ARA and PAR Meet on New Contract Issues

Take it or leave it does not mean you are being forced to sign or accept language in a contract. It means you have a choice.

In April, PAR, one of the nation’s largest repossession forwarders issued revisions to their agency contracts. Revisions that neither the American Recovery Association (ARA) nor Harding Brookes Insurance endorsed. Following a request to meet on this new contract, PAR was considerate enough to agree to meet with them on it.

Below is the ARA’s announcement of the results of this meeting which they characterize as productive.

ARA Members,

Part of being an ARA member means you always have an advocate working for you – ensuring you and your business are supported and protected to the maximum extent possible. This week, ARA board members Jeremey Cross, Patrick Dunleavy, Marcus Potter, and I met with some of the PAR leadership team: Jessie Herdrich, COO; Shannon Berry, Vendor Relations Manager; and Michael Fisher, VP Operations.

During our productive time together, we discussed the following:

PAR’s latest contract version 4/3/2023.
The fact that ARA and Harding Brookes Insurance Agency do not endorse PAR’s current contract.
Issues predominantly centered around contract language and how as it currently is written could pose harm to the agent network.
Storage being collected from lenders where 100% is not being passed on to the agents. They stated any collected storage is paid directly to agent and any quoted storage to their clients is paid to agent.
Administration fees that are being collected in cash at the agent’s lot and those fees being deducted from the agent’s service invoice. PAR stated they thought that was an old policy, but PAR plans take a closer look and report back.
PAR states 86% of their network has signed the contract as it is currently written (we believe many have not had an attorney review it).
ARA sees a need for education within the agent sector around contracts and how they should be handled prior to signing.
ARA recommends this and all contracts be reviewed by an attorney prior to any decisions being made that could potentially cause harm to the agent.
Take it or leave itdoes not mean you are being forced to sign or accept language in a contract. It means you have a choice.

We appreciate PAR being more than willing to meet with us. It was a positive meeting where everyone was able to be open and honest with the issues discussed. This was great first step in creating transparency for our sector while allowing clients the opportunity to explain their internal processes as to why things are done.

We have a follow-up call with PAR scheduled for the second week of July to go over our suggested changes to the contract. As always, we will keep you posted on our efforts and progress.

Vaughn Clemmons
ARA President