Resurrecting a family legacy

The Dunleavy family’s history in the repossession goes all the way back to 1959 when WWII veteran, Edward F. Dunleavy broke free from his collections and repossession job at the Domestic Finance Company and founded the “Professional Adjustment Agency” in a small office in Schenectady, New York. All of that came to an apparent end in 2019 when his sons sold the earlier renamed “Tri-County Auto Recovery” aka; TCAR, to Location Services. As luck would have it, Location Services ended their direct agency roll-up operations in August of 2021 and with it, an opportunity to resurrect Grandfather Edward’s legacy fell into Patrick Dunleavy’s hands.

In 1980, Edward retired from the repossession industry and passed the family business on to his two oldest sons, Chris and Brad. On March 3, 2012, TCAR founder and World War II veteran, Edward “Eddie” Francis Dunleavy passed away in the company of the people he loved most, his large Irish family.

The Dunleavy family name runs long and deep in the history of the repossession industry. Selling the company was not an easy decision for the Dunleavy brothers to make. But faced with stagnant fees and plummeting profits, when Location Services made them “an offer you can’t refuse”, like many other agency owners, they took it. And with that decision, their father’s sixty-year-old family business came to an apparent end.

Another Failed Roll-Up Strategy

Following the dissolving of Renovo’s Renaissance Recovery in 2012 by acquiring Primeritus, no roll-up strategy showed more promise of success than Location Services. Funded by the Delaware Street Capital Group and staffed with some top-notch executives from across the banking industry as well as veteran repossession agency owners, they had everything one would expect necessary to survive and thrive in the repossession industry. But a mere two years after launch, they too succumbed to the thin margins and low repossession volume economy and folded leaving their operations dedicated solely to their other forwarding and skip services. With that failure came an apparent and complete end to the acquired repossession agencies, with the exception of two, Brad Webb’s Premier Adjusters in Texas and the Dunleavy’s TCAR in upstate New York.

Grandson Patrick Dunleavy had followed his uncle Chris to Location Services. Chris’s storied and accomplished career in the repossession industry came to an end when he retired earlier in 2021, but Patrick was still onboard as a Director of Client Relations when the closure of Location Service’s direct repossession arm was announced. So, when Location Services gave Patrick the opportunity to buy back his grandfather’s business, he jumped on it.

A New Legacy

In late October of 2021, Patrick Dunleavy relaunched the family business with a new name, but the same family dedication to hard work and the core principles instilled by the Patriarch of the family, Ed Dunleavy; professionalism, ethics, and quality customer service. Patrick Dunleavy’s Legacy Recovery & Remarketing Services LLC, is back in operations in Burnt Hills, New York.

Legacy Recovery & Remarketing Services LLC’s Mission Statement is; to provide a level of service that will exceed our customer’s expectations. Comprised of an experienced dedicated staff with a commitment to excellence like no other, and a true desire to maintain a reputation that is based on our founding principles of professionalism, ethics, and quality customer service. Our efforts are dedicated to creating a full on “partnership” relationship with our clients. Our Legacy Staff are here to serve you, while we carry on the traditions of our founding Legacy and pave the way to create a new Legacy.

Patrick’s dedication to the family legacy is a spark of light in an industry struggling on the brink of collapse. However, knowing the ingenuity, professionalism and dedication passed on to him by the two generations before him, there is little doubt that Patrick will not only survive these hard times, but will thrive.

Somewhere, Ed Dunleavy is smiling.