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Plaintiffs’ Lawyers, Deep Pockets and Legal Theories

When a repossession goes bad, a plaintiff’s lawyer will try to use every available legal theory against every available deep pocket. Take a look at this example from a recent case.

Tramelle Thompson sued Gateway Financial Services, Inc. and a repossession agency and its employees for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Illinois’s repossession statute, for negligence, and for “willful and wanton behavior” in connection with the repossession of Thompson’s vehicle.

The claims against Gateway were based on the theory that Gateway was responsible for the actions of the repossession company. Gateway, which had a security interest in the vehicle, moved to dismiss the repossession, negligence, and willful and wanton behavior claims. Read the rest of this »

From the Editor

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future” JOHN F KENNEDY, 35^THPRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 29 MAY 1917 – 22 NOVEMBER 1963

For many repossession company owners, they are still facing tough economic times as repossession orders in many regions have been reduced by lenders, simply because our economy is not allowing consumers to purchase new vehicles. If lenders are not making the loans, then we are not able to carry out repossessions.

For many consumers, there has been a move to the second hand car dealers for their vehicle purchases, and for many repossession company owners, they been forced to close their doors and/or sell companies, because they have simply had enough! …more…

There has been a huge move from the towing industry looking to diversify their services into the repossession industry and provide both towing services and repossession services. Very similar some may say, but that is definitely not true in reality and Jeffrey Godwin, the Vice President of FTI Group Inc/towXchange Inc. twopartners &towpartners will give you a good insight into that via his featured article.

Many repossession companies will have recently experienced having to complete a RFI (Request for Information) from GMAC and I am sure some will have been baffled by some of the questions asked. Policies and procedures are key to not only the successful growth of your company, but in obtaining clients in the Fortune 500 arena too, and GMAC have set a pace that will definitely differentiate those repossession companies that provide all the vital infrastructure necessary to do business with them.

RFIs and RFPs (Request for Proposals) are typical in the way major conglomerates do business and they also aid their selection of suppliers, such as repossession services. Usually these are utilized for all sectors of their company, and play a great role in sorting ‘the wheat from the chaff’ i.e. the strong, quality, professional companies, from those that are not.

My article DO YOU REALLY UNDERSTAND HOW POLICIES AND PROCEDURES CAN GROW YOUR COMPANY? will give you an insight into this too.

Another huge change to the industry is the technology that is being used and LPR is definitely the ‘buzz’ word that has been on the lips of many repossession company owners and repossession field agents alike. Also, many clients are utilizing repossession companies with this technology, while others are still contemplating it. Read more about this In the Technology Section - Michael Gibb, the President of Fortum Corp, a Dallas-based company that utilizes license plate recognition technology to help recover defaulted collateral, has provided even more insight into this technology for you to review.

All the aforementioned shows you just how much our industry is changing and moving forward at a faster pace than most repossession companies can keep up with, but keep up with and surpass you must as this is what is necessary, if you are to stay in business and out-perform the competition around you. Do not under-estimate your competitors, as they are lurking – waiting in the wings for you and other repossession companies to make mistakes. They will pounce when you least expect them to – so be prepared!

Columns and Features

MVTRAC/National Creditors Connection, Inc. Alliance
By Susan Marston

Palatine, IL - June 30, 2011 MVTRAC has formalized a strategic alliance with National Creditors Connection, Inc. [NCCI], a field contact services specialist. As the newest member of the expanding MVTRAC Network, NCCI will assume on-site inspection responsibilities for the leading Recovery Industry ALPR technology provider.

NCCI, the nation’s leader in field contact services, specializes in customer contact and information gathering through personal face-to-face contact solutions. Comprised of a network of FDCPA trained and tested specialists, NCCI provides services to many of the nation’s premier banks and financial institutions. MVTRAC’s decision to outsource site inspections is a derivative of the continuous and rapid growth in demand for their patented ALPR system as well as their efforts towards establishing the highest compliance standards within the Recovery and Auto Finance Industries. …more…

Renovo Services Unveils New Corporate Brands
By Susan Marston

CHICAGO – Renovo Services, LLC, the vehicle transition industry’s most efficient single-source solution to the financial services industry, today unveils its new brands and corporate identity. Now each of the companies service offerings have a unique brand and identity. These brands now articulate to lenders that Renovo Services, LLC, can handle any or all of the delinquency process.

“Renovo Services’ work over the last four years has brought us to this place,” said Kevin F. Flynn, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Renovo Services, LLC. “Once a financial institutions’ customer fails to submit payment, Renovo Services can handle every aspect of the delinquency process. We can do collections with Compellum. If we are unable to collect the account, we will manage the repossession process through ACCIS Solutions. Then our proprietary Get Best Agent program will select the best agency in the area to conduct the repossession. This program may select Allegent Recovery, our 200 truck direct repossession company. If we are unable to secure the unit we can forward the account to Skip Pros, our 50 member team of skip tracers, for deeper investigation. …more…

Plaintiffs’ Lawyers, Deep Pockets and Legal Theories
By Susan Marston

When a repossession goes bad, a plaintiff’s lawyer will try to use every available legal theory against every available deep pocket. Take a look at this example from a recent case.

Five Simple, Do-It-Yourself, Online Marketing Strategies to Promote Your Recovery Business
By Susan Marston

If you are reading this article then you are acting proof that the web has become a place for gathering information about your business. This is true for collateral recovery agents and it is certainly true for their target market – the lending community. Ultimately, the lending community is made up of bankers and bankers are people who love to use technology to get things accomplished. You have seen them before, standing in line at the store reading email on their Blackberry or sitting at the coffee shop on their laptops or reading online articles on their iPad. The question for collateral recovery agents needs to be, “How can I market my services to lenders in a way that compels them to call me the next time they need to recover their default collateral?” …more…

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From the Editor

Columns and Features

MVTRAC/National Creditors Connection, Inc. Alliance By Susan Marston

Renovo Services Unveils New Corporate Brands By Susan Marston

Plaintiffs’ Lawyers, Deep Pockets and Legal Theories By Susan Marston

Five Simple, Do-It-Yourself, Online Marketing Strategies to Promote Your Recovery Business By Susan Marston

Keep Current

MVTRAC/National Creditors Connection, Inc. Alliance
By Susan Marston

Renovo Services Unveils New Corporate Brands
By Susan Marston

Plaintiffs’ Lawyers, Deep Pockets and Legal Theories
By Susan Marston

Five Simple, Do-It-Yourself, Online Marketing Strategies to Promote Your Recovery Business
By Susan Marston