CARY, N.C. — Two auto industry leaders who have close
relationships with Rick Hackett, the assistant director of the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau whose jurisdiction included vehicle financing, shared nothing
but glowing assessments of the regulator who announced he was leaving the agency
by the end of the month.

FinCo Management president Toby Reiley used words such as "humble" and
"integrity" when discussing with SubPrime Auto Finance News where the industry
goes from here in regard to potential CFPB regulation.

"He has established the base from which we're going to work,"
said Reiley, whose company is a provider of financing solutions for buy-here,
pay-here dealers. "The question that comes down now is what are the regulations
that will come out of the CFPB."

Just when the industry got closely acquainted with the
primary regulator from the CFPB who oversees auto financing, word came this
week that Hackett was departing the bureau. The CFPB already has a posting on
its website seeking applicants for Hackett's replacement.

For the past two years, Hackett has been one of the more
visible CFPB officials at industry events. Earlier this month during the NAF
Association's 17th annual Non-Prime Auto Financing Conference, Hackett
participated in a question-and-answer session with Hudson Cook chairman Tom
Hudson that served as the keynote portion of the event.

One of the largest contingents ever to attend the conference — more than 300 finance company executives, service providers and legal
advisers — heard Hackett answer more than a dozen questions submitted in
advance by the NAF Association. Topics ranged about the legality of dealer
participation to what constitutes a compliant according to the CFPB.

Hackett said back on June 6, "The message is we try to give
you the most accurate information as we can."

Hackett also reached out to the industry during other
events, too, such as the Consumer Bankers Association's annual gathering and
the Vehicle Finance Conference orchestrated by the American Financial Services
Association.

"Nobody, and I mean nobody, could have done that job better
than Rick did it," said Hudson, who was on the dais with Hackett for nearly an
hour during the NAF Association session, marking the second year in a row the
two have collaborated to inform the industry about the CFPB's intentions.

Hackett arrived at the CFPB in 2011 after being a founder of
the banking and financial services group at Pierce Atwood in Maine.

"I have no hesitation in saying that my work with CFPB has
been the most rewarding, most challenging and most physically tasking
assignment I have had in 35 years," Hackett said in his farewell message
obtained by SubPrime Auto Finance News this week.

"Of particular importance to me are the relationships I have
been privileged to develop with bureau stakeholders, who have taught me
critical information about the relationship of government and its stakeholders,
the complexity of policy formulation, and the importance of frank and
transparent exchange of ideas," he continued.

Hackett's department pushed out guidance in March concerning
indirect auto lending. Since that time, Reiley and Hudson have been part of an
industry cohort attempting to educate the CFPB about the intricacies of auto
financing and defending dealers and lenders from scrutiny over rate markups and
more.

"Rick made great efforts to research so thoroughly that
those who are operating correctly within not only the letter but the intent of
the law have nothing to be afraid of," Reiley said. "However, those who are
more than pushing the envelope, those who are taking advantage of it, need to
stand up and take up notice that as soon as these regulations trickle down to
be enforced at the local level, it should clean up the buy-here, pay-here
industry."

Meanwhile, Hudson and Hackett share a relationship that
dates back 30 years. During the NAF Association's conference, Hudson joked
about how he knew the name of Hackett's dog and used it as an icebreaker before
the complicated questions and answered that followed.

"That's life in a regulated industry. People come and people
go," Hudson said. "Car industry folks will need to reintroduce themselves to
the new person and start the educational and familiarization processes over
again."

Editor's note: For more highlights of the exchange between Hackett and Hudson at the NAF Association Conference, check out the upcoming July/August edition of SubPrime Auto Finance News.

Nick Zulovich can be reached at nzulovich@subprimenews.com. Continue the conversation with SubPrime Auto Finance News on LinkedIn and Twitter.