Compliance Is Key Marketing Tool for Repossession Agents

Time was, repossession agents would sell themselves to potential clients based on the size of the area they worked, how many trucks they had, or what new gadgets they had to help find cars. While those benchmarks are still important, today’s successful operators are now separating themselves from their competitors by showing how hard they are working at pro-actively striving to become more compliant.

Interpreting compliance is not simple – it’s like trying to put something together from IKEA without directions. But while agreeing on a single, completely comprehensive definition of compliance is an elusive goal, repossession agents who show they are aggressively trying to meet this challenge in an industry where the compliance burden is ever-growing, is what will separate those who succeed from those who ultimately do not.

“Those vendors who are meeting the compliance challenge head on are the ones that will see themselves thrive and succeed,” said Greg Ward, the System Sales Director for MBSi Corp.’s Compliance Made Easy product. “Those who bury their heads in the sand or opt to willfully ignore what’s going on around them will find it very difficult to survive. Compliance has to be a key component of any vendor’s business plan.”

Making compliance part of the workflow is something that starts from Day One by systematically training employees to ensure adherence to proper policies and procedures. Lenders want to be able to see how repossession agents are training their employees, not just to make sure that they will do a good job, but also that they know the right way to conduct themselves.

“If you cannot readily show you are properly training your staff, tracking all of your complaints through to resolution and ensuring you have the proper licensing and insurance in place, it is fairly likely you will lose business to someone who does at some point in time,” Ward said. “Having the systemic ability to address these areas of compliance with reporting in place, business will grow and marketshare will increase.”

The threat of a CFPB audit or investigation has been used to scare many in the auto finance and recovery industries into spending thousands of dollars on products and services, but to date, the agency has yet to even hint at being interested in looking at how repossessors operate. While nothing has happened yet, industry professionals do believe that it’s only a matter of time before the CFPB’s interest level in the industry increases, which is why it’s important for those in the industry to comprehensively address areas of compliance today. Lenders nationwide are altering their service-level agreements with compliance addendums like never seen before. And the level of due diligence being conducted on vendors is more thorough than ever.

“The need to proactively make strides in the area of compliance is not something that is just going to up and disappear one day,” Ward said. “Compliance Made Easy is a common-sense systemic approach to compliance that will help create a sustainable business model in an ever-growing regulated repossession industry.”

MBSi’s Compliance Made Easy is a suite of products and services that integrates with a lender’s repossession assignment system of record and includes robust reporting capabilities. Those capabilities not only help repossessors show clients how serious they are about being compliant, but improve performance and drive revenue. The suite includes:

•  Vendor Comply to track, share, and resolve consumer complaints
• Training Comply, for implementing and monitoring recurring internal and external training and systemic process change and communication notification tools
• Contract Comply, which stores important information such as licenses, certifications, insurance, coverage areas, fleet and employee information and includes automatic expiration notifications

Taken together, all of the products offered under the Compliance Made Easy umbrella offer vendors and lenders a timely and useful business function and marketing tool to separate themselves from their competitors.

“While we do not make the claim that if you use CME you are magically fully compliant,” Ward said. “However imagine being able to tell any regulator that you can track your complaints down to an accurate resolution percentage, you can tell what percentage of your complaints were valid and controllable, and that you have created and pushed training to your staff and vendors. In addition, you can show that all of your licensing and required insurance is valid and up-to-date, and in the event something expires, the assignment is held or closed automatically based on customizable business rules. Then, sit back and watch their chins hit the desk.”

Tracking complaints is actually where Ward sees the biggest compliance gap between lenders and repossessors. Repossessors have been quick to brush complaints under the rug, in fear of how clients will react, even though most complaints are related to customers who are upset regarding a valid and lawful act of repossession, Ward said. His estimate is that 80% of complaints are not currently documented, which is actually doing the industry a dis-service. If regulators were to see that such a significant number of complaints were not valid or resolved quickly and properly, regulators’ comfort levels will actually increase and pressure will be taken off of the client in the long run.

The need for vendors to provide systemic solutions for managing compliance for the lender has never been more important. Repossession agents need to “stop making decisions based on emotion and start making decisions based on solid data that can be provided with the use of CME.

“One thing I have learned over the past year is that there are three types in this industry,” Ward said. “The ones who fight and oppose compliance, the ones who sit back and wait, and those who meet it head-on and actually see this as positive and take action. Let me say this: Which group do you think the top lenders will ultimately end up working with? That’s an easy question to answer, right? Here is maybe a more difficult one to answer. In which group are you?”

For more information about Compliance Made Easy, please go to www.Comply-EZ.com or call (602) 864-7847.

Driving Lender Savings with iRepo

Baseball and automobiles have been around for just about the same length of time. And for most of their histories, the two were dominated by “old-school” thinkers, who used their eyes and their guts to make decisions.

But over the past 15-20 years, baseball has undergone a statistical revolution. Spotlighted in the book and movie, “Moneyball,” there is a new way of evaluating teams and players; a way that is based on statistics and data. Now, that way of thinking has come to the automobile repossession industry, allowing auto lenders to use statistics and data to determine who the best resource to recover defaulted collateral is.

“Removing the human element and using facts and data are prime examples of how iRepo, one of several products offered by MBSi, is able to save auto lenders an incredible amount of time and resources,” said Jeff Rau, the product’s System Sales Director. By using the robust functionalities included in the iRepo assignment distribution portal, lenders can choose to have repossession assignments automatically assigned to the highest-performing recovery agent in that area without having to lift a finger. 

AUTOMATIC ASSIGNMENT PROCESS

Old-school baseball teams looked at subjective areas like a player’s build and how the bat sounded when a player hit the ball. New-school baseball teams look at objective areas, like how many wins a player gives or costs his team over any other player. Like those new-school teams, iRepo provides lenders with the opportunity to make sure that new repossession assignments are placed with agents that have the best chances to recover the collateral, using the lenders’ own set of ranking criteria, removing emotion and gut instinct from the equation. This process is done systematically, with iRepo automatically assigning orders to the highest-ranking agent in the lender’s network, whether it be to a forwarding company or directly to a repossession agency. “The rankings are unique and customizable, based on each lender’s own internal scorecards,” Rau said.

If the recovery agent is in the field, the process is completed even faster. In that case, the assignment is instantly available for the agent to review, accept, and begin working. And when recoveries are completed, the system sends an automatic notification to the lender, which makes it easier and more efficient for the lender to send out notices of intent. This is especially important in states where notices have to be sent within 24 hours of recovery. Speed has always been a critical component in the recovery process, and anything that helps repossession agents work faster is always a good thing. It’s in that line of thinking where Rau highlighted that agents can further streamline their recovery and assignment management while still in the field with MBSi’s Repo Ninja product. Repo Ninja is the industry’s first mobile application designed specifically to help manage assignments in the field, and is fully integrated with the overall MBSi platform, including iRepo.

LENDER TIER TRANSFER

iRepo’s automatic assignment process streamlines a lender’s recovery operation, thereby reducing costs and improving efficiencies. But it also helps improve recovery rates beyond making sure that assignments are placed with the agents most likely to recover the collateral.

Lenders can establish a timeframe for each agent to work an assignment, and in the event the agent is not able to recover the vehicle, MBSi’s iRepo automatically closes the assignment and transfers it to the next highest-ranking agent in the lender’s network. Like a calendar alert, agents are even given an automatic 24-hour notification in advance that the assignment is due to be closed, which actually sometimes sparks an increase in recovery rates.

While the time savings may not sound like much on an individual assignment, when added up across all of the lenders’ repossessions, the time, and money, saved, can be massive, said Rau. “The savings really start to add up when you consider how many vendors each lender works with,” he said.

ENSURING COMPLIANCE

Along with automatic assignments, “MBSi’s iRepo can also help manage and approve vendors to ensure the highest levels of compliance,” Rau said. In today’s world of increased regulatory scrutiny, having a more robust compliance management system is a definite plus, especially when that process is automated. Agents can upload copies of their documents and paperwork directly into iRepo and then the lender can review and approve them. When licenses or other items are set to expire, the system can send notifications to notify all parties about the pending expirations. This component of MBSi’s iRepo helps lenders save money by requiring that the agents and vendors upload the documents; the lenders do not have to do any additional work other than to review and approve what is uploaded.

AVOID DOUBLE DATA ENTRY

iRepo’s integrations with other major software and technology providers in the space help lenders remain compliant and cuts down on the frequency of information being re-keyed into another system. For example, iRepo’s integration with RDN allows for a seamless transmission of information and assignments between the two systems, eliminating the need for auto lenders and vendors to enter assignments into both platforms.

“Regardless of whether lenders are using a direct or a forwarding model to manage their repossessions, iRepo presents a significant cost-saving opportunity,” Rau added. So even though some lenders may choose to use different methods for evaluating their recovery agents, MBSi’s iRepo is the best option for making the process as efficient and cost-effective as possible. And that is a great opportunity for someone to hit a home run. As Michael Lewis wrote in “Moneyball”: “People in both fields operate with beliefs and biases. To the extent you can eliminate both and replace them with data, you gain a clear advantage.” 

For more information about iRepo, please go to www.iRepo.com or call (602) 864-7847.

Repo Ninja Provides an Option for Less Expensive Hardware

The following is a guest column written by Alex Price.

Greetings from the Great State of Alabama, ROLL TIDE ROLL!!

The Team at MBSI recently released the Repo Ninja Product in both the Apple and Android marketplace. As I have stated in past writings, this product has impressed me from the start. I know you remember the days when updates were taken from hand written notes or from a recording. Then the back office had to transcribe them into updates for your client at great cost in time and resources! Technology in the form of laptops has helped us, and it took yet another leap with much more affordable tablets. Each of these great tools can be expensive and you always run into areas where WIFI just won’t reach. Repo Ninja is the bridge that will keep your office and field staff connected at all times with more effective communication, not just for your business but for your clients, and all from a simple smart phone!

From an owner’s perspective, Repo Ninja has raised a few questions in regards to the type and cost of equipment that is currently being used in the field. An above average laptop and stand could easily cost over a thousand dollars; your better tablets run in the vicinity of between three to five hundred dollars. However, most agents already have a smart phone, and enabling it to run Repo Ninja is very easy. In essence, your agents already carry the least expensive piece of hardware your company will ever acquire.

Repo Ninja also opens the door for an agency to increase their service level by:

• Allowing an agent to take their data to the door with them for contact purposes
• Utilizing voice to text updates to ensure accuracy of updates
• Staying in compliance by eliminating documents in the field that may contain sensitive PII data
• Expanding a service area by allowing access to agents in remote locations using smart phones
• Utilizing features to provide real-time photos, updates, and recovery documents
• MBSi hits a home run with this product and its goal to help reduce cost for agencies across the county. Both small and large organizations will find great value and efficiencies using this low cost, high output mobile application available for both Android and iOS platforms. This is just the start for this product, and let me tell you the sky’s the limit on where it can go from here.

I have heard that adding skip-tracing tools is on the horizon. This will be a great advantage to the person in the field if they can do some simple skip-tracing while at a location. It could very well be the difference between securing collateral or coming back to the lot empty handed, which no one likes to see. If I were still active in day to day operations of my skip company, this would be a must have to secure more profits!!

Until Next time… Be Blessed, Be Safe and Happy Hunting!

Alex Price is a nationally-recognized expert on the Art of Skip Tracing. Currently he is the Executive Vice President for MasterFiles and author of Skip Tracers National Certification Program, The Florida Records Guide, The Military Installations Guide and blogger with over 25+ years of experience in skip-tracing, collections and public speaking.
Alex Price has become a highly sought-after speaker in the auto recovery, bail enforcement and financial service industries. He combines old school skip-tracing methods with new age cyber-tracking technology to equip attendees with tools that he gained through invaluable experience. He balances the hard facts about skips with just the right amount of humor and a touch of southern charm.

Contact Info: Alex.Price@MasterFiles.com.

Office: (972) 735-2353.

Fax: (972) 735-2354

Increased Due Diligence Offers Golden Opportunity to Repossession Industry

Wayne Gretzky is considered to be the greatest hockey player of all time. Noted for his offensive abilities, Gretzky still owns more than 60 records even though he retired more than a decade ago.

What made Gretzky great was his ability to anticipate; to be one or two moves ahead of everyone else on the ice. A favorite saying of his was, “A good hockey player goes to where the puck is at. A great hockey player goes to where the puck is going to be.”

Anticipation is about more than getting lucky. It’s a function of preparation and understanding. Gretzky understood that better than his competitors; as have many companies. Those who were able to see where society was headed and understood how those changes were going to affect their business, and adapted themselves to those changing times.

Repossession agents are currently facing an environment in which those who are the best prepared and most adaptable will be the ones who thrive.

Recently, a pair of federal regulators – The Office of The Comptroller of the Currency and The Federal Reserve Board – issued guidance to financial institutions regarding their use of third-party service providers. The guidance reminds financial institutions of the risks associated with using third-party service providers and the importance of managing those risks effectively.

The repossession industry has been inundated with these kinds of omens in the past. Our goal is to help fight through the hyperbole and rhetoric and give agents a clearer picture of what to expect.

Those companies that take the time to develop an intelligent response (instead of doing their best impersonations of Chicken Little) will be the ones who win the day. Those companies that win will have taken the time to think and act in the smartest way possible.

The repossession industry can expect to see the following, as banks and auto lenders interpret and implement the new regulatory guidance.

• Increased due diligence. Repossession agencies can expect more thorough evaluations, both at the start of a business relationship as well as on an ongoing basis. This includes more detailed reviews of the agency’s financial condition and the policies and procedures that they have in place for various practices, such as information security, HR, and insurance coverage.
• Larger lenders will likely be more thorough in their evaluations of potential service providers. Every agent wants to land that whale of a client, like a captive or a national bank. But institutions of that size will likely have far more comprehensive requirements and inspections than smaller lenders, which work with fewer service providers.
• Performance-based incentives and compensation. The fees paid by a financial institution to a service provider should be tied to the performance of the work completed by the service provider. Repossession agents may see more of the items in their scorecards – like days to recover or the frequency of updates – appearing in their agreements.
  As 2014 progresses, repossession agents should expect more questions and requirements from their clients. While the guidance does not carry the full force and effect of a law or regulation, the current regulatory climate is such that auto lenders can ill afford to be accused of not managing their risk profiles appropriately. Lenders will look to this guidance as the standard by which they must operate, and repossession agents should prepare accordingly.

  The agents that do the best job of preparing for this increased due diligence will be those who conduct a thorough review of their operations and who work with the industry to develop a standard and uniform response. Too often, these kinds of industry-wide developments have been met with resistance and knee-jerk responses that are short-sighted and cause more harm than good in the long run. Working as one industry rather than individual companies will help everyone meet this new challenge.