The Sheriff’s Office has released a surveillance video of the theft in hopes that “someone will recognize the truck in the video and realize that someone they know has a ‘new’ travel trailer and was in the Middleburg area at the time of this incident,” according to a news release.

The travel trailer was repossessed Feb. 14 in Callahan and taken to a storage lot on County Road 218 West in Middleburg. On Tuesday, the vehicle was discovered missing.

A surveillance camera at a business on the other side of the two-lane highway captured a light-colored pickup truck being driven onto the lot, hooked up to the travel trailer and pulling it off the lot.

Related posts:

1. Attorney: Drop theft charges against repo man
2. “Stolen” truck was repossessed
3. Liberty Township man threatened to shoot repo men

A man with York Towing of New Haven who was sent to repossess a vehicle at 4 Reichelt Terrace was shot at about 1 p.m., according to police spokesman Lt. Andrew Cota. The victim told police a man came out of the house, argued with him over whether he had the right to take his car, then assaulted and shot him.

The victim sustained a non-life threatening wound to his knee, authorities said. He was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital for treatment, Cota said.

Police now have a husband and wife in custody and are trying to determine which one pulled the trigger.

“The husband says he did it. The wife says she did it,” Cota said.

No charges have been filed yet.

Police aren’t releasing the victim’s identity yet. Cota said the man is in his 30s.

Related posts:

1. Man charged in weekend shooting of Birmingham repo truck driver
2. Repo man shot 4 times, lives
3. Allegan County man who shot at repo agents taking his pickup called police to report it stolen

The Repo Man keeps collecting collateral.

Even though the economy is at a stand-still, local recovery businesses are cashing in on the banks’ recent surge in repossessions.

We talked with several repossession companies who say they’re up about 20-percent compared to last year.

And their business isn’t coming from the kind of people you may think.

It’s a job that’ll survive no matter the economic conditions.

But there are many misconceptions about the industry and how the job gets done.

Mission: travel trailer in Idaho Falls.

Their trucks roar to life and out the gates they go.

“There’s always going to be a percentage, always. That’s what keeps us in business,” explained Brad of Recovery International.

In the good times, people live above their means.

In the bad, sometimes they just can’t keep up.

And that’s where Brad comes in.

“Just because we’re there and at you’re door doesn’t mean that you have to be ashamed. This happens to everyone,” said

He says it’s not just the drug dealers and alcoholics he deals with but good-upstanding citizens.

And no matter who you are, he treats everyone with the same respect and dignity they deserve.

“In order to get into trouble, I’ve got to cause the problem because we make sure people know what’s going on and diffuse the situation before it even gets out of hand,” Brad said.

Brad believes shows like “Operation Repo” dramatize what really goes on while they’re picking up cars.

“We’re good guys in a bad industry,” he said.

The travel trailer wasn’t home.

So now to the Blackfoot area to repo a truck and Jaguar.

They find the truck, back in and get ready to grab and go.

Soon later, the man parted with his 1961 Jaguar too.

Down the road, they haul both to the East Idaho Auto Auction where inside the auctioneer hollers prices and car dealers throw out bids.

“Last week, we ran 62 repos and that’s double the number of repos we typically run in a week. And out of those 62 repos, we sold 59 of the repos. You can see not only was the supply increased but the demand was right there to support it,” Cade Rindfleisch, owner of East Idaho Auto Auction.

Although it comes down to strictly business, picking ‘em up and getting ‘em sold, a little bit of compassion comes along too.

“It breaks my heart when there’s a vehicle I have to pick up and there are three car seats in it. It absolutely breaks my heart. People say, “How do you do that?” Because I have to. That’s my job,” Brad explained.

Feeding his family,  making ends meet and just doing his job.

That mission: is accomplished.

Brad reminds folks if you’re trying to avoid your car being repossessed you’re just prolonging the inevitable.

And someone, somewhere down the line will eventually pick it up.

Brad says it can take 5 minutes, 5 months or even years to track down a repo.

But no matter the time it takes, they get paid the same flat rate every time.

Related posts:

1. Bank demands to repo Tamarack lifts, snow plow
2. Dealers Learn to Spot Potential Repos Early
3. Local Repo Man Always Gets His Car

This year’s version titled “The Future of the Recovery Industry: 2010 and Beyond,” is open to any recovery agency whether they’re members of the association or not.

The event that’s scheduled for March 13 and 14 at the Omni Mandalay Hotel in Irving, Texas, has several topics intended to inform agents of trends and spark dialogue, including:

—Economic Forecast from a Lender’s Perspective.

—Client’s View: Industry Needs and Outlook.

—How 21st Century Technologies Can Have a Positive Impact on Your Business.

—Data Insight: Using Analytics to Guide the Future of Your Business.

—License Plate Recognition Technology Best Practices From a User’s Perspective.

“We took ideas that guys should know as they’re running a professional business and let’s help each other be successful where we can,” explained ARA executive director Les McCook.

“I think when you do the first one (conference) the first time, you realize what you want to emphasize,” McCook continued. “I think that’s why these subjects were chosen. I wanted to dedicate a little more time to them and try to bring more people from other places, rather than just our own organizations to talk about them.”

The keynote address will be given by Thomas Dundon, chief executive officer of Santander Consumer USA, a company that provides full-spectrum auto lead and lending programs on direct and indirect platforms.

Also making presentation during the event will be Ken Shilson, founder of the National Alliance of Buy-Here, Pay-Here Dealers and president of Subprime Analytics. Shilson will be sharing his organizations’ independent scorecard about performance trends and other metrics regarding repossessions and recovery agencies.

Summit attendees will have a chance to win several raffle prizes — including a tow bed from Dynamic and a license plate recognition camera kit donated by ARA.

The cost of the event is $95 per person. The association pointed out that all net proceeds will be donated to the Recovery Agents Benefit Fund maintained by RSIG.

“Message of industry unity — that’s my number one goal. This industry can be united and there’s value in it,” McCook stressed.

“Working with the clients, there are two sides to this industry. The agents can’t address or fix issues alone. They need to know the concerns from the other side. It takes two. There are reasons to work together to make things better,” he concluded.

Related posts:

1. 2009 North American Repossessors Summit DVDs are now available!
2. ARA Predicts Fewer Repos This Year
3. North American Repossessors Summit – Irving, TX

For instance, Fran Cavenaugh found that keeping close track of a customer’s payment behavior within the first six months is crucial to mitigating losses when repossession becomes necessary.

“They set a pattern for you for the most part,” explained Cavenaugh, who is chief financial officer of the Cavenaugh Auto Group, a company based in Walnut Ridge, Ark., that’s operated franchise stores since the late 1970s and ventured into the BHPH industry in 1993.

“Within the first six months of that contract, if they don’t perform and it’s just one problem after another, they can’t make payments, can’t keep their promises, one issue after another, we’ll repossess the vehicle when they’re in default,” Cavenaugh continued. “We have found that if you repossess the vehicle as early as they’ve demonstrated they won’t or can’t pay, then our collateral is worth more.”

The formula has worked well enough for the group that Cavenaugh indicated that current repossessions are little bit below the level seen in the last couple of years. She attributed a local economy in northeast Arkansas that’s remained a little bit more stable than in other parts of the country as one factor. The other elements are closely monitoring payments at the outset of the contract as well as working with customers if a rough financial patch comes up.

“We are seeing customers not so much losing their jobs; they’re getting their hours cut,” Cavenaugh shared. “We’re working with those customers to keep them in the vehicle. If we’re having to carry them past due but we know they’re able to catch the payments up, we can do things like that.”

“The vast majority of these customers are honest, hard working people who live paycheck to paycheck and don’t know how to manage money,” she continued. “That’s why they’re in the predicament they’re in.”

Wanting to capture more subprime customers is why Joe Cooper Ford decided to open BHPH dealerships three years ago. Chief operating officer C.W. Evans noted that the company’s five Ford stores spread out throughout Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Okla., already worked with plenty of subprime customers, but some still had to be turned away.

However, now the two new operations of Joe Cooper Easy Credit Auto are able to work solely with credit-challenged customers. The company utilizes many of the same business principles that govern its franchise rooftops. A significant part of the group’s business plan is dedicated to managing repossessions.

“We didn’t forget that part of it when we did it (rolled these stores out). We budgeted for 25 percent repossessions,” Evans revealed.

So far, the operation has kept repos below that percentage.

“We have a lot stricter guidelines for what they make and what they can buy,” Evans said.

Ken Shilson applauds dealer executives such as Cavenaugh and Evans for keeping up with repossessions as an important component to keeping a BHPH dealership from falling into the same financial hardship as their customers.

“There’s a saying I found when I first starting learning this business,” said Shilson, founder of the National Alliance of Buy-Here, Pay-Here Dealers and president of Subprime Analytics.

“Every customer in the buy-here, pay-here business has one advantage over the operator that’s selling them the vehicle,” Shilson continued. “It’s they know they’re not going to pay you before you do. So it’s a foot race to recover your collateral and mitigate the loss.”

What’s also helped BHPH dealers mitigate losses is a growing trend of voluntary repossessions. In his recent analysis, Shilson found that voluntary repossession constitute the fastest growing segment of repos in 2009. The worst recession in recent memory forced many customers into situations unforeseen when they entered into the contract.

“The reason for that is maybe they were working a job that when the purchased the car they had a lot of overtime or a lot of other income that was coming in an addition to their regular salary. They either lost that opportunity or they had that other income cut out. All of a sudden, they couldn’t make all of the payments and make their bills work,” Shilson explained.

Shilson cautions that as painful as repossession might be for a customer, it is a tool that a dealer must use when necessary rather than continually extending contracts and waiting for payments to come.

“The decision to repossess a vehicle or the decision to extend or modify (due dates) requires professional judgment. I don’t minimize that at all,” Shilson pointed out.

“But a lot of that professional judgment is based on a gathering of all the facts, a literal re-underwriting of that customer at the time of that decision,” he continued.

“If that customer really thinks he can resolve the default, then I think a re-underwriting needs to take place,” Shilson added. “But I’m against recurring deferral of payments without cash coming in. Your collateral is not increasing in value. It’s decreasing. To let a guy drive for free and let him drive it into the ground, just increases your losses.”

Related posts:

1. Auto Dealers Have New Way To Fight Delinquent Payments
2. ARA Predicts Fewer Repos This Year
3. Could auto repos be next economic wave? Experts don’t think so

Mark Ross Pearce, 49, faces one count of felony-level terroristic threats. He is also charged with two misdemeanor driving offenses. Steven Ross Pearce, 22, is also charged with making terroristic threats.

They were both charged Monday and await arraignment on March 11.

According to a criminal complaint, a 32-year-old man and a 29-year-old man arrived at the Pearces’ 26511 610th Ave. residence at around 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

They began looking around with flashlights for the vehicle they were to repossess when a safety light switched on. At this point, the Pearces came out from a garage and began threatening the two men, according to the complaint.

The younger Pearce allegedly came forward with a German Shepherd dog while the older Pearce asked the men if they wanted to get bit. Mark Pearce also allegedly told Steven to go get a gun and threatened to shoot and kill both men.

The two men left on Interstate Highway 90 in their tow truck, but quickly noticed they were being followed, the complaint states. When the following vehicle got closer, they noticed it was Mark Pearce driving, and he was trying to side swipe them. The men were able to avoid the other vehicle and exit to a nearby truck stop.

When questioned by authorities later, Mark Pearce said that the two men claiming to be repossession agents in fact threatened him, the complaint states. He also said his dog was never aggressive toward them.

The younger Pearce concurred, and also said that he found it suspicious that anyone would come to repossess a car at such a late time.

However, both men said following the tow truck was the other’s idea.

Related posts:

1. Man charged after alleged fight with ‘repo man’
2. Repo man charged with menacing
3. Ex-deputy faces misue charges

West Chester Twp. police say Anthony J. Harvey, 44, of 890 W. Loveland Ave., showed up at 12:20 a.m. Feb. 25 to the Heritage Spring transitional care facility in the 7200 block of Heritagespring Drive.

Because of the hour, Harvey was prompted by Heritage Spring staff to state who he was via an intercom system, according to West Chester police Sgt. Joe Gutman.

Gutman said Harvey told staff he was a West Chester police officer and to let him in the building. In reality, he works for Cincinnati Auto Recovery, of Goshen, Ohio, according to reports.

Once inside, Heritage Spring staff were able to see Harvey was not a police officer, so they contacted the real authorities, Gutman said.

An arrest warrant for the fourth-degree misdemeanor charge of impersonating a police officer was issued for Harvey, and he turned himself in to the West Chester Police Department at approximately 9:30 a.m. Feb. 25.

Gutman said it was not known whether Harvey was attempting to repossess a vehicle from a resident of Heritage Spring or from an employee of the facility or whether he was successful in the attempt.

He is due in court next week.

Related posts:

1. Man Arrested For Impersonating A Police Officer
2. Elkhart repo man arrested for impersonating a police officer
3. Riggie pleads no contest to impersonating peace officer

The plate-recognition systems are also used heavily by police. And the system resembles nothing so much as a “Big Brother”-ish system of the sort Orwell would have appreciated.

Related posts:

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2. The Wired Repo Man: He’s Not ‘As Seen on TV’
3. North American Repossessors Summit Upcoming

“Every day were saying, “How can we keep this CUSTOMER happy?  How can we get ahead in innovation by doing this, because if we don’t, somebody else will”. Bill Gates, MICROSOFT

“There is only one boss – THE CUSTOMER.  And he can fire everybody in the company from the Chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else”.  SAM WALTON, WAL-MART

There is no doubt, that running a business subsumes most of our time and because it does, sometimes we forget that our whole existence is predominantly due to our customers.  And if you think any different,  you are so wrong!

No-one is owed a living and by that I mean, just because we are in the repossession industry or any industry for that matter,  and we may do a good job at providing the services we do, that we should automatically be given more work.  That is not how business works.  We have to earn that work.

I have been in earshot, many times, of company owners comments, feeling that it is their right that clients give them work, just because they are there.  NO!  That philosophy is a dangerous one to have.  You have to compete for that work, and even more so today, as there are so many repossession companies in the market place that are more than ready to step in and take your business, because you are not providing the client with what they need.

Many companies see the customer as a ‘thing’ that buys our services and that ‘thing’ also as numbers that give us our income.  We are so busy making plans to keep our customers away from our competitors, that do we really invest enough time and effort in finding out  who is our customer, a fellow human being that also plans and has expectations and needs that need to be fulfilled.

Let’s trade places.  We too are customers and we too shop for products and service in our daily lives, so let’s analyze ourselves as customers.

What would you have to say if someone that provided your company with services, that did not want to do the work as you needed them to?  My guess is, you wouldn’t put up with that and that you would not be doing business with them for long.

So why should your  customers feel any different?  Again, I hear so many comments from company owners saying they will not do this for the client, nor that,  but yet expect to be paid for the poor service they provide.  Now you step into the customer role and think about this.  If you had contracted with a company to transport vehicles, let’s say, and they were picking up half the load they were supposed to on several occasions, leaving you with vehicles that are taking up much needed space.  You call the company and they tell you, ‘oh yea sure, we will get them on the next few runs’, what would you do?

More food for thought.  There are many of my clients that have been approached by their competitor’s customers, asking them to do their business and the customer was not afraid to say that they had had a very poor service from  their competition.  Of course, my clients were very happy to do the business and the amount of work received, because they provide an extremely professional service, plus, they meet their customer’s needs, they make a profit in doing so,  and that is basically, all the customer wanted.  Simple really.

The Repossession Industry is a Service Industry and that means we provide services to our customers.  Customers have needs and you need to fulfill them – if you want their business that is!

“THE CUSTOMER IS KING” – a quote that has been around for a long time.  I did research it to see who actually said it and found it to be ‘UNKNOWN’.  But it is true, no matter how you look at it, as without the customer we simply have nothing.

Customer Service is vital to our success.  We should remember …”do unto others as you would have them do unto yourself…“  That phrase may be obvious in its meaning, but how many actually practice what we preach?

Remember this phrase too…”You will be judged by what you do and not what you say…”

Good Customer Service is the foundation and lifeline  of a successful business.  It costs an average of 15 times more to get a new customer than it does to service and maintain the satisfaction and loyalty of an existing customer.  This applies whether it is a small Credit Union, a national Bank, a global corporation or a forwarding company.  A Customer is a Customer!

Providing good Customer Service really IS a simple thing.

You should be providing all your  customers with the same Customer Service, and nothing less, even if some do not pay the same as others.  If you can’t do that, then perhaps you shouldn’t have those customers in the first place!

An example of this would be some repossession companies that have Forwarding Companies as customers.  There is such a distain by some repossession companies for this sector of the market in our industry, yet they still have them as clients.  If you don’t like doing business with them, then don’t!  That decision is in your control, as there is no-one forcing you to do business with them.

You should bear in mind that, of course there are good and bad customers in any industry and there are those in ours too, but that does not mean that all Forwarding Companies are the same.

In my experience of working with some of my client repossession companies, they have chosen not to work with certain Forwarding Companies, but are more than happy to work with others.

You can’t judge a book by its cover.  Not everyone is the same and this applies to the Forwarding Companies in our industry.  Just remember this – many financial institutions prefer to utilize Forwarding Companies, but they also send out business directly too.  If you treat ‘their business’ via Forwarding Companies with less importance just because you are not paid the same fee to that business sent to you directly by the same customer, don’t you think they notice that?  They do, as I have been told that directly by major financial corporations.

Forwarding Companies are not going to disappear in the near future, as more and more Financial Institutions/Companies move towards them, while other customers move away from them.

Our industry has changed over the past few years and the Forwarding Companies have been a new phenomenon that have managed to enter our market place, because they identified a need to provide a service to the financial sector, that obviously, for one reason or another, the Financial Sector were not getting previously.

Your Customer Service, should reach out to ALL your clients, irrespective of how you get them or what fee you are paid.   If you don’t want to work for a lower fee, then don’t.  There is more than enough business out there for you not to.

Having said that, you should try to ‘think outside the box’ on this one, as subject to how your company infrastructure is set up, the quality of people you have in place, the training and knowledge  your provide to  your employees, you can still make money by servicing Forwarding Companies.  For those that say not, you need to look internally at how you run your company and the overheads and services you provide as that will count towards you possibly not making the profit that you feel you should.

The success of any business depends on the way it treats its customers.  Your relationship with your customers will reflect on the company’s bottom line.

CUSTOMER SERVICE is paramount for ALL your customers.  It is YOU that has the choice to make on who you serve and it is YOU that has to take responsibility for YOUR choices.

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March 13^th Conference & March 14^th Education & Training Classes

Hosted by American Recovery Association
Omni Mandalay Hotel, Las Colinas

AGENDA

Theme: The Future of the Recovery Industry: 2010 and Beyond

Friday, March 12^th

6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.             RDN Sponsored cocktail reception and Summit registration

Saturday, March 13th

7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.             Registration and Welcome Reception with complimentary continental    breakfast

8:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.             Welcome Address

Speakers: Les McCook, ARA & Jim Hall, Hall Recovery

Emcee: Michael Howk, RSIG

8:45 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.             Keynote Speaker: Economic Forecast from a Lender’s Perspective Speaker: Tom Dundon CEO of Santander Consumer USA

9:45 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.           Break

10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.         Data Insight: Using Analytics to Guide the Future of Your Business

Speakers: Mike Plue, Premier Recovery Service; Ken Shiltson, National Alliance of Buy Here Pay Here Dealers (NABD) & Shilson, Goldberg, Cheung & Associates, LLP

11:00 a.m. to Noon                 How 21^st Century Technologies Can Have a Positive Impact on Your Business Part I

Skip Tracing & Investigations

Speakers: Michele Stuart, Jag Investigations & Alex Price, MasterFiles

Noon to 12:30 p.m.                 Complimentary Lunch

12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.           How 21^st Century Technologies Can Have a Positive Impact on Your Business Part II

LPR Technology Best Practices From a Users Perspective with Q&A Speakers: Marc Weiss, Able Auto Adjusters; Patrick Logan, Atlantic Adjustment Bureau, Stamatis Ferarolis, Asset Investigations and Recovery

2:00 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.             Vital Elements for the Future Growth of Your Business

-Insurance Factors That Can Impact Your Business

Speaker: Ed Marcum, RSIG

-Field Agents: Certification and Training from the Ground Up

Speaker: Joe Taylor, Insurance Services USA, Inc.

-Association’s Impact on the Industry

Speaker: Les McCook, ARA

-Marketing Differentiation & Added Value

Speaker: Susan Marston, The American Repossessor & ConnecTGo, Inc.

3:45 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.             Survey (WG) / Break

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.             A Client’s View: Industry Needs and Outlook

Speakers: Terry Lang, Credit Acceptance Corporation; Andrew Carlstrom & Alison Aerts, Chase Bank; Andrea Johnson, Santander Consumer USA; Jake Freestone, Capital One

5:00 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.             Wrap-Up

Speaker: Jim Hall, Hall Recovery

6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.             OPENLANE Cocktail Party

Sunday, March 14th

8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.              ARA Sponsored Breakfast

9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.             Education and Training Classes

Related posts:

1. 2009 North American Repossessors Summit DVDs are now available!
2. North American Repossessors Summit – Irving, TX
3. ARA Predicts Fewer Repos This Year