCCI before serving as client development director of auto claims at DIMONT. She led the market development and sales expansion of that specialty insurance and loan administration company into the auto-finance space, delivering 15 new logo clients in a little more than year.

During her first stint with NCCI, Thurman ran sales and market development for the company where she delivered more than $4 million in new sales, bringing on more than 40 new clients including captives and large banks. 

Thurman's professional career also includes a stint with Consolidated Asset Recovery Systems.

In addition to her impressive track record in auto finance, Thurman is a level I certified Crossfit coach/trainer, and she is equally as active in giving back to the community as a teen mentor and a volunteer with those struggling with addiction.

“Taylor will be helping NCCI to make sure that the reach and positive impact of their loss reduction solutions are delivering results in the auto-finance segment,” NCCI said.

Paramount Recovery bolsters facilities and workforce

Paramount Recovery Service, a leading Southern California-based automotive repossession company, recently announced the expansion of its locations and services as well as the hiring of two industry experts.

Company leaders highlighted the physical expansion includes the acquisition of PRS’ largest location to date — an indoor and outdoor facility consisting of 88,000 square feet that’s situated in downtown Los Angeles’ Huntington Park district. The company now services 15 counties with brick and mortar repossession storage facilities, including a location in San Diego, a one-acre facility in Perris, and others in Ontario, East Los Angeles, Burbank, Oxnard, Lancaster, Bakersfield and Fresno.

PRS also maintains an office and auto storage facility in Phoenix.

The company noted a portion of this growth follows PRS’ acquisition of three other automotive repossession companies during the past two quarters. Additional acquisitions are underway with plans to expand to Palm Springs, Santa Maria and throughout California by the end of 2019.

PRS also added two new employees to its management team.

Industry veteran Kevin Morgan joined as vice president with an extensive background in auto and repossession services, credit union experience and remarketing. Morgan previously worked for Simons Services and Recovery (SSR) and Cinema Vehicle Services.

Morgan will assist PRS founder and president Steve Simons in company oversight and daily operations.

Daisy Duarte came aboard as director of operations in PRS’ pre-recovery unit, bringing years of industry knowledge and expertise from Westlake Financial Services. Duarte now is part of the operations team led by PRS chief operating officer Roger Gilden.

“The addition of Kevin and Daisy allows us to continue to grow and operate the best professional one-stop-shop for all Southern California recovery,” Simons said.

“Despite our rapid growth, we remain dedicated to being the family-oriented, professional organization that has always set us apart in the industry,” Simons continued. “We are also upgrading the technology in all of our state-of-the-art facilities, saving money and time for our clients. We are changing the way repossession companies operate through compliance, technology and automation.”

PRS’ fleet of vehicles now scans more than 10 million license plates per month via its strategic partnership with on-demand data solutions company, MVTRAC. Using the newest license plate recognition (LPR) technology and employing a round-the-clock administration team and dispatch for all field staff, clients can contact PRS for expedited auto recovery 24 hours per day, seven days a week.

The company also offers complete in-house automotive locksmith services, auto transport services and will soon be offering vehicle remarketing, as well as a statewide impound retrieval division.

Due to PRS’ rapid growth, the company is hiring in all locations. PRS offers comprehensive health benefits and competitive wages to its employees. Qualified applicants are encouraged to send their resumes to [email protected].

COMMENTARY: Using AI and machine learning to keep market in ‘high gear’

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data recently released its quarterly report on household debt and credit.  While some pundits initially rushed to point to a negative theme — 7 million people had an auto finance contract at least 90 days delinquent in 2018 — the Fed was quick to reign these pundits in with context supporting the overall health of the auto lending industry.

A look at the numbers supports the Fed’s optimism. More than 89 million Americans currently have some sort of auto financing, representing the highest figure ever reported by the Fed (using data provided by Equifax that goes back to 1999). Furthermore, there were $584 billion in new auto loans and leases appearing on credit reports in 2018. When all was said and done, auto financing increased by $53 billion to $1.27 trillion in 2018.

As the Fed pointed out, auto loans are certainly in “high gear.” And while this increased volume is a positive indicator for the industry, lenders must consider the significantly increased need for resources dedicated to servicing and collecting on these loans.

We’ve all heard about a wave of emerging technologies that fall under the artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning umbrellas, and smart lenders and servicers are turning to them to help meet this need for increased resources.  It’s something that my company has embraced and invested in heavily, and we’ve seen great results from these amazing technologies. 

From the use of intelligent virtual assistants to handle more simple customer interactions or utilizing sophisticated conversation analytics software to gain actionable business intelligence, to implementing custom SaaS collection software to predict when and how much delinquent accounts will pay, lenders and servicers have more at their disposal than ever before.

Through use of predictive modeling, I have seen a decrease in attempts to contact customers of up to 65 percent, all while maintaining right party contacts and successes. This, coupled with virtual assistants handling of payment and general customer service requests, allows an increase of live agent availability to handle more complex servicing requests.

AI is now a necessity in auto finance loan servicing due to the industry’s heightened focus on customer satisfaction. These tools make it possible to hone in on a customer’s individual financial situation and present the easiest path forward, one that is realistic to the customer and acceptable to the lender. This will boost repeat business and I see no reason that AI will not continue to play a major role.

So yes, the deployment of the right emerging technologies makes absolute sense for lenders and servicers looking to meet the demand of the booming auto lending industry. 

However, the industry should resist the urge to become overly reliant on these technologies, and use them with a goal of providing ease-of-use and convenience to customers with more routine issues or inquiries.   There will always be the need for a human touch for more complex or challenging issues, something that only a skilled customer service rep or collector can provide.  

In my view, the right mix of technology and traditional customer service is the recipe for meeting continued demand — and keeping the industry in high gear.

Sean Bennett is director of business technology at Servicing Solutions, a full-service, beginning-to-end loan servicing solution powered by compliance, technology, analytics and a management team of experienced industry leaders.

COMMENTARY: Examining personal property handling, issues and costs

Over the past year, there has been a great deal of discussion about the fees related to the removal and storage of personal property. The issue has resulted in significant changes by most lenders as to how personal property fees are handled.

As one of the leading nationwide repossession management companies, we have dealt with the matter across many different lenders, and from our perspective, we often find that the issues associated with handling personal property fees are often misunderstood and underestimated. The remainder of this article will focus on shedding light on the matter.

What is considered personal property?

Anything within a vehicle that is not attached to the vehicle, is defined as personal property. This includes clothes, shoes, bags and excludes custom vehicle equipment, stereo systems, etc.

Removal of personal property

After a vehicle repossession occurs, personal property remains in the vehicle and is transported to the agent’s secured facility for removal. Under state and local statutes, repossession agents are then required to follow a series of steps to ensure that proper measures are carried out. This includes creating a detailed inventory/personal property report of all property removed from the vehicle, removal of license plates, placing all personal property in a sealed dated box or bag and stored in a secure environment. In addition, agents must index and upload the personal property report to the debtor’s file. This entire process takes on average, anywhere between 25 and 35 minutes per vehicle which includes 15 to 20 minutes for two employees to clean out a vehicle and 10 to 15 minutes for one employee to finalize personal property content and secure the items in storage. In extreme situations, and with recreational vehicles or other vehicles used as residences, this process can require an hour or more to complete.

Separate and secure space

Most states require that the repossession agent secure and store personal property in a separate and monitored space.  In addition to the cost of renting and maintaining the space, there are additional expenses relating to security, maintenance, monitoring, etc.  This obviously varies by situation, size, etc. but the expense in not insignificant.

Inventory and storage of personal property

Recovered items are usually required to be stored in a secured and monitored environment. Agents are also required to create and retain a detailed written inventory report. In some states a letter with a copy of the inventory must be sent to the debtor notifying them of their personal property being removed and in storage.

Return of property

While returning property to the owner may seem pretty straightforward, it can be time consuming and tedious.  Several steps are typically involved:

• Scheduling an appointment with the owner.

• Having the owner review, sign, and date a personal property release.

• Possibly assisting the debtor in carrying out personal property.

• Uploading the signed personal property release to the debtor’s file and maintaining the record pretty much indefinitely

This process takes 15- 45 minutes for one employee to complete, when everything goes smoothly. However, things don’t always go as planned (appointments missed, accusations of theft, damage, etc.)  These issues involve even more time and costs.

Property disposal

After the required hold period, the unclaimed personal property must be disposed of in a legally required method. Also, any NPPI (Non-Personal Public Information) has to be identified and placed in a secured area for shredding. The remaining items are either disposed of or given away to charitable organizations.  Depending on the situation, this can take 15-60 minutes.

Other possible issues

In addition to all of the factors mentioned above, there are several other scenarios that can come into play in any given situation, adding to the time and cost involved:

• Returning vehicle license plates in accordance with state law.

• Proper dumpster removal and bio hazard material handling to an approved facility.

Cost analysis

The table below provides a cost analysis, relating to the handling of personal property, provided by the American Recovery Association.  It represents an actual case study by a large repossession agency. Per unit costs for smaller firms would likely be meaningfully higher.

In conclusion

As discussed, and well documented above, there are numerous considerations to this critically necessary process and a clear financial impact to handle them properly. As lenders and forwarders grapple with regulator expectations on the handling of personal property, we all need to be mindful of the costs involved.

Editor’s note: The article was written by ALS Resolvion with the input and data provided by the American Recovery Association. Mike Levison is the chief executive officer of ALS Resolvion. More details about the company can be found at www.alsresolvion.com.

S&P Global Ratings and its ‘sanguine’ outlook of subprime auto loan ABS

S&P Global Ratings took its turn on Tuesday to add more context to the headline-creating and social-media stirring auto-finance data released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Credit analyst Amy Martin led the charge looking closely at subprime auto loan asset-backed security (ABS) market.

Martin acknowledged the New York Fed highlighted Equifax data that showed delinquencies were on the rise with 90-day delinquencies reaching 4.47 percent for the fourth quarter of 2018 and marking the highest level since the first quarter of 2012.

“Our outlook for subprime auto loan ABS is more sanguine than the delinquency increase may seem to imply,” Martin said in a report titled, “The Severity of Subprime Auto Loan Delinquencies Is in the Eye of the Beholder.”

“For one, our rating approach is very issuer-centric and generally focuses more on losses than delinquencies — and losses have risen at a much slower rate. To the extent we’ve observed deterioration in an issuer’s performance, credit enhancement (the cushion available to cover loan losses) is generally sized to take that into account,” continued Martin, a member of the initial collection of honorees for Women in Auto Finance showcased during Used Car Week 2018.

S&P Global Ratings shared the report with SubPrime Auto Finance News. The report detailed four causes higher delinquencies in the data analysts track, including: 

— Growth in subprime originations during an intensely competitive period

— A composition shift to include more deep subprime financing

— Softer/gentler collection strategies

— Later repossessions and charge-offs by some finance companies

Analysts first delved into the origination growth happening in subprime.

“As the economic recovery was getting underway around 2010, existing lenders, most of which had tightened their credit standards during the recession, started to ease their lending parameters and grow originations. Also, many new players emerged, some funded with private equity,” S&P Global Ratings said in the report.

“As competition heated up, the discounts at which finance companies purchased auto loans from dealers started to evaporate, causing profit margins to thin. Some lenders responded by building scale, with their greater lending levels accompanied by weaker credit quality and higher delinquencies and losses,” the firm continued.

Next, analysts discussed the composition shift, pointing out that prior to the recession, there were few securitizers that catered to the deep subprime segment.

“That has since changed,” S&P Global Ratings said, reiterating that it defines deep subprime as those pools with cumulative net losses of 20 percent or more. The firm also noted that generally the contract holders in these pools have either no credit score or a FICO reading below 550.

S&P Global Ratings mentioned new securitizers in the deep subprime space include Santander through its DRIVE platform, American Credit Acceptance, Exeter Finance and J.D. Byrider (also known as CarNow Acceptance).

“With this growth in deep subprime lending, we believe there has been a shift where consumers with either no credit history or very derogatory ones are buying and financing their vehicles,” analysts said in the report. “When credit was scarce, many of these borrowers could purchase only a high-mileage used vehicle at either an independent used car dealership or a buy-here, pay-here lot.

“Given the plethora of subprime lenders today and the turndown programs between prime lenders and their subprime lending partners, some of these consumers can now buy new vehicles or low-mileage used vehicles at either new-vehicle franchise stores or large used-vehicle mega-dealership chains,” they continued.

Because deep subprime securitizations have grown to 38 percent of securitized subprime auto loans in 2018 from only about 11 percent in 2015, S&P Global Ratings explained that its monthly auto loan tracker data includes a modified index to normalize the composition.

The latest monthly update from S&P Global Ratings showed that subprime losses decreased to 9.58 percent in January from 10.15 percent in December and 9.98 percent in January of last year due to lower losses in Santander’s SDART and DRIVE transactions.

Analysts added January recoveries improved year-over-year, from 38.80 percent from 33.56 percent for subprime. S&P Global Ratings pointed out that last January’s subprime recovery rate was negatively affected by GM Financial’s servicing system upgrade.

And speaking of recoveries, that report titled, “The Severity of Subprime Auto Loan Delinquencies Is in the Eye of the Beholder,” continued by touching on more lenient collection policies used by some finance companies. S&P Global Ratings described them as “softer and gentler.”

In some cases, S&P Global Ratings acknowledged these changes are in response to increased regulatory oversight, which has shed light on alleged fair debt collection violations. These relaxed collection practices include calling the delinquent borrower fewer times, refraining from calling the borrower’s references and no longer calling the borrower’s place of employment upon his or her request.

“As a result, it sometimes takes longer to arrange a payment plan with the borrower or to locate the vehicle for possible repossession, thereby keeping the account in delinquency status longer,” analysts said in the report. “In other cases, greater tolerance for late payments is due to management supporting the practice that it’s better to keep a delinquent customer who is making payments (albeit late or only partial ones) than to repossess the obligor’s vehicle, which is likely to result in a higher severity of loss.

“Less aggressive collection practices have also contributed, in some cases, to higher extension rates,” they continued. “When granting extensions, however, most lenders do so in a manner that brings the delinquent obligor’s account current. If a delinquent obligor has, however, exhausted the lender’s maximum number of extensions, his/her account would likely be accounted for as delinquent.

“Further, there may be some situations in which an extension does not bring an account current,” they added.

With less intense collection practices, S&P Global Ratings is seeing later repossessions and charge-offs.

“In line with allowing customers more time to resume payments before repossessing vehicles, some lenders have lengthened the time that an account may be delinquent until it is charged off,” the firm said in its report.

“DriveTime did this at the end of 2011, and such action caused a significant rise in their 31-day delinquencies, to 17.9 percent at year-end 2012 from 11.20 percent a year earlier. That said, losses rose only marginally (to 14.0 percent from 13.2 percent),” S&P Global Ratings went on to say.

What do all of the trends and data points mean? Martin summed up the situation this way.

“Indeed, the weighted average expected cumulative net losses on the transactions we’ve rated have grown to approximately 20 percent in 2018 from 12.5 percent in

2011 and, at the same time, ‘AAA’ credit enhancement has increased to approximately 54 percent on a weighted average basis from 36 percent,” Martin said.

“As a result, our outlook for investment-grade subprime auto loan ABS ratings is in a better place than one might assume given the trend in delinquencies,” Martin went on to say while adding this report does not constitute a rating action.

ARA accepting nominations for 2019 NARS Industry Awards

A way some of the best recovery industry professionals can be recognized is now available and open for submissions.

Organizers of the 11th annual North American Repossessors Summit — held by the American Recovery Association (ARA) in conjunction with headline sponsor Harding Brooks Insurance — have opened its online award submissions for the 2019 NARS Industry Awards.

The online submissions will be accepted until April 1.

Honoring exemplary repossession professionals, this year’s award categories include Agent of the Year, Service Representative of the Year, Humanitarian of the Year and Agency Owner of the Year. Winners will be announced during the summit, which will take place at the Omni Mandalay Hotel in Irving, Texas on April 18 and 19.

“Every year, we welcome the opportunity to recognize the industry professionals who best demonstrate the values of NARS in their work,” ARA President Dave Kennedy said. “This year, we wanted to create more ways we could honor repossession professionals across multiple job titles who truly embody our 2019 theme, ‘Adapt, Conquer and Overcome.’”

The Agent of the Year Award distinguishes an agent who has demonstrated outstanding professionalism, understanding of lender needs and full compliance with industry standards, as well as protection of the consumer's rights and safety.

The Service Representative of the Year Award represents someone who has shown exemplary performance and has consistently excelled in their position. This person demonstrates integrity, creates a positive atmosphere in their workplace and displays a strong commitment to the mission and values of the professional collateral recovery industry. 

Humanitarian of the Year submissions can be an industry professional of any position who contributes significantly to alleviating human suffering and improving the quality of life in their community. This person demonstrates leadership through outstanding volunteer accomplishments that bring honor to the collateral recovery profession. 

Finally, the Agency Owner of the Year Award will go to an owner who has at least a three-year commitment of excellence within their company and the collateral recovery industry. They should also be able to document their commitment to professional education and compliance training as well as the use of innovation and creativity in enabling their company to prosper and extend its reach in the collateral recovery profession.

Nominations for the 2019 NARS Industry Awards can be submitted at www.reposummit.com/about-the-summit/about-nars-2019-awards/. Regular registration for NARS 2019 remains open through Friday to recovery agents and finance companies at www.reposummit.com.

RISC, Vendor Transparency Solutions partner for recovery education and more

Coming on the heels of Automotive Intelligence Council member MBSi Corp. making a move involving the firm, Recovery Industry Services Co. (RISC) announced it has joined forces with recently acquired Vendor Transparency Solutions (VTS) to unite compliance services and provide comprehensive vendor vetting, lot inspection and education services to the collateral recovery industry.

For years as independent companies, RISC and VTS stressed that they have advocated for a more professional repossession industry. By integrating the compliance solutions, RISC insisted that it now offers the best of both companies to the industry. 

“We are proud to partner with RISC to provide a repossession training and vetting solution that has been embraced by both vendors and lenders, and we thank those who have supported our efforts,” said Max Pineiro, president of Vendor Transparency Solutions.

“With the recent acquisition of the VTS software platform, we looked to partner with the industry standard CARS program to add value to the VTS training curriculum and vetting services.  Additionally, the involvement of Hudson Cook solidifies it as the industry standard,” Pineiro continue.

In the weeks and months ahead, RISC will announce new product offerings that combine the best of RISC and VTS curriculum and technology solutions.

“With this partnership, we continue to work towards improvement and unification of the industry,” RISC chief executive officer Stamatis Ferarolis said.

“It will take some time to integrate our curriculum and vetting services, but we believe together we now deliver the only comprehensive compliance and education solution to the collateral recovery industry,” Ferarolis went on to say.

7 states finish 2018 with 60-day delinquency rate at or above 1%

Experian’s Q4 2018 State of the Automotive Finance Market report showed that seven states closed this past year with 60-day delinquency rates of at least 1 percent.

Overall, analysts pinpointed the 60-day delinquency rate at 0.78 percent in Q4, which represented an uptick of 3 basis points year-over-year.

What Experian defines as finance companies — institutions that do not hold commercial deposits but fund vehicle installment contracts — had the highest rate for 60-day delinquency among the four categories of providers. Finance companies — which also often cater to subprime customers — saw its rate improve 10 basis points year-over-year to settle at 1.87 percent.

Experian also mentioned the 60-day delinquency rate for banks came in at 0.70 percent (up 14 basis points). For captives, it was 0.73 percent (down 2 basis points) and for credit unions, it was 0.26 percent (down 1 basis point).

Along with those seven states at or above 1 percent, Experian also highlighted the Top 10 states for 60-day delinquency as of the fourth quarter. That rundown included:

1. Maryland: 1.68 percent
2. Mississippi: 1.68 percent
3. Louisiana: 1.36 percent
4. Georgia: 1.03 percent
5. New Mexico: 1.03 percent
6. Alabama: 1.00 percent
7. South Carolina: 1.00 percent
8. Nevada: 0.92 percent
9. Texas: 0.90 percent
10. Arkansas: 0.89 percent