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	<title>jpatrick &#8211; FALCON INTERNATIONAL </title>
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	<description>The World&#039;s Leading Repossession Agency</description>
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		<title>Given A Bunch of Doors to Knock in the Repo Process?</title>
		<link>https://falconrepo.com/2014/given-bunch-doors-knock-repo-process/</link>
		<pubDate>Thu, 02 Jan 2014 16:30:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[jpatrick]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[TFA&#8217;s &#8220;Ask The Repossession Professional&#8221; Series:  Alex Price         Given Multiple Addresses To Work? Asked to  Make Contact With References? &#160; Question:  Alex, our agents are reporting that they are starting to get multiple addresses from the client to check,...<br /><a class="read-more-button" href="https://falconrepo.com/2014/given-bunch-doors-knock-repo-process/">Read more</a>]]></description>
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<div align="left"><strong>TFA&#8217;s &#8220;Ask The Repossession Professional&#8221; Series:  Alex Price</strong></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;" align="center">      <span style="color: #800000;">  <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Given Multiple Addresses To Work?</strong></span></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #800000;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span">Asked to  Make Contact With References?</span></strong></span></span></h3>
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<p><em><strong>Question:  Alex, our agents are reporting that they are starting to get multiple addresses from the client to check, and in some instance, a list of references to doorknock, in order to determine the customer&#8217;s whereabouts in a repossession account. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong></strong></em><em><strong>What are some of the problems with doing this? </strong></em></p>
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<p><strong>Answer:</strong></p>
<p>It  is my opinion only, but any assignment that comes with more than one address (with the exception of a home and employment), you can pretty much assume the account has been skip-<em>guessed</em>&#8230;and not skip-<em>traced</em>.</p>
<p>Besides exhausting a lot of the repossessor&#8217;s resources, this poses additional legal risks; <em><strong>the more people you come in contact with, the more chances for third party disclosure to happen</strong></em>. And this is a big deal.</p>
<p><strong>There is more and more legislation that governs these types of contacts</strong>. For instance, the &#8220;No Disclosure Without Consent&#8221; Rule:  &#8220;No agency shall disclose any record which is contained in a system of records by any means of communication to any person, or to another agency, except pursuant to a written request by, or with the prior written consent of, the individual to whom the record pertains&#8221; [subject to 12 exceptions 5 U.S.C</p>
<p><strong>I believe this piece of legislation is currently a skip-tracer&#8217;s greatest nemesis in the marketplace today!</strong>  When you consider that this law can be violated simply by <em>perception</em> (eg.a badly placed phone message, leaving a business card displaying the collection agent&#8217;s company name on a front door, interaction with neighbors or co-workers, etc.), <em><strong>then almost any contact with anyone but the customer, taken within the course of a repossession-related investigation, could possibly result in a disclosure issue. </strong></em></p>
<p>With all that said, you can check any address for the collateral, <em><strong>but if contact is going to made with anyone that is not signed on the contractual obligation, I strongly suggest you only have your most experienced people handle this task</strong></em>. It is always better to be safe than sorry especially in today&#8217;s &#8220;regulation nation&#8221;.</p>
<p align="center">***********************************************************</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs068/1104030179650/img/49.jpg" width="188" height="188" name="ACCOUNT.IMAGE.49" align="left" border="0" hspace="0" vspace="0" /><strong><em> Alex </em></strong><em><strong>Price</strong> is formerly a collector for a major captive lender, and is currently a respected leader in investigator skiptracing processes and techniques. </em></p>
<p><em> </em></p>
<p><em>He is </em><em>the vice president of  <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001RpIP_u5KbxWuU00xXyMfc3Pdd7Eo-4ugupbLGu2dOd5aFpwUY3qH653_rU__UxKhOIkxcysv9di4ahqlbSskJRSluKHamzvyNtRZNofeOpw=" target="_blank" shape="rect">Masterfiles,</a> a database popular with private investigators, collectors and repossessions. He also teaches skiptracing through online webinars on a regular basis. You can contact him <a href="mailto:alex.price@masterfiles.com" target="_blank" shape="rect">here</a></em></p>
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		<title>Illegal for Auctions to Pick Up Voluntary Repossessions in Florida&#8230;.Is That Fair?</title>
		<link>https://falconrepo.com/2013/illegal-for-auctions-to-pick-up-voluntary-repossessions-is-that-fair/</link>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Jul 2013 21:03:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[jpatrick]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[As of July 1, 2013, it is officially a crime (third degree felony) for an unlicensed person to pick up a voluntary repossession in the state of Florida (Florida Statute 493.6120). The upshot of this is that it is illegal...<br /><a class="read-more-button" href="https://falconrepo.com/2013/illegal-for-auctions-to-pick-up-voluntary-repossessions-is-that-fair/">Read more</a>]]></description>
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<p>As of July 1, 2013, it is officially a crime (third degree felony) for an unlicensed person to pick up a voluntary repossession in the state of Florida (<a href="http://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2011/Chapter493/All"><span style="color: #3366ff;">Florida Statute 493.6120</span>)</a>. The upshot of this is that it is illegal for an auction or transporter or any other entity to pick up a vehicle from a consumer&#8230;by law, has to be done by a state-licensed repossessor.</p>
<p><a href="http://falconrepo.com/assets/Snapz-Pro-XScreenSnapz008.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-388 alignright" alt="Snapz Pro XScreenSnapz008" src="http://falconrepo.com/assets/Snapz-Pro-XScreenSnapz008-300x298.jpg" width="300" height="298" srcset="https://falconrepo.com/assets/Snapz-Pro-XScreenSnapz008-300x298.jpg 300w, https://falconrepo.com/assets/Snapz-Pro-XScreenSnapz008-150x150.jpg 150w, https://falconrepo.com/assets/Snapz-Pro-XScreenSnapz008.jpg 317w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a></p>
<p>Is this unfair? Since it’s a voluntary, doesn’t it make sense for an auction or transporter to pick up a proverbial &#8220;sitting duck&#8221; and save the creditor a little money?</p>
<h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000000;">The simple…and realistic…answers are “no” and “no”. In fact, this new legislation makes perfect sense. <em>And here’s why</em></span><span style="color: #000000;">.</span></h1>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">1.) Voluntaries Can Be Dangerous.</span></strong> Several high profile cases have occured which either the debtor or the repossessor were killed or injured during the course of a voluntary repossession (for example, see: <span style="color: #3366ff;"><a title="Repossession Violence" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/22/repo-men-violence-big-lenders-auto-repossession_n_1354673.html"><span style="color: #3366ff;">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/22/repo-men-violence-big-lenders-auto-repossession_n_1354673.html</span></a></span>). Its clear that voluntaries should be handled by not only licensed repossessors, <em>but ones specifically trained on the issues of breach of peace, and ones that have extensive experience in properly handling potentially volatile situations</em>. <strong>(note: members of one national trade association, Time Finance Adjusters, have undergone extensive training in Situational Awareness Training/Conflict Avoidance Techniques, in preparing for situations that could turn hostile)</strong>. Even benign-looking repo accounts can blow up at the scene. All this is way beyond the scope of any training received by a typical auction transporter.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>2.) The Term “Voluntary” Can Be Inaccurate</strong></span>. Virtually every seasoned repossessor can tell stories on how they were sent out on a voluntary based on a conversation between the debtor and the creditor where the debtor said <em>“come out and get your #&amp;% car</em>” .  These so-called voluntaries often involve hours talking down a still-fuming debtor who is raging about the creditor, or about the dealer, or about the car itself.  Between missed appointments and conflict management at the point of repossession, they can be very time consuming.  The truth is, debtor cooperation extends over a continuum, so from a legal standpoint, it makes sense that voluntaries are viewed the same as self-help repossessions in the eyes of the law.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>3.) Voluntaries Pose Legal Risks To The Lender</strong></span>. A transporter contacts a neighbor to ask when Mr. Jones might come home with his Hyundai…he’s here to repossess it (<em><span style="color: #3366ff;"><a href="http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/illegal-debt-collection-practices.html"><span style="color: #3366ff;">violation of the FDCPA</span></a></span>)</em>.</p>
<p>Or the customer forgets to remove her tag, and later finds out the auction threw it away instead of holding it for 45 days<em> (a violation of <span style="color: #3366ff;"><a title="personal property" href="http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&amp;Search_String=&amp;URL=0400-0499/0493/Sections/0493.6404.html/"><span style="color: #3366ff;">personal property laws</span></a> </span>in several states, or DMV laws in others).</em></p>
<p>Or a drunk neighbor gets involved and an altercation occurs; only later the bank discovers in deposition that the transporter has a criminal history<em> (lender would be responsible under<span style="color: #3366ff;"> <a title="EEOC" href="http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/arrest_conviction.cfm"><span style="color: #3366ff;">federal EEOC rules</span></a></span>)</em>.</p>
<p><strong>We don&#8217;t denigrate transporters at all. They know their field better than we do</strong>. But conversely, we live and breathe these issues everyday. Let’s face it, even the best transporters or a tow service are not going to know the intricacies of state or federal laws regarding the repossession process. They don&#8217;t receive training regarding dealing with debtors. And, for the most part a criminal backround check is unnecessary in their business. They don’t come under the review and enforcement of government agencies that want to police this incredibly risky collection practice.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">4.) Voluntaries Can Be Ultimately More Expensive.</span></strong> A transporter is not going to know the UCC Section 9’s view of “accessions” (<span style="color: #3366ff;"><a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/9/article9.htm"><span style="color: #3366ff;">UCC 9-102</span></a></span>), and is not going to intelligently challenge the debtor’s onsite removal of stereos or aftermarket rims…<em>which is a discussion trained repossessors have with debtors almost every day.</em> (In fact, knowing in advance when a repossession will occur increases the likelihood the debtor will want to remove items that legally should be part of the collateral). <a href="http://falconrepo.com/assets/Snapz-Pro-XScreenSnapz007.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-385" alt="Snapz Pro XScreenSnapz007" src="http://falconrepo.com/assets/Snapz-Pro-XScreenSnapz007-300x200.jpg" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://falconrepo.com/assets/Snapz-Pro-XScreenSnapz007-300x200.jpg 300w, https://falconrepo.com/assets/Snapz-Pro-XScreenSnapz007.jpg 533w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a></p>
<p>Where&#8217;s the savings by getting the repossession done for $100 less, but having the vehicle do $1,000 less rolling through the auction lane on 4 “donut” tires, or with a hole in the dash?</p>
<p>The State of Florida believes it is important to license and regulate any individual or company that interacts with the customer in the repossession process, under any terms. The state recognizes that even in the best case scenario, a voluntary repossession carries an element of both legal and physical risk for those involved, and should be handled on someone with training and a license to do so.</p>
<p>We think America’s lending community ought to feel the same way.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Risk Management&#8230;.or Damage Control? How the Repo Industry Will Change Under the CFPB</title>
		<link>https://falconrepo.com/2013/risk-management-or-damage-control-how-the-repo-industry-will-change-under-the-cfpb/</link>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:18:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[jpatrick]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://falconrepo.com/?p=358</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The CFPB and Your Recovery Agent…Are Things Finally Going To Change? The acronym CFPB has been in countless emails, blogs, webinars, and magazine articles. We are seeing it in Credit Union online magazines, BHPH Car dealer magazines, and memos issued...<br /><a class="read-more-button" href="https://falconrepo.com/2013/risk-management-or-damage-control-how-the-repo-industry-will-change-under-the-cfpb/">Read more</a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2 align="center"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>The CFPB and Your Recovery Agent…</strong></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Are Things Finally Going To Change?</strong></span></h2>
<p>The acronym CFPB has been in countless emails, blogs, webinars, and magazine articles. We are seeing it in Credit Union online magazines, BHPH Car dealer magazines, and memos issued by banks, online articles by creditors-rights attorneys, and every repossession-related seminar. Its <em>everywhere</em>.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://falconrepo.com/assets/Unknown1.jpeg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-371" title="Unknown" src="http://falconrepo.com/assets/Unknown1.jpeg" alt="" width="297" height="170" /></a>Judging by the actions the CFPB has taken so far, third-party service providers are not initially going to <em>directly</em> governed (or fined) by CFPB …the <span style="color: #000000;">creditor is</span></strong><span style="color: #000000;">.</span> But the bureau is making it clear that they are holding the creditor liable for the actions of any of their third party service providers.</p>
<p>A stunning example is from a recent memo by the CFPB, where they intend to hold the creditor responsible for improper mark-ups or discriminatory rates in an indirect auto loan….even if it was a sketchy car dealer who did it!</p>
<p><strong>And so far, the biggest CFPB fines against the banks have been a result of the actions of third party service providers</strong>.</p>
<p>In July, the CFPB forced Capitol One to refund $140M to consumers, and fined the bank an additional $25M, for the actions taken by a outside vendor selling identity-theft protection and debt forgiveness policies for CapOne’s credit cards.</p>
<p>CapOne attorneys tried to make the case that the alleged misconduct was attributable to third party vendors who failed to adhere to Capital One’s “sales scripts and sales policies for payment protection and credit-monitoring products’. The government didn’t buy it, and lowered the boom on them.</p>
<p>This past September, Discover Bank was forced to refund $200M to consumers, and pay an additional $14M penalty, again for hiring a third-party marketing firm that sold products in a deceptive manner.</p>
<p><strong>So far, the CFPB has been targeting the actions of a creditor’s vendor more  than the creditor itself.</strong></p>
<p>An article in the American Banker from April 4th, 2013 said <strong>“Vendor risk management is indeed the most pressing challenge in financial operations risk management today</strong>.”</p>
<p>One of the suggestions in the article was that not all third-party vendors be viewed the same. The question of “Do they have contact with the customer?” being one of the criteria, and needs special consideration.</p>
<p><strong>Wow, possible contact with the customer? Doesn’t an auto repossessor have an unparalleled opportunity to have “contact with the customer?</strong>” Both <em>verbal</em> contact, but in a worst case scenario, potential <em>physical</em> contact with a consumer as well? One would think that a auto repossession process would boost a creditor’s “special consideration” to astronomical levels.</p>
<p>Think about it…thanks to Section 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, repossessors have a right to enter onto a consumer’s property, at any hour of day or night, and seize a vehicle or other collateral without consent. <strong>The potential for conflict in this, the riskiest “collection practice” allowed in the US, is enormous</strong>. Risk management should be “Job 1”.</p>
<p>For most of the professionals in the repossession business, risk management has long been “Job 1”. In the past few years, we seen some auto lenders take a “its all about the money” approach to their repossessions, with bargain-basement prices trumping “due diligence”.</p>
<p>Now the CFPB is evidentally targeting wayward third party service providers, there is finally a renewed interest on the part of auto lenders to know this question: Who exactly is representing us in the consumer’s driveway at 2am in the morning?</p>
<p>This renewed interest no surprise to us. Thanks to so-called “reality&#8221; TV shows like Operacion Repo, banks and credit unions can see watch in real-time what a repossession-gone-wrong could theoretically look like. Or how it might be played on the evening news. Or, what might have to be explained to federal investigators. &#8220;Yes, our bank hired&#8230;<em>that</em> guy&#8221;.</p>
<p><strong>We also understand that the CFPB will be driven By Consumer Complaints</strong>. The CFPB has built an online interface for the American public to log complaints about any lending institution or their service providers. On March 28, 2013, the CFPB website announced:</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong><em>&#8220;Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) goes live with the nation’s largest public database of federal consumer financial complaints, opening up to consumers across the country information on more than 90,000 individual complaints on financial products and services&#8221;.</em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong><em>“By sharing these complaints with the public, we are creating greater transparency in consumer financial products and services,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray at a field hearing in Des Moines, Iowa, where he announced the expansion of the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database. “The database is good for consumers and it is also good for honest businesses. We believe the marketplace of ideas can do great things with this data.”</em></strong></p>
<p><strong>Will there be complaints about the repossession process?</strong> Sure. Lots of them.</p>
<p>From our experience, almost every repossession produces at least some sort of consumer complaint. There&#8217;s the famous “Rolex in the glove box”, or “your tow truck scraped by driveway”. Then there&#8217;s“the bank promised to give me more time”. We’ve all heard them all. In order to keep themselves out of the CFPB&#8217;s complaint-driven crosshairs, <strong>creditors are going to have to use agencies that will <em>minimize</em> the number of credible complaints.</strong></p>
<p>Let’s go beyond consumer <em>complaints</em>…and talk about consumer <em>protection</em>. We mean that literally…<strong>consumer protection.</strong></p>
<p>How much exposure and responsibility does the lender have in <em>literally</em> physically &#8220;protecting the consumer&#8221; in the repossession process. A whole lot, it seems.</p>
<p>This is from an article in the Huffington Post, March 2012:</p>
<p><span style="color: #993300;"><strong><em>“</em><em>(News) accounts</em><em> indicated there were at least 16 shootings and five deaths stemming from repossessions in 2011. Often it was the repo man who was hurt. In 2009, the same year Jacobs died, two Alabama repo agents were shot and killed. In some ugly cases, you might blame the ill will of debtors. In others, the carelessness of bad-apple agents. In many cases, however, industry insiders trace the problems back to decisions by lenders at the top. According to insurers, lawyers and longtime repo agents, the big-time financial institutions as a group are paying less than ever to have vehicles recovered in the event of default.</em></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #993300;"><strong><em>In the minds of many repo agents, the penny-pinching by lenders has pitted them against one another, as reputable firms struggle to do the job on thinner margins and less-reputable agents willingly take on the cheaper work.</em></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #993300;"><strong><em>“This is where the recession and the finance world come right into the front yard,” says Kevin Armstrong, a former repo man who is now a collections manager and runs CUCollector on the side.”</em></strong></span></p>
<p>So we might laugh off a debtor lying about the Rolex in the glove box, or having $5,000 cash in the center console. But no one is laughing about injuries or deaths in the repossession business. <em><strong>This takes the need for consumer protection to a whole new level.</strong></em></p>
<p>Why a sudden surge in repossession-related deaths and injuries? We think it’s a series of things.</p>
<p>Years ago, virtually every creditor would have direct interaction with their recovery agent. Through that, they would gauge a sense of the agencies competencies. But now days, some larger creditors assign accounts through fourth-party aggregators called &#8220;forwarders&#8221;. One of the downsides of this relationship was that the creditor had no direct interaction with their repossessor, and thus no longer knew WHO was representing them in the consumer’s driveway at 2:00am. And since these forwarders were purchasing and reselling their services largely based on price, <em><strong>many of the more experienced repossession agencies wouldn&#8217;t work under the terms or fees offered by many of the forwarders. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Many still don’t.</strong></em></p>
<p>IOne more change happened. Not only did this arrangement create a lack of transparency that would have allowed the creditor to know their recovery agent&#8230;..then the forwarders added a new dangerous component. They wanted to assign repo accounts on a  “Contingent basis”.  No repo, no fee.</p>
<p><strong>In some endeavors, taking work on a contingent basis makes sense.</strong> An attorney stands to collect 30% of a settlement;  a debt collection firm might charge 25-30% of their successful recoveries.</p>
<p>These repossession assignments were not offered that kind of contingent work; forwarders were offering contingent fees that were LOWER that what were previously understood to be &#8220;standard&#8221;.</p>
<p>In an online article, Ed Marcum, a spokesperson for RSIG (an insurance group who insures repossession agencies) said <span style="color: #993300;"><em><strong>“A lot of the violence is strictly due to the fact that they have to get cars,” he said. “There’s a lot more risk. You have guys out here now, if they’re not successful, they donʼt eat. There’s no doubt in my mind that the contingency adds a lot of liability”.</strong></em></span></p>
<p>Long before all this recent discussion about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the National Consumer Law Center published a white paper called “Repo Madness: How Auto Repossessions Endanger Owner, Agents, and the Public”.</p>
<p>At the center of this article was a particular forwarder, who at the time was working for many of America’s larger banks. The document detailed many of the deaths and injuries associated with their recovery processes, and outlined how their low pay, and contingent offerings, resulted in their amassing a network of undertrained, overworked and desperate repossession agents&#8230;and that this army of desperate repossession agents resulted in these deaths and injuries.</p>
<p>The Huffington Post article also quoted Joe Taylor, a former banker, and now an educator and trainer for the repossession industry.</p>
<p><span style="color: #993300;"><em><strong>“Taylor described an industry wrenched by falling revenue and rising business expenses: “The costs of operating a professional collateral recovery business have increased drastically with $60,000 tow trucks, higher wage rates, fuel costs over $4 a gallon, expensive secure storage facilities, computerized offices, high-end key machines, rising insurance premiums, damage free auto ‘entrance’ tools and other expenses”</strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #993300;"><em><strong>At the same time, revenue has fallen, as prices for repossessions have been driven down by low-ball competitors that “failed to maintain the proper recovery insurance, provided no training to agents, used inferior equipment, had improper storage for collateral and personal property,” Taylor wrote.</strong></em></span></p>
<p>Low fees, offered on a &#8220;contingent basis&#8221;,  to underfunded and unprofessional agents results in a deadly mix. There is currently a tremendous attrition rate of repossession agencies, the majority of whom failed while trying to survive working for the forwarders on that basis.</p>
<p>It was, and remains, a system that relies on repossessors who essentially can’t balance their own checkbooks. It reminds us of the “Darwin Awards”,  a tongue-in-cheek honor society; as Wikipedia puts it “people self-select themselves out of the gene pool” due to their own “(unnecessarily foolish) actions”. You pay peanuts, you get monkeys.</p>
<p>There’s good news and bad news in all of this.</p>
<p><strong>The good news is the CFPB’s enforcement is going to force anyone in the repossession vendor-supply chain to be more professional</strong>. They will need have adequate insurance, to be without a relevant criminal record, to have proper facilities, to be a type of agency that has developed proper employee manuals, disaster recovery plans, and one that commits its staff to ongoing continuing education. The public will be safer, and America’s banks and credit unions will have a smaller target painted on the outside wall of their institutions. All that is good, and much needed.</p>
<p><strong>The bad news is that repossessions are going to be more expensive</strong>. There’s a couple of reasons why.</p>
<p><strong>One is the cost of compliance.</strong> Compliance costs for a repossession agency can be huge. To be vetted by a compliance company can be from $2k to $20,000 or more. <em>And that’s only to certify the compliance has been met.</em></p>
<p>The <em>actual</em> compliance involves increasing computer and premises security…everything from software costs to locking cabinets to better fencing….to new demands for training and credentialing. These demands threaten to sweep away the repossessors whose main selling point was price. A lot of them are already gone.</p>
<p>It is good news is that something is redirecting the discussion from <em><strong>price</strong></em> to <em><strong>qualifications</strong></em>. And why not? <em><strong>What other collection practice has the potential of death or physical injury to the consumer or the creditor’s contractor?</strong></em></p>
<p>For many years, when an auto lender has contacted a professional recovery agency, the two questions asked were a.) “what do you charge?” and b.)  “will you send us a copy of your insurance policy”?</p>
<p>No one asked about the agency&#8217;s experience in the industry, or their certifications or training. No one asked about their commitment to continuing education, or if they participated in a national trade association.</p>
<p>It was odd (and sad)  that one of the few requested credentials was an insurance certificate. <em>This is a document that would only be meaningful AFTER something catastrophic has occurred.</em></p>
<p><span style="color: #993300;"><strong>That’s not risk management…that’s damage control.</strong></span></p>
<p>If an auto lender wants to use a professional agency, by definition they are going to have to use legitimate agencies with secure brick-and-mortar facilities, with secure computer systems, and one that employs intelligent agents that are committed to legitimate training and continuing education.</p>
<p><em><strong>By default, these are NOT going to be the cheapest agencies out there</strong></em>.</p>
<p>Those that have championed professionalism in this industry are glad to see the winds of change blowing in this business….even if driven by the federal government.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Five Things Your Repossessor Won&#8217;t Tell You</title>
		<link>https://falconrepo.com/2012/what-your-repossessor-probably-wont-tell-you/</link>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Sep 2012 17:06:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[jpatrick]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://falconrepo.com/?p=301</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#160; There are things your repossessor thinks and knows, abilities and capabilities they have, that he or she simply isn&#8217;t going to tell their client. Here&#8217;s some of them: 1. &#8220;I really could come up with a lot more information...<br /><a class="read-more-button" href="https://falconrepo.com/2012/what-your-repossessor-probably-wont-tell-you/">Read more</a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>There are things your repossessor thinks and knows, abilities and capabilities they have, that he or she simply isn&#8217;t going to tell their client. Here&#8217;s some of them:</p>
<p><strong>1. &#8220;I really could come up with a <span style="text-decoration: underline;">lot</span> more information <em>that would help you recover your car.</em>&#8221;  </strong></p>
<p><strong></strong><em>You would not believe the information available to us repossessors!</em>  Databrokers try and sell their systems to us repossessors at our conventions all the time.  And most of us repossessors subscribe to them. <em>We are using the exact state-of-the-art databases the skiptracers are using&#8230;the same ones.</em></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">We have access to this information, but we&#8217;re not using them on some of <em>your</em> accounts.</span></p>
<p>Why not?</p>
<p><strong>The reason: this information is expensive. </strong>If the repossessor doesn&#8217;t get paid &#8220;skip fees&#8221; for locating a new address, or doesn&#8217;t get paid &#8220;close fees&#8221; on accounts that don&#8217;t result in repossession, <em>they are not going to hit these databases on your accounts</em>.</p>
<p>Its not unusual for a repo agency to run up a tab with, let&#8217;s say, Accurint,  for hundreds, or thousands of dollars. When a client won&#8217;t pay close or skip fees, it disincentivizes the repossessor to invest money on working difficult accounts. He will simply &#8220;kill&#8221; the address and wait for the client to come up with better information.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s kind of an inside joke, really. Many of us (myself included) are licensed private investigators, and given a decent incentive, <em>could</em> come up with the exact same information that you&#8217;re paying Mr. Skiptracer $350.00 to get. But nobody is willing to pay us $50 or $75 to get the same information.</p>
<p>(Some clients think that repossession agencies will make this investment to boost their chances of getting a repossession out of the deal. <strong>Spoiler alert:  they don&#8217;t.</strong> Or at least for long.  Just check the recovery statistics of &#8220;contingent&#8221; and &#8220;non-contingent&#8221; agencies to see how this actually plays out. If you pay a close fee, more of your cars will be recovered).</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>2. &#8220;I&#8217;m Not Who You Think I Am&#8221;.</strong>  These dumb repo shows really have done a number on the public perception of the repossession industry. We&#8217;re not toothless ruffians in wife-beater t-shirts.</p>
<p>The fact is if a client attended a convention of a national trade association like Time Finance Adjusters, or ARA, they would be surprised who they met.  <strong><em>They would meet their peers</em>.</strong></p>
<p>Many (perhaps most, at this point) of those that run repossession agencies had their start in the collection departments of a bank or credit union, or one of the captives like FMC. Many had been law enforcement officers, or as stated above, successful private investigators. Many are involved in local charities, churches, or civic organizations.</p>
<p>This industry has now been maturing for decades, and the top tier of recovery agencies are well run businesses, lead by business professionals.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>3. &#8220;Yes I Do Work for Forwarders&#8221;.</strong>  Yep, some of the better repossession agencies actually do work assignments for some of the big forwarders.</p>
<p><em>The secret is that these accounts aren&#8217;t worked in the same fashion as &#8220;direct accounts&#8221;</em>.</p>
<p>These forwarders all-but-say &#8220;hey, this is filler work. Run these addresses when you are in the area&#8221;. Often the repossessor later discovers he&#8217;s the second or third agent to work this account. And so, some repossessors will take this work on, but will only swing by these wrung-out accounts address when in the area. &#8220;Filler work&#8221;.</p>
<p>Gee whiz, I&#8217;m not a financial genius, but if I were a banker and I had one of my $20,000 cars sitting out there somewhere, I wouldn&#8217;t want some repossessor viewing <em>my</em> account as &#8220;filler work&#8221;.  I&#8217;d want someone to devote enough time and effort to actually safely recover my car.</p>
<p>Ask most repossessors that work for the big forwarders, and you&#8217;ll learn that they don&#8217;t give forwarders their best efforts, due to low fees paid, and due to low quality of the information provided.</p>
<p><strong>4.)&#8230;And When I Do Work for Forwarders, I Get A Lower Percentage of Their Cars</strong>.  So much information gets lost in the process when routing a repo account through a big forwarder!  There&#8217;s stuff that the collector knows about the debtor (&#8220;he bowls&#8221;&#8230;.or, &#8220;she&#8217;s separated from her husband&#8221;&#8230;or, &#8220;we think the kid is actually driving the car&#8221;) that we <em>never hear</em> when the account is part of a portfolio of accounts dumped in the forwarders &#8220;in box&#8221;.</p>
<p>Don&#8217;t take my word for it.  Ask any repossessor who works for a large forwarder about the loss or corruption of valuable information as it passes through third party hands. Cars are lost in the process.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>5.) I Really Do Care About Your Customer.</strong>  Repossessors are people, too. This recession has made debtors out of the best of people. Most professional repossessors I know don&#8217;t have to warned to treat your customer with dignity and respect&#8230;.its part of our nature. The people we are dealing with have already been through the wringer by their credit card companies, mortgage companies, and other bill collectors.</p>
<p>There is a saying attributed to Plato, the Greek philosopher: &#8220;Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle<strong>&#8220;.  </strong></p>
<p><strong>Its a good thing to keep in mind in this volatile, sometimes hostile business .</strong></p>
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		<title>Skiptracing, Bankruptcy, and Spiritual Collapse</title>
		<link>https://falconrepo.com/2012/skiptracing-bankruptcy-and-spiritual-collapse/</link>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:19:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[jpatrick]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://falconrepo.com/?p=279</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#160; In the past two years, I have gotten more and more involved in skip- tracing debtors…working various sources to locate people with the intent of repossessing their cars. Fewer and fewer cars are being found at the last-known address...<br /><a class="read-more-button" href="https://falconrepo.com/2012/skiptracing-bankruptcy-and-spiritual-collapse/">Read more</a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>In the past two years, I have gotten more and more involved in skip- tracing debtors…working various sources to locate people with the intent of repossessing their cars. Fewer and fewer cars are being found at the last-known address provided by the creditor, and more and more repossession accounts are looking like CSI investigations. Its been kind of weird.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>I have noticed something extremely interesting, and maybe a bit scary.  </strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Invariably when I discovered that someone had filed <strong>bankruptcy</strong>, within a few months either prior to that filing, or shortly thereafter, the subject would have filed for <strong>divorce</strong>. I suspected there were societal and perhaps spiritual reasons for this connection.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The repossession-related implication of this is that we have to double the number of addresses we’re looking for the car; we don’t know who has it, the soon-to-be-ex-wife or the soon-to-be-ex-husband. I have to admit, that on that point I often resort to “gender profiling”.  If we’re talking about a Toyota Sienna van, I’ll look for the wife; if it’s a Ford F550 with a dump bed, I’ll look for the husband. Sorry, but this lack of political correctness saves us a lot of time and fuel.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>So, what is the connection between concurrently filing for bankruptcy and filing for divorce?</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://falconrepo.com/assets/Alex.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-297" title="Alex" src="http://falconrepo.com/assets/Alex.jpg" alt="" width="201" height="251" /></a>This morning, I asked my good friend and skiptracing expert Alex Price of Masterfiles about this. He said “I am finding that in the last 18-24 months, the wear and tear of financial woes are causing more and more divorces.  It goes back to caveman days…if you can&#8217;t provide a kill, you&#8217;re less of a man&#8221;.  He adds  “marriage is the unforeseen victim of the failing economy. I teach people in my skiptracing classes to look for a bankruptcy right off the bat, since that might be a sign of a divorce&#8221;. And thus the need to look to <em>both</em> spouses <em>at different addresses</em> as potentially being in possession of the car.</p>
<p>I was floored when I heard that…that my <em>suspicions</em> about this connection had <strong><em>already become part of Skiptracing 101</em></strong>. Bankruptcy and divorce go hand in hand.</p>
<p>I went online, and saw hundreds of websites that verified this….attorney websites that specialize in either divorce or bankruptcies or both, that verify the two are intertwined.  Some firms advocate doing both at the same time.</p>
<p><strong>Why is this happening?</strong></p>
<p>Although marriage counselors will tell you that financial problems are one of the leading causes for divorce,<em> that is really only shorthand for deeper issues</em>.  Yes, couples do fight over expenditures. It surfaces the differences between “savers” and “spenders”, surfaces problems with “his money/her money” marriages, and produces power struggles between bigger/smaller breadwinners in the marriage. It brings to light failed financial risks that one of the spouses did not approve of.  <em>But the real fight is in the hearts and minds of the individuals in the marriage.</em></p>
<p>Financial disaster feeds insecurities in the marriage.</p>
<p><strong><em>“I’m not smart/educated/positioned enough to pull this off”</em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em></em></strong><strong><em>“It’s going to be humiliating losing the house”</em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em>“I’m not the man (or woman) I thought I was. This is humiliating”</em></strong></p>
<p><em><strong>&#8220;This guy&#8217;s not going to be able support me and the kids after all&#8221;</strong></em></p>
<p>And deep-seated insecurity draws people into the “escape” of extra-marital affairs, substance abuse, gambling…all roads which end in the cul-de-sac of divorce. It not just the fighting about the money that damages marriages…it’s the putting the knife into the confidence of the marriage partners, causing them to act our in all sorts of self-destructive (and marriage-killing) ways.</p>
<p><strong>There is an additional spiritual component</strong>.  Regardless what some media might report, America is still a highly “religious” nation. Gallup Poll recently reported that 9 out of 10 Americans believe in God, and that over 43% of Americans attend church on a regular basis*.</p>
<p>One of the prevailing religious beliefs in Protestant camps (think “700 Club”) is the so-called “prosperity gospel” or a variant of it…..it promotes the idea that God will reward the faithful in this world with cars and boats and whatever to show off how much He loves his children.</p>
<p>So went an adherent of this “Prosperity Gospel” sees Falcon’s repossession agents drive off with his Mercedes, or she sees the foreclosure notice posted on her home’s front door, he or she starts to lose a grip on a faith that also historically provided safety nets around their marriage. Its like REM said…they are “Losing (Their) Religion”. And losing their marriage in the process.</p>
<p>As a repossession agency owner, a private investigator, and a skiptracer, I have to admit I am finally coming up to speed on the complexities surrounding the rising occurances of simultaneous bankruptcy and divorce filings, and thinking through both the reasons and the implications.</p>
<p><em>*this is not an anti-religious rant.  Author is one of these 43%.</em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>No Resolution Fee?</title>
		<link>https://falconrepo.com/2012/no-resolution-fee/</link>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Jul 2012 19:29:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[jpatrick]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://falconrepo.com/?p=269</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#160; I don&#8217;t get it. I really don&#8217;t.  Some creditors don&#8217;t want to pay close fees. I believe their argument is that they want to &#8220;pay for results&#8221;.  To that I would say &#8220;investing $50 in diesel fuel to check...<br /><a class="read-more-button" href="https://falconrepo.com/2012/no-resolution-fee/">Read more</a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>I don&#8217;t get it. I really don&#8217;t. </strong></p>
<p><strong>Some creditors don&#8217;t want to pay close fees.</strong> I believe their argument is that they want to &#8220;pay for results&#8221;.  To that I would say &#8220;investing $50 in diesel fuel to check an address you provided IS a <strong>result</strong>&#8220;. Also as a private investigator, even  &#8220;killing&#8221; an address as being no longer valid is also a <strong>result</strong>. And, surfacing information where the customer might have gone is a<strong> result</strong>.</p>
<p>So even refusing to pay close fees really cuts the legs from under otherwise intelligent investigative efforts that would be made at the best possible address that you, Mr Creditor, has on file. I know clients would like to <em>believe</em> that repo guys do all this fancy CSI investigative services for free on each deal. Spoiler alert: <em>they don&#8217;t</em>.  And the creditor is losing lots of their $10,000 cars in the process.</p>
<div></div>
<p><strong>And now some clients won&#8217;t pay resolution fees</strong>. Those are the cases where the repossessor makes such an valiant effort that the customer winds up <strong>paying the account current</strong>. The creditor actually has the best case scenario&#8230;customer still in the car, account UTD, no hassle in selling the repo&#8217;d car for a loss, all that. Creditor wins! Victory dance!</p>
<p>Wait a second&#8230;.now you&#8217;re not going to reward this effort?  Isn&#8217;t that the American way?</p>
<p>It was the repossessor&#8217;s efforts that hauled hundreds or thousands of dollars back into the creditor&#8217;s coffers. That service actually should be worth the same fee as an actual repossession.  But they get <em>nothing? </em></p>
<p><strong>Guess how much effort not-so-stupid repossessors are going to devote in resolving their accounts? </strong></p>
<p>They&#8217;re going to drive by a few times, that&#8217;s it. If the cars in the driveway, and contact might result in a non-paying &#8220;close&#8221;, the repossessor is going to keep rolling, and hope for a repo&#8230;maybe&#8230;..on another day.  Meanwhile the account rolls towards being a charge-off.</p>
<p>No door knocks. No extra skip tracing.  No extra effort&#8230;.at all.  In fact, the client has set up a system that penalizes the repossessor for giving them the best possible outcome.</p>
<p>How is that good for anyone?</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>The CFPB Is Coming To Town, And They Might Get a Little Grumpy</title>
		<link>https://falconrepo.com/2012/the-cfpb-is-coming-to-town-and-they-might-get-a-little-grumpy/</link>
		<pubDate>Wed, 30 May 2012 17:31:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[jpatrick]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://falconrepo.com/?p=252</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Back in April, the government issued this statement: &#8220;The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today released a bulletin clarifying that financial institutions under Bureau supervision may be held responsible for the actions of the companies with which they contract. The...<br /><a class="read-more-button" href="https://falconrepo.com/2012/the-cfpb-is-coming-to-town-and-they-might-get-a-little-grumpy/">Read more</a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Back in April, the government issued this statement:</p>
<p>&#8220;The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today released a bulletin clarifying that financial institutions under Bureau supervision may be held responsible for the actions of the companies with which they contract. The Bureau will take a close look at service providers’ interactions with consumers. It will hold all appropriate companies accountable when legal violations occur.</p>
<p>“Consumers are at a real disadvantage because they do not get to choose the service providers they deal with—the financial institution does,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Consumers must not be hurt by unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices of service providers. Banks and nonbanks must manage these relationships carefully and can be held accountable if they break the law.”</p>
<p>The bottom line is that the first targets for the bureau will be Big Banks, and according to this memo, <strong>their vendors and service providers</strong>. And, thanks to TV shows like &#8220;Lizard Lick Towing&#8221; and &#8220;Operacion Repo&#8221;, they certainly might suspect that  most &#8220;unfair, deceptive and abusive&#8221; service providers are found in the repossession industry.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Its hard to find an example when the federal government intervenes in an industry and it turns out with a storybook ending. However if the CFPB sets the rules of the game,<em> the legitimate brick-and-mortar repo agencies will come out ahead.</em></p>
<p>I was speaking with a friend in the transport business who picks up cars from service providers for the big forwarders (the ones working for the soon-to-be-targeted big banks).  &#8220;These guys would <em>never</em> pass a site inspection&#8221;, my friend said, &#8220;most of these people don&#8217;t even HAVE sites!&#8221; If the CFPB inspectors check the actual end-provider of Santander&#8217;s repo supply chain, for instance, it would mean in some cases they&#8217;d be rustling through the glovebox of the repo man&#8217;s F550 to check his &#8220;filing system&#8221;, and stepping over cow-patties to inspect his &#8220;secured storage facility&#8221;.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Even the modest-sized industry-based forwarders (Summs Skip &amp; Collection, Skipco, Transnet, TCAR, for example) would fare well if CFPB inspectors checked their vendor supply chain, because these industry-based forwarders tend to use &#8220;real&#8221; agencies, most of whom would easily pass muster with the bureau regarding data security and general &#8220;consumer protection&#8221; procedures.</p>
<p>I could be reading the tea leaves wrong (not the first time), but it would seem that the most effective way for the larger lenders to assure themselves that they are dealing with &#8220;safe&#8221; repossession service providers is to <strong>do continual &#8220;due diligence&#8221; inhouse, </strong>or<strong> use a forwarder that uses legitimate service providers.  </strong></p>
<p><strong></strong>It might spell the end of the era &#8220;cheap repo guy&#8221;&#8230;.because legitimate service providers are the ones that are certified, have proper storage facilities, years of experience. And typically those are the best&#8230;.<em>but not necessarily the cheapest</em>&#8230;.</p>
<p>Is there a change in the wind?  It won&#8217;t be long before we see&#8230;&#8230;</p>
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		<title>The Clipboard</title>
		<link>https://falconrepo.com/2012/the-clipboard/</link>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Mar 2012 20:12:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[jpatrick]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://falconrepo.com/?p=227</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Interesting time at the recent industry-wide repossession conferences called NARS (North American Reposssessors Summit). There was a cross-section of the many players in the industry….big banks, captive finance organizations, repossessors, forwarders, insurance companies, ALPR camera companies. They were all there....<br /><a class="read-more-button" href="https://falconrepo.com/2012/the-clipboard/">Read more</a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Interesting time at the recent industry-wide repossession conferences called NARS (North American Reposssessors Summit). There was a cross-section of the many players in the industry….big banks, captive finance organizations, repossessors, forwarders, insurance companies, ALPR camera companies. They were all there.</p>
<p>One of the more interesting (and chilling) discussions was by an attorney , Michael Dougherty of the law firm Weltman, Weinberg and Reis. This huge firm specialized in “creditors’ rights”, so generally they represent the lender side of the equation. <strong><em>What the creditors in the room heard shook them up a bit, to say the least.</em></strong></p>
<p>Atty. Dougherty forewarned all about the implications of the impending Consumer Financial Protection Bureau… this 600-lb. government gorilla will have a free hand to reach out and jerk the chain of any auto lender pretty much at will.  And one of the triggers for this chain-jerking will be the <strong><em>CFPB’s insistance of compliance regarding information handling up and down the entire supply chain.</em></strong></p>
<p>What’s the big deal?</p>
<p>Many of the larger forwarders and even regional repossession agencies have met SAS-70 compliance regarding information handling<em>…..in their office!</em></p>
<p>Now what the banks are hearing is that the actual repossessor in the field might be the weakest link in the security chain…the proverbial clipboard on the front seat of the tow truck containing a treasure trove of confidential, non-public-personal-information.</p>
<p><strong><em>Leaving a clipboard of hardcopy repo assignments on the counter at Waffle House would violate a stack of federal laws, and the creditor will be responsible, facing the feds and potentially getting slammed with huge fines.</em></strong></p>
<p>It was dawning on the creditors at the NARS event that their assigning accounts through one of the troubled “forwarders” meant that their uber-confidential-land-youself-in-federal-court-information is in the hands of….well, <em>who the heck even knows?</em> They don’t. All they knew was that they were getting it done at the right price.</p>
<p>It means that the creditor has to make sure that the guy in the driveway is a smart repossessor who knows the law, not some repo newbie that the forwarder found from a Craigslist ad. And &#8220;smart repossessors&#8221; and &#8220;cheap repo guys&#8221; aren&#8217;t often found riding in the same cab of a tow truck.</p>
<p><strong>Bankers, auto lenders, repossessors, and forwarding companies: welcome to the new world of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.</strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Muzzling the Ox</title>
		<link>https://falconrepo.com/2012/muzzling-the-ox/</link>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:30:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[jpatrick]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[&#160; There is an old Jewish proverb: &#8220;Don&#8217;t muzzle the ox that treads the corn&#8221;.  Although the meaning might be obscure, a little reflection on this adage yields its wisdom: do not shortchange a key component of your endeavor&#8217;s success.  Sure,...<br /><a class="read-more-button" href="https://falconrepo.com/2012/muzzling-the-ox/">Read more</a>]]></description>
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<p>There is an old Jewish proverb: <strong><em>&#8220;Don&#8217;t muzzle the ox that treads the corn&#8221;. </em></strong></p>
<p>Although the meaning might be obscure, a little reflection on this adage yields its wisdom: <strong>do not shortchange a key component of your endeavor&#8217;s success. </strong></p>
<p>Sure, the farmer was the &#8220;brains of the operation&#8221;, but he desperately needed the skills and abilities of the brawny ox to pull the plow. And a <em>well-fed</em> ox was properly fueled to sweat, and pull, and work harder to bring in a bigger yield. Conversely, a hungry ox would eventually help produce smaller yield, and results in a hungry farmer and his hungry family.</p>
<p><strong>This is a great metaphor for the repossession industry&#8217;s interaction with their clients.</strong></p>
<p>Listen, I talk with tons of repossessors every day.  All day long.  And what I hear is interesting.</p>
<p>An agent might say <em>&#8220;this client doesn&#8217;t pay very well, so I work their assignments as filler work&#8221;</em>. Or <em>&#8220;these are contingent accounts, so I only work them when I&#8217;m in the area&#8221;</em>.  Or, <em>&#8220;this client sends me crap work, so I don&#8217;t devote much effort to &#8217;em&#8221;.</em></p>
<p>In the repossessor&#8217;s mind, this makes perfect sense.</p>
<p><strong>But if these accounts actually represented a bunch of $8,000 cars owned by a client, would this client want their accounts viewed as &#8220;filler work&#8221;?  <em>Are you kidding me?</em></strong></p>
<p>Why is this happening? It is based on the assumption that we&#8217;re a lot more stupid than we actually are. Some clients believe that most repossessors lack the business acumen to balance a checkbook, and somehow the repossessor will invest <em>herculean</em> efforts on accounts that might produce <em>zero gain</em>.</p>
<p>Come to think of it, what business person…even one with modest business skills….would do that for any length of time? None would. Would plumbers or landscapers or construction workers show up for work if they knew they were only going to get paid for a fraction of their hours, based on factors entirely out of their control?</p>
<p>None would.  None do.</p>
<p>Repossession clients will defend themselves by saying <strong><em>&#8220;we only pay for results&#8221;</em>.</strong></p>
<p>The repossessor can say <strong><em>&#8220;checking a bad address <span style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span> provided is a result&#8221;.</em></strong></p>
<p>Why does any one of us think we can escape conventional wisdom? That somehow old maxims like &#8220;you get what you pay for&#8221; don&#8217;t apply in the parallel universe of a collection department?</p>
<p>This system of assigning repossession work on a contingent (or low-pay) basis is starting to show its cracks, by producing low recovery ratios that are being noticed and documented.</p>
<p><strong>Low recovery ratios can be tied to poor performance by field agents&#8230;..and poor performance can be tied to poor (or stupid) incentive strategies. </strong>Like the Yiddish proverb, you have to properly feed a key component to your success.</p>
<p>Repossessors are not going to invest money (fuel, time, energy) into working accounts that won&#8217;t yield any reward. They are a lot smarter than you might think.</p>
<p>And even an ox knows when it is working hard, and not getting fed.  <em>But really at the end, it is not just the ox that goes hungry. </em></p>
<p>It&#8217;s that simple.</p>
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