IRVING, Texas -

Beyond discussion about new bylaws and the organization’s second-ever industry scorecard, leaders of the American Recovery Association are most excited about the potential for one of the highest-attended annual conventions ever.

ARA is assembling starting on Aug. 17 for a four-day event at the Westin Jersey City Newport Hotel in Jersey City, N.J.

“I think the attendance is going to be outstanding, especially considering the economy,” ARA executive director Les McCook told Auto Remarketing.

“We’re very proud. As an association, I am as an employee and the board in service, are honored that their members are going to care enough through the hard times to come and attend this thing," he added.

An event segment that might be most intriguing is a question-and-answer panel that includes some of the nation’s largest auto lenders. Set to participate are:

—Alison Aerts and Nathan Brock, of Chase Auto Finance
—Jim O’Toole, Capital One Auto Finance
—Steve Smith, Regional Acceptance
—Misty Bliss, Wells Fargo
—Tom Haas, Ally Financial

“We have a great list of clients that’s coming,” McCook insisted.

“I think it’s a great strategy,” he continued. “They get tough questions, but they take the heat. We try not to whack them on the head with anything, but it’s tough for everybody.”

What ARA is hoping this particular convention segment accomplishes is to foster lines of communication like repo agents and lenders had “back in the old days.”

McCook told Auto Remarketing that “One of the things we’ve worked on very hard is trying to get some kind of communication going like we had back in the old days where superior service was a part of superior communications. We’ve lost that over the years.

“Clients get pressure from their supervisors to cut costs,” he continued. “We’ve decided we have to go to the clients and say, ‘Look, you need for us to be successful. We need you to be successful. We need to communicate and talk to with each other. We need to solve problems and issues to the benefit of both of us.’

“These clients that are coming having been very forthright with us,” McCook added.

This year’s convention marks the third year in a row where ARA is bringing together a collection of industry lenders for a Q&A session.

“Our industry is slow right now,” McCook conceded. “There’s not a lot of cars being repossessed. But we need to build the processes with these people through communication. We appreciate it very much that they come and they share so we can all be better.”

Another event highlight is the release of ARA’s second-ever industry scorecard. McCook explained the association’s data committee has been working closely with Ken Shilson and Subprime Analytics to organize data that’s come from even more repo agencies than last year, including non-association companies.

“We think this will start to build an even better relationship with clients because we have provable numbers. That’s something we haven’t had,” McCook said.

Along with the expectation of high convention attendance, McCook indicated 18 new agencies will be sworn in as ARA members during the annual gathering. He described how that’s a remarkable figure considering that annual repossession volume is sliding from an all-time high seen in 2009.

“It’s tough,” McCook acknowledged. “We’ve seen people who are not in business any longer that had been in business for 50 years. And the thing is the suffering is not their fault. They didn’t do anything wrong. They didn’t mismanage their business.”

For the agencies that remain in business, McCook remains hopeful discussion coming out the convention — along with a look ahead toward next spring’s North American Repossessors Summit — could be a springboard to more profitable days ahead.

“We’re just starting to re-tap the market of people we usually see,” McCook stated. “I cross my fingers that in third quarter, fourth quarter we’ll see an uptick in our business.  Our course that’s not good for the clients, but then again it may be.

“My dad used to tell me, ‘Until you have repossessions on the books, you were selling to enough people,’” McCook added.

To register and see the complete agenda for the ARA annual convention, visit www.repo.org.