GUEST EDITORIAL
We are just a family run agency with one location in the California market. Pre-Covid-19 we were a pretty busy shop with great employees, nice offices and a lot that holds around 200 vehicles which was full most of the time.
Currently, we have laid off all employees except my wife, my daughter and myself. The three of us were already working owners of each facet of the business; office, lot and field operations so we did not miss a beat staying open. Even though our business has been cut by 75%, with mostly empty offices now and a lot only half filled, we are very blessed to be able to still eke out a living during this unprecedented time when others are wondering where their next dollar is going to come from.
This raises the million-dollar question…where are the so called “leaders” in our industry? You all know who, what companies and what associations I am talking about. I am talking about the people, associations and companies we see at all the different industry events. Yes, the very companies, associations and their representatives that we give our hard-earned money to every month or year for software or membership in their “club”. The very people who want us to trust them because they have the loudest voices and claim to have all the answers. Well, I have not heard from nor seen any of these people, companies or associations since our industry has basically shut down over Covid-19…not a peep.
The associations (local and national) wonder why their membership is shrinking…now you have the answer. None of the associations have publicly put forth any type of plan or advice to help their membership. Sure, they may have links to the CDC or The Cares Act PPP on their websites, but that is it. My local association has rendered itself non-existent with its lack of engagement with it’s repossession agencies. There are many, many agencies in my state that will not join my local association because of the poor leadership and lack of engagement. The same is true for the national associations. Who wants to give money or belong to an irrelevant association that really does not have their back? I am just saying what everybody is thinking and will not say it out loud.
Now let me tell you about the people and companies we have heard from. It will surprise you to know that the people and companies that have stepped up during this crazy time, not only stepped up, they stepped up quickly with real help and advice. It will also surprise you to know that the companies that did step up were the companies that our industry has been villainizing and complaining about for years.
The very first company to step up and help was DRN…yes, the “evil” DRN. Tracy Harleson called me up at the very beginning of this pandemic and advised me that DRN was going to defer all April camera kit payments for their affiliates. If you have just one kit or many kits as we do, this was a pleasant and needed surprise given nobody knew how any of this was going to play out. For DRN to defer millions of dollars’ worth of payments from its affiliates showed me that they were in this for the long haul and really wanted to help the affiliates. Just a few days ago Tracy called me again and said that DRN was also deferring May payments for all affiliates as well. Not only are they deferring at least two months of payments, they are still sending out the residual checks for all the scanning from previous months. From my company to DRN: THANK YOU!
The second company or more accurately companies we heard from were the forwarding companies…yes, the “evil” forwarding companies. ALL of the major forwarding companies including Primeritus, PAR, ARS, CARS, Resolvion, Millennium, Roquemore and UAR stepped up their operations when it came to invoices and payments. They were very perceptive that they needed to pay quicker and loosen up the invoice process so not to decline invoices for technical reasons. These quicker payments and looser invoice guidelines helped their agent networks with needed cash flow in these uncertain times.
The third and final company we heard from was our insurance company…yes the “evil” insurance company. Harding Brooks has been awesome during this crazy time. They reached out to us and gave us great advice about removing trucks and camera cars off the policy if they were not being used not to mention their assurance that they are there for us if we need anything during this pandemic.
When all of this is over, we all need to think about our business relationships and coddle the ones that were there for us when we really needed them and re-think the ones that were not. It is really disturbing to me that our so called “leaders” have let us down during a time when we really needed to hear from them. Maybe it is time for new “leaders”? This industry will be changed forever after this pandemic. Some agencies will weather it and some will not…only time will tell.
A Concerned California
Repossession Agency Owner
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