Evolving Technology Is Changing Repo
I
was excited about attending the NARS conference this April in Dallas, Texas. On the Monday following my return, I was just as excited to sit at my desk and pen my thoughts and comments for this month’s Repo Run column. Just as I was about to begin writing, I was interrupted by the sound of a fresh email landing in my virtual mailbox from John Lewis Lewis is the president and founder of masterQueue and Find John Doe. His blog, titled “The Evolution of the Repossession Industry,” hit the ball out of the park. Following are some key excerpts from his work. *** As the books close on the North American Repossession Summit, I walk away with hope and optimism for the industry I’ve made my living at for the past 35 years. Being a Cubs fan, optimism is in my blood, so proceed with caution as I tell you my thoughts on the repossession industry and technology as a whole. … We’re starting to see a larger impact in the industry by a variety of technology vendors, and when you put everyone together, great things can and are happening. Given the constant regulatory scrutiny, and especially in light of the tricky waters we all have to 90 • June 2016 - TOWMAN.COM
keep trying our best to navigate, events like this are critical and should be mandatory on every lender’s calendar. … The continued evolution of the professionalism [of repossessors] the lenders are looking for has arrived into our industry, and those behind the times may want to take note. Additionally, the advancements in technology continue to become more evident at each NARS conference, and I believe this will be the main topic of opportunity for lenders and repossession companies as we move through 2016 and head back to NARS again next spring. Some of the requirements from lenders and advancements we’re seeing from technology companies in this space are game changing, in similar ways to … the game being changed in years past: • We couldn’t rely on picking locks and slamming out ignitions once computer chips and laser keys hit the scene, so now everyone has to repo with tow trucks. • We went from no phones, to pagers and pay phones to brick phones to computers in our pockets. • We used to call in orders for repo (really!) and then we faxed them in, and then email and now we use
by Mark Lacek
assignment platforms. • Lenders used to be in every city, and now they’re mostly in Dallas, or other select regions. • Skip companies began to hit the scene in the late ’80s. • Forwarding stepped in to manage the repossession process in the mid ’90s. • Public records data became more readily available in the mid 2000s, replacing books and microfiche records. • Skip-tracing software came on the scene in 2010, with LPR becoming prominent around the same time, and routing software came on the scene last year. Now we’re seeing Big Data, Predictive Analytics and Automated Workflow being introduced to our industry. Sophisticated telephony is being integrated with software that contains compliance rule tracking that becomes a must-have if you want to make compliant phone calls. We’re also seeing a variety of other advancements, including: • LPR advancements that are now starting to leverage historical data on the location of where a car has been and where its’ likely to be seen if you don’t find it where it’s supposed to be.
