SANTA FE SPRINGS, Calif. -

Resource Management Services once again is bringing together top executives from captive finance companies, other auto loan organizations, recovery specialists, legal experts and more for the annual Collection and Recovery Solutions Conference.

This year’s version, titled “Challenges and Opportunities in a Changing World,” includes a keynote presentation by John Hart, the recovery leader for the Americas region at GE Capital. Hart’s responsibilities incorporate agency and attorney management, asset sales, internal recovery, bankruptcy and probate processing and recoveries, recovery technology operations, and all other recovery support operations.

Hart’s presentation comes on the second day of the three-day conference, which is set for May 11-13 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas.

“Regardless of what the written rules are, we need always to be doing the right thing,” stated Hart, an executive with 19 years of experience who before coming to GE Capital held a variety of leadership positions at Chase Card Services in both collections and recoveries.

“Performance cannot be our No. 1 goal,” Hart continued. “We can never sacrifice integrity for the sake of performance. Consequently, integrity must always be our primary concern.

“And integrity requires a commitment to the spirit of what is right — social responsibility, the spirit of the law — even beyond a commitment to the letter of the law,” he went on to say. “Given what is going on with our industry, with heightened scrutiny from regulators, attorneys general, legislatures, consumer advocacy groups and the media, this topic is both engaging and timely.”

Another highlight of the packed conference agenda is an auto finance peer group break-out session. Resource Management Services explained this conference segment is intended to provide creditors the opportunity to meet with industry peers to discuss vehicle recovery issues, challenges and best practices.

During the session, Jay Cocchiara and Kelli Edmonds — executives within the recovery department of Chase Auto Finance — are scheduled to facilitate discussions related to the current economic situation, its impact on vehicle recoveries and the best practices of industry leaders to manage recovery operations through these challenging times.

“The session will be an interactive open forum providing attendees the opportunity to share their experiences, thoughts and plans for the future,” conference organizers stated.

Another expert scheduled to share guidance on how to handle recoveries properly is Barry Dumser, senior vice president of First Citizens Bank and Trust Co., based in Raleigh, N.C. Dumser manages the bankruptcy and recovery units for First Citizens Bank and IronStone Bank as well as being the in-house counsel to the credit resolution group, which includes all aspects of defaulted consumer and commercial loans.

Set to delve into the technological aspects of vehicle recoveries is conference presenter Rod Arends, who serves as assistant vice president of collections for World Omni Financial Corp. and CenterOne Financial Services.

Organizers noted Arends has more than 20 years of experience in vehicle finance, including both prime and subprime portfolio management and currently is responsible for collection and recovery efforts on the Southeast Toyota Finance portfolio as well as third-party portfolios.

The conference wraps up with a series of roundtable discussions, one of which is scheduled to be led by Andrew Soros, of Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. Soros plans to discuss best practices for pre-charge-off collections, bringing his background as the overseer of collections, bankruptcy and recovery activity for Nissan and Infiniti portfolios.

In order to attend this conference, an invitation must be issued by Resource Management Services.

“This content rich educational conference gives the techniques, strategies and resources for maximizing collection and recovery outcomes,” event organizers insisted.

“Our goal is to enrich the intensity of the conference for the exhibitor, attendee and sponsor alike with an unparalleled learning experience. This is an exclusive gathering of industry professionals like none other,” they continued.

To pursue an invitation or gain more details about the conference, contact Resource Management Services at (562) 906-1101 or e-mail CRS@resourcemanagement.com.