On May 10th, we launched our proprietary, web 3.0 software masterQueue at a conference we were selected to participate in for new Financial Services Software in SF called Finovate.
We started Find John Doe in January of 2007 with the purpose of building a software product that could address the needs of the Auto Finance industry as it relates to the process of gathering, organizing and tracking the massive amounts of public records data a company needs to process to run more efficiently.
Once we started gathering Public Records more efficiently, we then realized we needed to analyze this process to determine what data and what data providers got us the most right party contacts, helped us find the most people, and ultimately provided us with the best ROI.
When we started getting into ROI on data, we realized that employee and vendor performance metrics also needed to be factored into the equation to see the impact of this data on our goal of locating people who did not want to be found.
Once we gathered and factored in this information, we then realized the importance of the outside vendors, from data providers to repossession agents to the software we were using to manage the assignment and recovery process. With this in mind we built a full repossession assignment platform, and instead of also building a repossession agency management platform, we approached the two largest software providers who already had repossession agency management software built, and one liked what we were doing so we identified the need to build a strategic relationship with RePros to interface masterQueue with Repros to help the repossession agencies work more efficiently using public records data, and through our metrics platform that measures the entire repossession process, soup to nuts.
It still amazes me how lenders, and the parties they outsource the repossession assignment process to, do not fully grasp the importance of using the most qualified repo agencies. Many lenders just give all their deals to a forwarder or a skip company and they don't care, or they don't have the tools, to make sure their assignments are being forwarded to a qualified, properly insured, experienced professional. If lenders could see who some of the unlicensed, unprofessional clowns who represent their companies in the field actually are doing, I guarantee they, and their shareholders, would cringe. Actually, for an idea of what likely may be happening on their assignments, they can turn in to Tru TV and watch a Repo Reality TV show.
With this in mind, we built the vendor management piece of masterQueue, so now lenders can easily see when a forwarder or a skip company, or their own internal staff when assigning direct, do not use a qualified, licensed and insured professional. For those using forwarders or skip companies to manage your assignment process, do you have a system in place to know when their vendors insurance doesnt meet your requirements, or is canceled, or they're using an agent prior to having a contract and insurance with them in place? Are they using licensed agents in states requiring licenses? Is their proof of this in the software you use to monitor them, or is it too difficult because you use five software platforms to monitor ten companies? Are the licensed agencies licensing all their repossessors, or are they having cars picked up by repossessors working off expired or questionable temporary licenses, as was the case in a recent death involving a woman whose car was repossessed a month or so ago. The civil suit on that situation will likely cost the lender a great deal of money, if the atty representing the woman digs deep enough into the practices of the lender and the repo agency and possibly into the state that allows this to happen without more stringent monitoring, and that precedence will likely open the door for more costly suits to follow.
We had also started realizing in 2008-09 that open source, web based public data that customers were providing on the internet on themselves was important in the skip process, so we began building ways to capture and analyze this data, which ranged from blogs people were posting, to the bar they were visiting that night as posted in public view on a social networking website.
Building algorithms around this data was the next step, and to make sure we had the best algorithms possible, we sought out an algorithm expert. In January of 2011 we brought on a strategic investment partner who was the creator of algorithms built around public records for a two billion dollar, ten thousand person company that successfully identified risk in the mortgage industry just before the bubble burst, something he accurately predicted well in advance of the dam bursting. Unfortunately, the wheels were already in motion and few listened to his predictions, but every top lender bought his data and had access to the information before the crash.
Auto lending is in a different environment. Lending to anyone with even a hint of risk is all but non-existent, but we all know that wont last for long. In the past few months I have visited a sampling of the largest and smallest lending institutions in the country. EVERY one of these companies has a need for a new software platform to help them better manage risk. Some of the more forward thinking one's realize this, and they are moving to masterQueue. Others are still hesitant to get off their old legacy, Dos-based systems, even though it will never be easier than now as delinquency is at twenty year lows and once the need to lend more aggressively becomes apparent, making that switch will become more costly and more difficult.
Find John Doe provides lenders an opportunity to see masterQueue operating in a test environment, with our team of talented skip tracers using the most current tools to identify and manage risk by gathering, organizing and tracking results on loans once they become delinquent, from one day late through charge off. By working your accounts in masterQueue, apples to apples to what your current vendor or internal staff is doing, we provide a benchmark for you and a view into what your company will look like if you start using masterQueue internally.
For a demo of how the combination of Find John Doe and masterQueue can take your company from Web 1.0 or Web 2.0 to a Web 3.0 environment, with little or no IT support needed, please give me a call at 916 730 3335, or email me at jlewis@findjohndoe.com and I'll set up a demo for you.
We can help you remove the fear of lending, and all you need is access to the web through a browser.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
How about a positive spin on things for a change...
I privately met with several of the largest repossession companies last summer and we brought in a PR Person to discuss some of the strategies involved in mounting a positive PR campaign around our industry. This person had successfully raised public awareness for industries that faced similar challenges, not quite as difficult, but I feel she can do the job, and she has no connection to anyone, and being located in the capital of the largest regulated state in the country, she may be in the right place.
Her ideas included:
Integrated marketing plans
Key Messages/Logo/Business System and Brand Developments
Media outreach
Media and presentation skills training
Advertising and media buys
Community outreach and public involvement
Web
Email/ VIP outreach list
Email blasts, special programs, etc
I’m running a skip company; Find John Doe, and getting ready to launch a software to hopefully help improve our industry, masterQueue by Intellaegis, so my time is limited at best, but I would participate on a board level if we could form an interest list and then a board and then select a leader to oversee this process.
Forget about the associations running this, if they wanted to do something they would have acted years ago and getting them to work together seems to be a challenge in itself. You need an independent board of entrepreneurs who can represent the industry, and I’d say the qualifications would be:
10 years exp in the repo industry
Verifiable personal experience repossessing cars themselves in the field, and I’m not talking about a ride along
Running a business in this industry that currently generates at least $1m in annual revenue
I’d also include 1-2 client members and I’d invite Kevin as a media rep
1 rep from each association responsible for being the liaison for their association and responsible for collecting dues to fund this program and sharing info to/from their members- and non assoc members would have a liaison for the companies not in associations
A paid independent admin to handle the day to day and budget
email me privately if you are interested in participating:
jlewis@findjohndoe.com
John Lewis
Her ideas included:
Integrated marketing plans
Key Messages/Logo/Business System and Brand Developments
Media outreach
Media and presentation skills training
Advertising and media buys
Community outreach and public involvement
Web
Email/ VIP outreach list
Email blasts, special programs, etc
I’m running a skip company; Find John Doe, and getting ready to launch a software to hopefully help improve our industry, masterQueue by Intellaegis, so my time is limited at best, but I would participate on a board level if we could form an interest list and then a board and then select a leader to oversee this process.
Forget about the associations running this, if they wanted to do something they would have acted years ago and getting them to work together seems to be a challenge in itself. You need an independent board of entrepreneurs who can represent the industry, and I’d say the qualifications would be:
10 years exp in the repo industry
Verifiable personal experience repossessing cars themselves in the field, and I’m not talking about a ride along
Running a business in this industry that currently generates at least $1m in annual revenue
I’d also include 1-2 client members and I’d invite Kevin as a media rep
1 rep from each association responsible for being the liaison for their association and responsible for collecting dues to fund this program and sharing info to/from their members- and non assoc members would have a liaison for the companies not in associations
A paid independent admin to handle the day to day and budget
email me privately if you are interested in participating:
jlewis@findjohndoe.com
John Lewis
Monday, February 28, 2011
The State of the Repossession Industry -2011 -
The State of the Repossession industry: 2011
A friend asked me, “Can you explain the repossession industry?”
“Funny you should ask”, I commented, “because after reading blog after blog, and comment after comment about all the in-fighting and grandstanding that’s been going on in the repo industry lately, my knee jerk reaction was “Wow, that’s a loaded question”.
“Why is that? she asked.
“Well, for starters, repossession in general has always been a highly fragmented, mom and pop kind of industry, but it appears to quickly becoming more corporate, and those who don’t take the steps to keep up may find themselves left in the dust. We seem to be on the verge of a great deal of consolidation activity as larger players have emerged and they need market share to survive,” I said.
“In the past couple of decades, and especially in the past ten years, many of these mom and pop operations have grown, some due to a passing of the torch to a younger generation within the same family, and some due to new blood coming into our industry, and many of these “newbies” are not afraid to take the risk required to rapidly grow their organizations, ” I explained.
“Ok, so why the fighting?” She asked.
“Well, that’s the tricky part. Let’s start by looking at the players:
• Lenders- this is where it starts- these companies loan money and they range from small finance companies in your local shopping center to credit unions to small, medium and large banks as well as companies built to finance a certain manufacturers car, and these companies are called “Captive’s”. General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) was a captive that always used to finance only GM products, or sometimes other models if they were sold used off the GM dealer lot, but like many companies they got in trouble. Our Government helped them out last summer by making them an offer they couldn’t refuse; “Become a bank and be open to financing anyone, and help out Chrysler btw, and if you do that we’ll give you TARP funds and you will succeed if you follow the plan”. They followed it better than anyone expected, probably because unlike most start up banks they had the deck stacked with GMAC veterans, and their catchy marketing plan and 24 hour internet based business model came on the scene at just the right time and now they’re either on pace to pay all the money back or they’ve already paid it back, and they’re positioned to do an IPO later this year.
• Repo Companies- There’s somewhere between 2500 and 5000 companies in the US that perform this service, most are reputable, a handful are not. The larger they are the better chance they’re reputable, but even the big one’s can take part in questionable business practices at times. A few states license and regulate this industry, most don’t. Most of these companies are small, one-location mom and pop operations doing less than $500K in annual revenue. The larger one’s do in excess of fifty million in revenue, some may even double that. The larger ones cover large areas of a state, all of the state, multiple states, or in a couple cases they cover most of the country. From my experience, running a repossession company has to be one of the more difficult businesses to manage. Finding good people to work in the field is extremely difficult, and training and managing them is even tougher. Your customers who give you work: lenders and companies they use as “middle men” can be demanding, and they’re not usually very loyal, although good repo companies build “brand name loyalty” by providing above-average levels of service. The lenders clients, and people whose cars are being repossessed are rarely happy, and you’re better off avoiding the debtors at all costs, when it’s practical to do so. If you are going to own a repo company you should not have high blood pressure, you shouldn’t be afraid of working 24/7/365 and you need a good lawyer, and a mentor who knows the industry if you’re just starting out, or if you’re struggling. You also better have kick ass software these days or you’ll get left in the dust by those who do. Many people think LPR- License Plate Recognition (see below) technology will change the face of the industry. I’ve seen the industry change with forwarding and skip tracing, and LPR seems to have the same potential impact as these innovations, but as is the case in many businesses and in our lives, (think Facebook and Google) Software as a Service is what will define the future of the repossession industry and without the best software available, repo companies who don’t have it will struggle to compete with those who do, and its as simple as that.
• Repossessors- The un-sung hero’s. Most are male, most drive tow trucks, and most are pretty resourceful. These guys are performing a job that ranks right behind the repo company owner in terms of degree of difficulty. Like the company they work for, they’re paid for results, and unfortunately only certain results count, which usually means no car, no commission. There are a handful of legendary, great one’s, many good one’s and many who are mediocre or just flat not good and in many cases a liability to the company they work for, and to themselves and the general public for that matter. This is a job that requires risk, but when those risks are not calculated, things can go wrong in a hurry, and that can be deadly.
• Forwarders- These are companies who receive all or a portion of a lenders repossession assignments and their job is to manage the repossession process. This includes picking a repo company they contract with and assigning the account to them for repo. They’re supposed to assign accounts only to companies that are licensed (if applicable), insured, and reputable, with the key word being “supposed to” as for some reason many lenders don’t do a very good job of insuring their Forwarding companies are using only reputable repossession companies. After the Forwarder assigns the account to the repo company, they follow for the progress through a series of written updates and phone calls between the forwarder and the repo company. Once the account is repossessed, or after the account closes due to the customer paying, or something else happening including the car not being located, the forwarder bills the lender for their services when that result is positive (repo or paid) or if the unit is not located there is usually not a bill generated; this is called contingency, one of a handful of “four letter words” in the repo industry. In addition to the repossession fee from the company they hire, Forwarders also charge a handling fee on the assignments they successfully conclude. This sub-industry within the repo industry has gone from barely a blip on the radar when we started American Recovery Service in 1994 to a major force in the industry where as many as 40-50% of all repossession assignments now are assigned to forwarding companies. The model has also changed, for the worse in my opinion, and many forwarders don’t use reputable companies to send work to, and for some reason many clients don’t seem to care who the forwarder uses to represent their company, which I think is crazy. The most dangerous job a bank is responsible for is likely repossession, so one would think they would want to insure the person doing the job and representing the bank is a professional, licensed, insured, reputable, trained repossessor. That’s not the case too many times, and if you Google “repo death” you’ll find examples of what happens when it goes south, and in many of these cases there is a Forwarding company involved.
• Skip Tracing Companies – When the finance company doesn’t know where to assign the account for repossession, they hire a skip tracing company like Find John Doe, or dozens of other companies like this who do the same thing; locate people who are trying not to be found. Back in 1988 when we started Skipbusters, I’d never heard of a skip tracing company and I’m not sure if there were any out there. I thought of the idea when I worked at Chrysler a few years earlier. I’d been sent to different branches to find people who had loans that those branches were trying to stop from charging off. The only option we had back then were finding these people ourselves or utilizing repossession companies and some were great at finding anyone, but for some reason we weren’t allowed to pay repo companies for skip tracing, or if we did it was limited to like $75. I’d heard the reason was the repo guy got caught with his hand in the cookie jar too many times and they didn’t trust them to bill for skip tracing as sometimes they’d charge for skip work and they really didn’t do anything that warranted a fee. Nowadays, skip tracing is a big industry, and a big part of the repossession process, and in many cases they also perform the same service as a forwarder when they coordinate the repo process for the lender.
• Skip Tracers – aka Investigators, these are the people who are good at finding people. They utilize public records and information they gather from a lenders notes, from a credit application the debtor filled out when they bought the car, and they gather info through the Internet. Then they contact friends, relatives, neighbors, landlords, ex-places of employment and a variety of other sources, or leads, as they attempt to gain pieces of information on where the customer and/or collateral are located. They are also skilled negotiators, as many times they will make contact and convince the debtor to surrender their unit.
• License Plate Recognition Technology Companies – This is a somewhat new concept, high speed cameras mounted on tow trucks and cars that scan thousands of plates a day. The scanned plate and its GPS location are downloaded into a computer and then the unit is either repossessed right there on the spot, or the lender is notified and asked to pay a fee for the location of the unit. I’m not sure how the second part bypasses laws like the one in California that says its illegal to do this:
(j) Soliciting from the legal owner the recovery of specific collateral registered under the Vehicle Code or under the motor vehicle licensing laws of other states after the collateral has been seen or located on a public street or on public or private property without divulging the location of the vehicle. The fine shall be one hundred dollars ($100) for the first violation and two hundred fifty dollars ($250) for each violation thereafter.
• Transporters – These are the companies who pick up the vehicles from the repossession yard after they’re repossessed, but they’re just bit players in this story.
• Auctions – After the unit is repossessed the debtor is sent a letter and they have a right to pay off the unit, and in some cases they can get it back by paying the past due payments. If they don’t reinstate the loan or pay it off, the unit is transported to a private auction and it’s sold.
• Repossession and Collection Software Companies – In 1998, I wrote a business plan that detailed the development of a repossession software to allow clients and repossession companies an internet portal to send and receive assignments, to update accounts, to process repossessions, to coordinate the transportation of the unit to auction and to document the sale process. Prior to that, I’d been involved in some enhancements of a repossession software called eTracker, and I’d used one of the first repossession software’s called Pro’s, but as of 1998, we were just barely starting to email assignments and updates, so the internet was not on anyone’s radar as a way to manage the repossession process. We ended up selling our company in 1999 to a different company than the company I wrote the business plan for, but a few years later the idea I’d written about came to be in a software built by one of the principals and it became the dominant software in our industry; RDN. There have been others written since then, and some have gained market share, and now, thirteen years later, we’ve finished our own software called masterQueue, and we’re preparing to bring it to market in the Spring. We believe it has the potential to change the face of the lending, repossession, forwarding and skip tracing industries, and most of all, I hope it can help repossession agencies manage their businesses more efficiently, because if anyone deserves a break it’s the repo guys. We’ve also written over a dozen interfaces with other software companies and were hoping that other software companies in our industry will follow our lead in working with each other, as no one wins when we don’t all cooperate and work together, and hopefully RDN will also interface with us to make everyone’s job easier.
A friend asked me, “Can you explain the repossession industry?”
“Funny you should ask”, I commented, “because after reading blog after blog, and comment after comment about all the in-fighting and grandstanding that’s been going on in the repo industry lately, my knee jerk reaction was “Wow, that’s a loaded question”.
“Why is that? she asked.
“Well, for starters, repossession in general has always been a highly fragmented, mom and pop kind of industry, but it appears to quickly becoming more corporate, and those who don’t take the steps to keep up may find themselves left in the dust. We seem to be on the verge of a great deal of consolidation activity as larger players have emerged and they need market share to survive,” I said.
“In the past couple of decades, and especially in the past ten years, many of these mom and pop operations have grown, some due to a passing of the torch to a younger generation within the same family, and some due to new blood coming into our industry, and many of these “newbies” are not afraid to take the risk required to rapidly grow their organizations, ” I explained.
“Ok, so why the fighting?” She asked.
“Well, that’s the tricky part. Let’s start by looking at the players:
• Lenders- this is where it starts- these companies loan money and they range from small finance companies in your local shopping center to credit unions to small, medium and large banks as well as companies built to finance a certain manufacturers car, and these companies are called “Captive’s”. General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) was a captive that always used to finance only GM products, or sometimes other models if they were sold used off the GM dealer lot, but like many companies they got in trouble. Our Government helped them out last summer by making them an offer they couldn’t refuse; “Become a bank and be open to financing anyone, and help out Chrysler btw, and if you do that we’ll give you TARP funds and you will succeed if you follow the plan”. They followed it better than anyone expected, probably because unlike most start up banks they had the deck stacked with GMAC veterans, and their catchy marketing plan and 24 hour internet based business model came on the scene at just the right time and now they’re either on pace to pay all the money back or they’ve already paid it back, and they’re positioned to do an IPO later this year.
• Repo Companies- There’s somewhere between 2500 and 5000 companies in the US that perform this service, most are reputable, a handful are not. The larger they are the better chance they’re reputable, but even the big one’s can take part in questionable business practices at times. A few states license and regulate this industry, most don’t. Most of these companies are small, one-location mom and pop operations doing less than $500K in annual revenue. The larger one’s do in excess of fifty million in revenue, some may even double that. The larger ones cover large areas of a state, all of the state, multiple states, or in a couple cases they cover most of the country. From my experience, running a repossession company has to be one of the more difficult businesses to manage. Finding good people to work in the field is extremely difficult, and training and managing them is even tougher. Your customers who give you work: lenders and companies they use as “middle men” can be demanding, and they’re not usually very loyal, although good repo companies build “brand name loyalty” by providing above-average levels of service. The lenders clients, and people whose cars are being repossessed are rarely happy, and you’re better off avoiding the debtors at all costs, when it’s practical to do so. If you are going to own a repo company you should not have high blood pressure, you shouldn’t be afraid of working 24/7/365 and you need a good lawyer, and a mentor who knows the industry if you’re just starting out, or if you’re struggling. You also better have kick ass software these days or you’ll get left in the dust by those who do. Many people think LPR- License Plate Recognition (see below) technology will change the face of the industry. I’ve seen the industry change with forwarding and skip tracing, and LPR seems to have the same potential impact as these innovations, but as is the case in many businesses and in our lives, (think Facebook and Google) Software as a Service is what will define the future of the repossession industry and without the best software available, repo companies who don’t have it will struggle to compete with those who do, and its as simple as that.
• Repossessors- The un-sung hero’s. Most are male, most drive tow trucks, and most are pretty resourceful. These guys are performing a job that ranks right behind the repo company owner in terms of degree of difficulty. Like the company they work for, they’re paid for results, and unfortunately only certain results count, which usually means no car, no commission. There are a handful of legendary, great one’s, many good one’s and many who are mediocre or just flat not good and in many cases a liability to the company they work for, and to themselves and the general public for that matter. This is a job that requires risk, but when those risks are not calculated, things can go wrong in a hurry, and that can be deadly.
• Forwarders- These are companies who receive all or a portion of a lenders repossession assignments and their job is to manage the repossession process. This includes picking a repo company they contract with and assigning the account to them for repo. They’re supposed to assign accounts only to companies that are licensed (if applicable), insured, and reputable, with the key word being “supposed to” as for some reason many lenders don’t do a very good job of insuring their Forwarding companies are using only reputable repossession companies. After the Forwarder assigns the account to the repo company, they follow for the progress through a series of written updates and phone calls between the forwarder and the repo company. Once the account is repossessed, or after the account closes due to the customer paying, or something else happening including the car not being located, the forwarder bills the lender for their services when that result is positive (repo or paid) or if the unit is not located there is usually not a bill generated; this is called contingency, one of a handful of “four letter words” in the repo industry. In addition to the repossession fee from the company they hire, Forwarders also charge a handling fee on the assignments they successfully conclude. This sub-industry within the repo industry has gone from barely a blip on the radar when we started American Recovery Service in 1994 to a major force in the industry where as many as 40-50% of all repossession assignments now are assigned to forwarding companies. The model has also changed, for the worse in my opinion, and many forwarders don’t use reputable companies to send work to, and for some reason many clients don’t seem to care who the forwarder uses to represent their company, which I think is crazy. The most dangerous job a bank is responsible for is likely repossession, so one would think they would want to insure the person doing the job and representing the bank is a professional, licensed, insured, reputable, trained repossessor. That’s not the case too many times, and if you Google “repo death” you’ll find examples of what happens when it goes south, and in many of these cases there is a Forwarding company involved.
• Skip Tracing Companies – When the finance company doesn’t know where to assign the account for repossession, they hire a skip tracing company like Find John Doe, or dozens of other companies like this who do the same thing; locate people who are trying not to be found. Back in 1988 when we started Skipbusters, I’d never heard of a skip tracing company and I’m not sure if there were any out there. I thought of the idea when I worked at Chrysler a few years earlier. I’d been sent to different branches to find people who had loans that those branches were trying to stop from charging off. The only option we had back then were finding these people ourselves or utilizing repossession companies and some were great at finding anyone, but for some reason we weren’t allowed to pay repo companies for skip tracing, or if we did it was limited to like $75. I’d heard the reason was the repo guy got caught with his hand in the cookie jar too many times and they didn’t trust them to bill for skip tracing as sometimes they’d charge for skip work and they really didn’t do anything that warranted a fee. Nowadays, skip tracing is a big industry, and a big part of the repossession process, and in many cases they also perform the same service as a forwarder when they coordinate the repo process for the lender.
• Skip Tracers – aka Investigators, these are the people who are good at finding people. They utilize public records and information they gather from a lenders notes, from a credit application the debtor filled out when they bought the car, and they gather info through the Internet. Then they contact friends, relatives, neighbors, landlords, ex-places of employment and a variety of other sources, or leads, as they attempt to gain pieces of information on where the customer and/or collateral are located. They are also skilled negotiators, as many times they will make contact and convince the debtor to surrender their unit.
• License Plate Recognition Technology Companies – This is a somewhat new concept, high speed cameras mounted on tow trucks and cars that scan thousands of plates a day. The scanned plate and its GPS location are downloaded into a computer and then the unit is either repossessed right there on the spot, or the lender is notified and asked to pay a fee for the location of the unit. I’m not sure how the second part bypasses laws like the one in California that says its illegal to do this:
(j) Soliciting from the legal owner the recovery of specific collateral registered under the Vehicle Code or under the motor vehicle licensing laws of other states after the collateral has been seen or located on a public street or on public or private property without divulging the location of the vehicle. The fine shall be one hundred dollars ($100) for the first violation and two hundred fifty dollars ($250) for each violation thereafter.
• Transporters – These are the companies who pick up the vehicles from the repossession yard after they’re repossessed, but they’re just bit players in this story.
• Auctions – After the unit is repossessed the debtor is sent a letter and they have a right to pay off the unit, and in some cases they can get it back by paying the past due payments. If they don’t reinstate the loan or pay it off, the unit is transported to a private auction and it’s sold.
• Repossession and Collection Software Companies – In 1998, I wrote a business plan that detailed the development of a repossession software to allow clients and repossession companies an internet portal to send and receive assignments, to update accounts, to process repossessions, to coordinate the transportation of the unit to auction and to document the sale process. Prior to that, I’d been involved in some enhancements of a repossession software called eTracker, and I’d used one of the first repossession software’s called Pro’s, but as of 1998, we were just barely starting to email assignments and updates, so the internet was not on anyone’s radar as a way to manage the repossession process. We ended up selling our company in 1999 to a different company than the company I wrote the business plan for, but a few years later the idea I’d written about came to be in a software built by one of the principals and it became the dominant software in our industry; RDN. There have been others written since then, and some have gained market share, and now, thirteen years later, we’ve finished our own software called masterQueue, and we’re preparing to bring it to market in the Spring. We believe it has the potential to change the face of the lending, repossession, forwarding and skip tracing industries, and most of all, I hope it can help repossession agencies manage their businesses more efficiently, because if anyone deserves a break it’s the repo guys. We’ve also written over a dozen interfaces with other software companies and were hoping that other software companies in our industry will follow our lead in working with each other, as no one wins when we don’t all cooperate and work together, and hopefully RDN will also interface with us to make everyone’s job easier.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
The last blog of 2010
This will be the last blog for FJD for 2010 as I'm moving my blogging to www.Intellaegis.com, which is our software development company.
For the past three years we've been working on developing a software for the Financial Services industry, and it's finally ready to rock and roll.
masterQueue is a web-based product that requires ZERO IT footprint.
SaaS in the Financial Services industry is behind the curve, and we've developed our first product around this need.
Reducing charge off expense and "taking the fear out of lending" is what we hope to accomplish for lenders with our first product; masterQueue, a risk identification and workflow tool.
Follow our progress up to and including our launch in 2011 at www.Intellaegis.com
John Lewis
For the past three years we've been working on developing a software for the Financial Services industry, and it's finally ready to rock and roll.
masterQueue is a web-based product that requires ZERO IT footprint.
SaaS in the Financial Services industry is behind the curve, and we've developed our first product around this need.
Reducing charge off expense and "taking the fear out of lending" is what we hope to accomplish for lenders with our first product; masterQueue, a risk identification and workflow tool.
Follow our progress up to and including our launch in 2011 at www.Intellaegis.com
John Lewis
Monday, September 27, 2010
LPR Technology
A person posted a question on Linkedin - asking for opinions on dual assigning a repo assignment to two companies at once. I then raised the question about LPR (License Plate Recognition) and the fact it seems to go unnoticed that this also creates double assignments.
The LPR process puts a camera in a vehicle and hundreds or thousands of license plates are scanned each night. Lenders upload lists of the license plates on cars they are looking for and when an LPR camera spots a unit the Lender is looking for, each of the 3 companies with the camera's has a different process they follow, and most, if not all, allow a Lender to have one of their accounts double assigned to more than one repo company at a time- a deadly practice. The problem could be eliminated if the LPR companies required the Lenders to become accountable for each assignment as most of these accounts are already assigned to a repo company when the Lender gives the list of wanted cars to the LPR company, who then distributes the cameras and coordinates the assignment process when a camera spots a unit.
The owner of a LPR company posted a comment to explain LPR, however the same question remains. Here is his comment and my comment that followed - I think this is a challenge the repo industry faces with the advent of LPR
Here is a comment from Scott Jackson, owner of MV Track:
Scott Jackson • "The MVTRAC system is a real-time alert, so the moment an ALPR unit scans a plate the alert goes off and the agent can print an assignment. We do not view it as a "double assignment" In the early stages of research and development, lender white-board sessions brought this scenario up:
Agent #1 is assigned the account by the lender by fax or database and have been running the addresses for 14 days. Day 15, the VIN hits the MVTRAC systems Nationwide and Agent#2 drives by the vehicle which happens to be located at an originally assigned address assigned to Agent #1 and at that very moment, Agent #1 happens to be at the address as well. In this scenario, Agent #1 has the assignment and Agent #2 can print the assignment after his ALPR system hits on it generates a repossession order.
In this scenario, most would say it's a "Double-Assignment" Technology has definitely changed the playing field for us all. Statistically, the above scenario, the odds of it happening are very-very high (but of course it is still possible) You see, Agent #2 is unaware of the assignment, up until the very moment his system hits on the plate. Agent #1 would most certainly be in the process of recovering the vehicle and Agent #2 would see this, or Agent #1 would be down the street setting up for the recovery if it took some planning.
In the end, this is the scenario for a "double-assignment" with MVTRAC ALPR systems, which in the end comes down to the professionalism of the agents because the danger here is Recovery Agents "fighting" or "arguing", some altercation over the assignment and the recovery. MVTRAC's MVRecovery division maintains an approved vendor list of over 530 Recovery Agencies and as many readers here know, the packet is over 30 pages and very extensive. We're also working developing a Recovery Industry University for the individual agents to attend and become certified, that will cover this scenario and a quite a few more. Collectively, with greater awareness of the challenges of new technology, coupled with professionalism and continuing education, the Recovery Industry will evolve and develop further.........and again...... "
Here is my response...
Once LPR gets dialed and risks are reduced, AND when communication between ALL affected parties improves, it will have an even larger positive impact.
Two agents fighting over a repo is the exact situation our agents are running in to when our skip company, Find John Doe, assigns a locate. It has happened more than a few times , especially in L.A. Multiply that by the potential for a 3rd or 4th LPR Company to get an assignment from a lender …
In one actual case, we gave our agent a locate in a remote area, the unit didn’t show and our agent didn’t want to make a second trip, so they kicked it in. The guy didn’t even know his car was repo’d, so it was awkward, but could have been dangerous if the debtor was confrontational.
The biggest problems will happen when the debtor comes out and stops either the original agent or the LPR agent with a threat and the agent leaves without the unit. Later that night, the second agent spots the unit, and having no idea of the prior confrontation, they begin the repo and this time the debtor may be waiting with their shotgun. This is EXACTLY how my guys were killed several years ago.
Accidents will happen and when they do and there is an injury of some form, lawyers get involved. A review of large suits has proven that when something happens and there is accountability, i.e "In the early stages of research and development, lender white-board sessions brought this scenario up", the Punitive $ add up fast.
There is no doubt LPR is a powerful tool, however, until something really bad happens and a Lender is held accountable, my guess is not much will change. The scary thing is it still may not change, as history dictates with the explosion of the Forwarding model. The issues caused by using inexpensive, sub-professional repo agents to save a buck. i.e. several deaths and injuries caused by Forwarders using the cheapest guy they can find and Lenders turning their head because the contract passes on liability to the Forwarder is well documented, and it still goes on.
The decision to change the current LPR process of double assigning will be based on who is ultimately responsible when something really bad happens? Is it the lender for assigning a plate when they know that almost always it’s a double assignment, or the LPR company for not insuring their agents are protected from double assignments? It certainly can't be the agent in the field’s fault, unless there is something I am missing?
BTW, I like the alert going off concept and the agent being able to immediately take the car idea, but it would be nice if you could also assure that agent that already has his life on the line just by doing the job he does, that he doesn't have a second repo man pulling up when he's in the middle of hooking up, or worse, have a second repo man working "his deal" that already has had a confrontation with the debtor he's about to hook, or kick in.
This is where clients should get involved as I believe that they have the ultimate accountability on this, and if they're passing that liability to the LPR company through some language in a contract, I think LPR companies need to really work to get on top of this before it comes back on an agent in the field. LPR companies have the data, you hold the cards, so it shouldn’t be that hard to tell a Lender they cant risk people's lives and double assign deals. Before LPR, some Lenders double assigned deals, they got in trouble ,and then they stopped. Technology and the volume it will drive will only increase the odds of a problem, so why is it OK now?
If the contract says the LPR company agrees to defend and hold the Lender harmless, that's not a good thing as the LPR company didn't double assign it, the lender did. I’m curious to know how that part works Scott, who is responsible?
The LPR process puts a camera in a vehicle and hundreds or thousands of license plates are scanned each night. Lenders upload lists of the license plates on cars they are looking for and when an LPR camera spots a unit the Lender is looking for, each of the 3 companies with the camera's has a different process they follow, and most, if not all, allow a Lender to have one of their accounts double assigned to more than one repo company at a time- a deadly practice. The problem could be eliminated if the LPR companies required the Lenders to become accountable for each assignment as most of these accounts are already assigned to a repo company when the Lender gives the list of wanted cars to the LPR company, who then distributes the cameras and coordinates the assignment process when a camera spots a unit.
The owner of a LPR company posted a comment to explain LPR, however the same question remains. Here is his comment and my comment that followed - I think this is a challenge the repo industry faces with the advent of LPR
Here is a comment from Scott Jackson, owner of MV Track:
Scott Jackson • "The MVTRAC system is a real-time alert, so the moment an ALPR unit scans a plate the alert goes off and the agent can print an assignment. We do not view it as a "double assignment" In the early stages of research and development, lender white-board sessions brought this scenario up:
Agent #1 is assigned the account by the lender by fax or database and have been running the addresses for 14 days. Day 15, the VIN hits the MVTRAC systems Nationwide and Agent#2 drives by the vehicle which happens to be located at an originally assigned address assigned to Agent #1 and at that very moment, Agent #1 happens to be at the address as well. In this scenario, Agent #1 has the assignment and Agent #2 can print the assignment after his ALPR system hits on it generates a repossession order.
In this scenario, most would say it's a "Double-Assignment" Technology has definitely changed the playing field for us all. Statistically, the above scenario, the odds of it happening are very-very high (but of course it is still possible) You see, Agent #2 is unaware of the assignment, up until the very moment his system hits on the plate. Agent #1 would most certainly be in the process of recovering the vehicle and Agent #2 would see this, or Agent #1 would be down the street setting up for the recovery if it took some planning.
In the end, this is the scenario for a "double-assignment" with MVTRAC ALPR systems, which in the end comes down to the professionalism of the agents because the danger here is Recovery Agents "fighting" or "arguing", some altercation over the assignment and the recovery. MVTRAC's MVRecovery division maintains an approved vendor list of over 530 Recovery Agencies and as many readers here know, the packet is over 30 pages and very extensive. We're also working developing a Recovery Industry University for the individual agents to attend and become certified, that will cover this scenario and a quite a few more. Collectively, with greater awareness of the challenges of new technology, coupled with professionalism and continuing education, the Recovery Industry will evolve and develop further.........and again...... "
Here is my response...
Once LPR gets dialed and risks are reduced, AND when communication between ALL affected parties improves, it will have an even larger positive impact.
Two agents fighting over a repo is the exact situation our agents are running in to when our skip company, Find John Doe, assigns a locate. It has happened more than a few times , especially in L.A. Multiply that by the potential for a 3rd or 4th LPR Company to get an assignment from a lender …
In one actual case, we gave our agent a locate in a remote area, the unit didn’t show and our agent didn’t want to make a second trip, so they kicked it in. The guy didn’t even know his car was repo’d, so it was awkward, but could have been dangerous if the debtor was confrontational.
The biggest problems will happen when the debtor comes out and stops either the original agent or the LPR agent with a threat and the agent leaves without the unit. Later that night, the second agent spots the unit, and having no idea of the prior confrontation, they begin the repo and this time the debtor may be waiting with their shotgun. This is EXACTLY how my guys were killed several years ago.
Accidents will happen and when they do and there is an injury of some form, lawyers get involved. A review of large suits has proven that when something happens and there is accountability, i.e "In the early stages of research and development, lender white-board sessions brought this scenario up", the Punitive $ add up fast.
There is no doubt LPR is a powerful tool, however, until something really bad happens and a Lender is held accountable, my guess is not much will change. The scary thing is it still may not change, as history dictates with the explosion of the Forwarding model. The issues caused by using inexpensive, sub-professional repo agents to save a buck. i.e. several deaths and injuries caused by Forwarders using the cheapest guy they can find and Lenders turning their head because the contract passes on liability to the Forwarder is well documented, and it still goes on.
The decision to change the current LPR process of double assigning will be based on who is ultimately responsible when something really bad happens? Is it the lender for assigning a plate when they know that almost always it’s a double assignment, or the LPR company for not insuring their agents are protected from double assignments? It certainly can't be the agent in the field’s fault, unless there is something I am missing?
BTW, I like the alert going off concept and the agent being able to immediately take the car idea, but it would be nice if you could also assure that agent that already has his life on the line just by doing the job he does, that he doesn't have a second repo man pulling up when he's in the middle of hooking up, or worse, have a second repo man working "his deal" that already has had a confrontation with the debtor he's about to hook, or kick in.
This is where clients should get involved as I believe that they have the ultimate accountability on this, and if they're passing that liability to the LPR company through some language in a contract, I think LPR companies need to really work to get on top of this before it comes back on an agent in the field. LPR companies have the data, you hold the cards, so it shouldn’t be that hard to tell a Lender they cant risk people's lives and double assign deals. Before LPR, some Lenders double assigned deals, they got in trouble ,and then they stopped. Technology and the volume it will drive will only increase the odds of a problem, so why is it OK now?
If the contract says the LPR company agrees to defend and hold the Lender harmless, that's not a good thing as the LPR company didn't double assign it, the lender did. I’m curious to know how that part works Scott, who is responsible?
Thursday, September 2, 2010
The information age
Some people call it Public Records, some call it Data, and in our business we call it a lead.
I call it information.
In the current state of the skip tracing industry, we have a tremendous amount of information at our fingertips.
Since we live in the Information Age, we should always be striving to find better ways to process and use available information to make better decisions.
In the old days, I would get so excited when someone went to Battle Mountain, or any remote location, and they brought me back a local phone book. Suddenly, I had the information I needed, at my fingertips, to crack a tough case. I had a book of leads.
The amount of data available on people these days is amazing. It's the closest thing we've seen to Big Brother.
What's important is to find a way to take that information, streamline the identification of the most relevant data that's available through Public Records, which includes everything about a person that's available on the Internet, and put that into a format that can improve the process of skip tracing.
That's skip tracing in 2010.
I call it information.
In the current state of the skip tracing industry, we have a tremendous amount of information at our fingertips.
Since we live in the Information Age, we should always be striving to find better ways to process and use available information to make better decisions.
In the old days, I would get so excited when someone went to Battle Mountain, or any remote location, and they brought me back a local phone book. Suddenly, I had the information I needed, at my fingertips, to crack a tough case. I had a book of leads.
The amount of data available on people these days is amazing. It's the closest thing we've seen to Big Brother.
What's important is to find a way to take that information, streamline the identification of the most relevant data that's available through Public Records, which includes everything about a person that's available on the Internet, and put that into a format that can improve the process of skip tracing.
That's skip tracing in 2010.
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