officers’ message Staying on Top of Compliance
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rior to our quarterly meeting, we ask each officer of the association to call at least two members and spend some time visiting with them about the industry. By doing this, we want to ensure we are addressing their needs as an association. As elected officers we feel it is important to make sure we are representing the members of this association, and what better way to do that than to find out what the members are thinking. The names of members to be called are selected randomly by the TIADA staff and provided to each officer about two weeks prior to the meeting. During the board meeting, each officer reports back to the full board on their phone calls. This gives us a chance to hear from 26 different members; it is sort of our state of the industry report. I was thrilled to hear how well dealers were doing last year. With all the uncertainty in the world I assumed most of my phone calls would be doom and gloom, but outside of finding inventory and wholesale prices, the industry seemed to be fairing quite well. I was also excited to hear the feedback on the great job the association was doing supporting dealers and addressing industry concerns. As wholesale prices are starting to adjust and we all become more accustomed to finding inventory online,
by Eddie
Hale
Neighborhood Autos (Decatur) TIADA TREASURER
I am hearing a new concern: What should we expect from the new administration in D.C. related to industry regulation, namely the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission? As someone who has been in the business for some time, I can tell you the only certainty is that things are going to change. I don’t know if things will be better or worse, but things will definitely change; they always do and they always will. When I talk to dealers today about the concern of new regulations, or a more aggressive regulatory environment, I emphasize that every dealer must have someone at the dealership who is committed to overseeing compliance. This doesn’t mean to delegate and forget about it. If you are the owner or the GM and you are not the compliance person, you need to meet with your compliance person regularly. Make sure they not only have the tools they need, but also access to the appropriate people to address compliance issues. This could include online and in person education, blogs, compliance emails, websites, etc. TIADA sends a fantastic industry update email the first and third Thursday of every month. Make sure your compliance person is receiving that email, reading it, and sharing it within your organization. We have been focused on compliance for years at
TIADA has been one of the many resources we use to stay compliant and I encourage you to do the same. February 2021
T e x a s
D e a l e r
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