The next step in the collaboration involving the American Recovery Association and the National Automotive Finance Association unfolded on Wednesday.

Continuing their repossession efficiency project, ARA unveiled its newly improved Certified Collateral Recovery Specialist (CCRS) program.

The resulting baseline standards agreed upon by ARA and NAF Association encompass the key areas of vendor compliance, including owner/business regulatory reviews, training, policies and procedures and vendor site visits.

“The newly renovated CCRS program makes the compliance and education platforms much more efficient, which is something we’ve worked to achieve for a long time,” ARA president Dave Kennedy said. “In addition to reducing costs, I believe our CCRS program is the most well-constructed program in the industry.”

Kennedy insisted that ARA’s CCRS certification is the most comprehensive compliance exam in the industry, and it’s only awarded to those who score in the 80th percentile and above on each exam.

“We’re proud that our program was written by education professionals with the advice of attorneys, not by attorneys for attorneys,” said Les McCook, executive director of ARA.

Used nationwide by finance companies to the benefit of their organization and vendor network, ARA pointed out that its CCRS is least expensive program of its kind in the industry, and it’s the only all-inclusive system available to date.

In addition to rivaling any other training platform, association leadership highlighted the added benefits of ARA’s system include client customization, fingertip information resources and outside independent audits.

“For those paying these costs for their entire network, this is a major savings when compared to comprehensive operational costs,” ARA said.

ARA’s CCRS program is currently accepted by several finance companies in the country. Not only is it recognized by the Louisiana state government, but ARA indicated it will soon be also recognized in several states.

“ARA is working diligently toward full national adoption,” the association said.

For more information about ARA, its partnerships and its member benefits, visit repo.org.