License to Chaos: Why the LPR Repo Industry Must Reform Before Tragedy Strikes

EDITORIAL

The repossession industry has always been a high-risk profession, but recent developments in License Plate Recognition (LPR) technology have taken the dangers to an entirely new level. What was once an industry built on assignment integrity—where a lender or forwarder assigned an account to a single agent in a given market—has now devolved into a chaotic, high-stakes scramble driven by a reckless need for speed over safety.

At first glance, it appears that lenders and forwarders are operating under the old model, where an assignment is given to one agency at a time. However, this is simply smoke and mirrors. The reality is that some lenders are allowing multiple agents to compete for the same unit, creating a dangerous situation where agents are being undercut by their own investments and placed in harm’s way for the sake of efficiency.

Here’s a typical example: An agent receives an assignment from a lender or forwarder. Days later, their assigned driver scans the vehicle at an entirely different location than the original provided address. That driver does what they are trained to do—immediately call dispatch to send a truck to secure the vehicle.

But within minutes, that scan is transmitted into cyberspace, and suddenly, another agent—who was never assigned the case—shows up to check the VIN. The account is instantly put on hold, the original agent is shut out of their own work, and another company swoops in to secure the unit—all while using the very scan generated by the assigned agent.

This is a zero-sum game for the agent who has spent thousands of dollars on LPR equipment, invested time and effort into tracking vehicles, and followed the correct protocols. They are left empty-handed, victims of a ruined system where their work is exploited for someone else’s gain. Worse still, this reckless competition drastically increases safety risks.

Using the scenario above, What happens when the first agent checking the VIN encounters a hostile debtor and is met with violence? What happens when, just minutes later, another agent—completely unaware of the danger—walks into the same hostile situation? The industry is already fragile. This reckless speed-over-safety model is a disaster waiting to happen.

This is not an attack on the LPR community. They are valued partners in this industry, and their technology is a critical asset. However, the system as it stands is broken. We need a system overhaul—one that corrects the current haphazard structure that puts everyone at risk.

The solution is clear: slow everything down. LPR has its place in this ecosystem, but it must serve all players fairly, not just those who can game the system at the expense of others. The lending community must take responsibility. If lenders truly care about the safety of our agents, they must stop this dangerous new-age dual assigning of accounts.

Here’s a framework that would help restore sanity to the process:

One agency per market at a time. If an assignment is given to an agent directly, that agent alone should be responsible for recovering the unit in their market.
A structured, step-by-step reassignment process. If the initial agency cannot recover the vehicle within a set timeframe, the assignment moves to a single forwarder—one at a time.
LPR staging must be exclusive. If a vehicle is ultimately assigned to LPR, it must go to one LPR company at a time, ensuring that agents aren’t being pitted against each other in a race that compromises safety.

The repossession industry is already facing serious challenges; deregulation, insurance disparities, unfair contracts, and lack of standards for all players. We cannot afford to let the reckless application of good LPR technology make the job even more dangerous.

If lenders, forwarders, and LPR companies truly care about the safety of our agents, they must come to the table and fix this issue before it leads to tragedy.

If we fail to act, this won’t just be about lost assignments or unfair business practices, it will be about the loss of an agent’s life, taken by a broken system that no one had the courage to fix!

Let’s talk solutions before it’s too late.

Vaughn Clemmons,