DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -

How can lenders help repo agents successfully recover vehicles in an efficient way? Veteran repossessor and Time Finance Adjusters executive Patrick Altes listed several lender attributes that’s helped his business and a host of TFA members.

Altes began by stating a good repo client gives agencies information — and lots of it. 

“How many cars are sitting at the address provided? Only a fraction,” Altes acknowledged

He continued that the creditor might know why the debtor is in a repo agent’s area. The debtor might be looking for work in the vicinity or living with a family member or someone they have a relationship with.

“There a million little factoids that might be useful for an intelligent investigator to use in his hometown to find more information about the debtor,” Altes insisted.

“Cars are often repossessed from locations we surface, and it takes data — even seemingly unrelated data — to do that,” he continued. “Even knowing the vehicle’s color or tag is huge. It’s in your best interest to tell the repo agency everything you know about the debtor.”

And sharing all of that information comes from a healthy relationship between the lender and repo agent, according to Altes.

“I know it would be frustrating being a collector for an auto lender. Customers lying to you all day, upper management pressing for better numbers, a minefield of legal issues to navigate with every collection call. It would be tough,” Altes conceded.

“But we appreciate it when a collector sets all that aside and relates to our staff as being ‘on the same side,’ because we really are,” Altes emphasized.

“People in the repo business really do go to the wall for a client they appreciate. That means more cars recovered and less loans pushed into charge-off.”
Altes asked lenders to think of the repossessors as a football team with the client as the coach.

“It takes positive motivation and team spirit to get your agents ready to hit the streets,” Altes declared.

Another element to the situation Altes highlighted had to do with lenders paying repo agents a fair fee — a subject that’s become a highly debated one with the advent of forwarding companies and other industry-changing developments.

“Paying a reasonable repo fee means that the agency really will give each repo deal their best efforts. It’s that simple,” Altes stressed.

Altes believes priority accounts receive better attention, and clients that pay fairly become prioritized. He also said lenders that pay a close fee also can receive better service from repo agencies.

“Paying close fees justifies the agency’s investment in Accurint reports or running Carfax reports or even paying to get a tag number to input into their own license-plate recognition systems,” Altes explained.

“On a no-repo, no-fee basis, agencies will quit spending on those accounts knowing that’s only more money out the window,” he offered.

Finally, Altes thinks a repo agency’s close clients often say “thanks” when a vehicle is recovered without incident.

“I know it’s not your own personal car that we’ve recovered. But when you sense we’ve gone the extra mile, and kept hammering away on an account by checking the address a million times, or recovered the car from some other address we surfaced, please feel free to say thank you,” Altes recommended.

“Good will and appreciation pays dividends in any relationship, even business relationships,” he continued.

“It’s not all about the money, although that’s a part of it. And I’m not saying a good relationship with your repossessor will make or break your organization. But it will make a difference — a huge difference — in your organization’s bottom line,” he went on to say.

“But even more importantly, this has to do with cooperation and respect, which are good ways to interact with people no matter what activity you’re engaged in,” Altes concluded.

Patrick Altes is the owner of Falcon International, one of the nation’s oldest and largest independently owned repossession agencies. More of his industry commentary can be found at ontheroadwithfalcon.blogspot.com.