Repo Industry Gathers at NARS
At the North American Repossessors Summit (NARS) held in Denver, Colorado, on June 21 and June 22, a gathering of close to 500 repossession agents, collections and recovery managers from an array of industry service providers convened to discuss a variety of issues of concern to the industry.
The two-day event was hosted by the American Recovery Association (ARA) and included presentations given by executives from the finance community and repossession agents.
In one panel discussion led by three executives in the finance community expected repossession volume to rise in the coming months. One from a California credit union noted a need to increase loss reserves due to upcoming market turbulence in the next 9 to 12 months. Another highlighted that due to the unpredictability of the economy, that the credit card market could be a good predictor of what’s going to happen with repossession rates.
Three active repossession agents comprised another panel. Dave Kennedy, president of ARA, focused much of his comments on the successes of the Repo Alliance, the grassroots funded lobbying organization based in Washington, D.C.
Starr Sawalqah, who runs Alpha Recovery in Phoenix, offered several recommendations to her fellow repossession agents. She insisted that agents “shouldn’t be afraid to be vulnerable” when describing their escalating costs to finance companies. But she emphasized that agents need to back up their claims with plenty of data to show just how much it costs to skip-trace a customer and repossess a vehicle.
James McNeil, the chief executive officer of Day Break Metro, which provides repossession, locksmithing and transportation services from seven lot locations in California, encouraged industry members to buttress their resources, including trucks, physical resources and their workforce.
He said, “We’re in an industry that’s going to be surprised by how much we’re going to be overwhelmed with assignments.”
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