The American Repossessor

IRVING, Texas — For decades the recovery industry has flown largely under the radar. We don’t receive much attention — aside from disparaging and fictional “reality shows” — and prefer to keep it that way for our safety and our privacy.

Still, many within the industry estimate there are at least 2,000 professional recovery agents in the United States. More than 10 percent of these agents are members of American Recovery Association, a leading trade association in the industry.

Like most recovery agents, many members of ARA have seen their business dramatically slowed by the economy. The number of automobiles that were financed in 2009 and the last quarter of 2008 started the downward trend for the recovery industry.

Since the tax season always proves to be a slow time for our business, professionals in our industry have this factor as an additional challenge. Unfortunately, while the economy is enough of a burden to shoulder, it is also costing agents more money to do their jobs successfully. Privacy protection laws, debtors changing addresses at record levels due to lost jobs or foreclosures, fuel prices, etc.

It costs more money to do the same job — at the same fees.

While our friends in the auto, finance and lending industries aren’t seeing unprecedented profits either, they do seem to be more in control of their future than we are. Why? These industries have excelled where our industry hasn’t: They’ve been able to come together, use analytics to evaluate their industry, communicate their vision and impact special interest legislation.

Our Lagging Industry

Our industry is a family industry, with many agents running second and third-generation repossession companies. We didn’t go to a specialized “recovery training” school. We didn’t get a degree in recovery. We were trained by our families and learned about the industry over the dinner table and in trucks.

While this heritage makes us unique, it’s also created a reticence to change and adopt standardized business practices, as well as a mistrust of one another and, often, of clients.

The biggest casualty of this mistrust is our ability to unite. Our industry has seen several false starts at consolidation — many of which have been stalled because of disagreements over minutia. We haven’t effectively evaluated our industry, we haven’t come together as one and we haven’t been able to affect any legislative decisions that impact our industry.

Case in point, currently there is a bill in Congress that could put an end to subprime financing, capping financing at 15 percent. Lenders will no longer finance consumers who have bad credit, bringing auto financing to record low numbers. If we continue with the status quo, we will see our businesses pummeled yet again, with no recourse and no one to blame but ourselves.

Our inability to forge relationships within our own industry has prevented us from forming meaningful relationships with our clients. Over the last several years, lenders have come to understand that they need to be more engaged with their agents because they realize the importance of consistency and performance.

Communication between clients and agents is improving. Responsiveness is improving. There is a better understanding and, as a result, a mutual respect that is creating a productive, dynamic force. Lenders have taken an interest in our industry and our individual operations. We have an unprecedented opportunity to leverage this interest to create stronger relationships and more revenue for our members.

Prevail or Perish — The Choice is Ours

Our industry needs leadership in order to prevail.

The American Recovery Association has worked hard to forge relationships with lenders and industry technology providers — all for the benefit of its members. Our association recently lowered initiation fees to offer more recovery professionals in the industry the opportunity to benefit from our programs and initiatives.

Monthly e-newsletters, quarterly conference calls, monthly “best practice calls”, subsidized technology offerings and programs from best-of-breed providers like Digital Recognition Network, RDN, Dynamic and OPENLANE — all have created a strong foundation for our members to survive and thrive.

As an industry, however, we must do more.

In 2009, ARA funded the first association-agnostic industry conference. The North American Repossessors Summit created a place for all recovery professionals — regardless of association affiliation — to come together and address the challenges facing our industry.

This event marked a significant moment in the repossession industry and proved to be a remarkable success.  ARA believes in the potential impact this event can have on our future.

As such, on March 13 and 14, ARA will host the second annual North American Repossessors Summit. This two-day summit will provide attendees with a full program of insightful, forward-looking topics lead by key industry leaders.

While we believe the summit is a huge step in the right direction, we must do more. As an industry, we must find a way to come together into one united association. As we look to the future, this is our industry imperative.