A Very Important Letter from ARA President, Dave Kennedy –
To our partners in repossession, lending and forwarding:
We are failing – all of us.
Given the current state of economic affairs and the added pressure of COVID-19, our already struggling business model has become even more difficult to navigate. It seems that every day, there is a new challenge and we see many good repossession companies closing their doors, unable to keep up with the ever-increasing cost of doing business. The repercussions have shockwaves throughout the industry – lenders and forwarders alike are struggling to find quality adjusters who can produce results and maintain compliance.
It’s easy to wax poetic about the “good old days” – when repossessions were simple, when compliance was minimal, when consumer complaints rarely escalated to litigation. It’s easy to hope that sweeping change will happen somewhere, sometime, eventually. It’s easy to wait for the decision makers – whoever they may be – to regulate, litigate and compensate their way to a more viable and sustainable revenue model.
No one is coming. It’s up to us.
We’ve waited. We’ve complained. We’ve hoped. We’ve maybe even prayed. Now is the time for action. Now is the time to come together to ensure the survival of our industry. Now is the time to galvanize the industry and reassess our failing business model. Now is the time to rethink and rectify a revenue model which will allow for repossession agencies to operate in a viable and sustainable manner. It’s hard work, yes, but to slip back into complacency will be the death of our industry.
Over the last few weeks, ARA has been assessing, researching and creating content which will put forth a clear and present argument for radical change within the pricing structures of our industry, which will be beneficial to all parties. However, the spectrum of issues is a broad one and cannot be tackled with levity. These services are essential to the entirety of the auto finance business and must be valued as such – by all parties involved.
As part one of our multi-part series, ARA has put together a stance on COVID-19 measures – click below to view. Contained within are suggestions for repossessors, lenders and forwarders alike because again, we must work together to effect the sweeping change so desperately needed. Click below to see the what we put together
Dave Kennedy
Your ARA President
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