LAS VEGAS — One of the speakers to generate a lot of audience interest Tuesday at the National Alliance of Buy-Here, Pay-Here Dealers conference was Ron Brown, general manager of CSI Group.

His company is one of the oldest and largest asset investigation and recovery agencies in the Central Plains area.

According to Brown, who has more than 35 years of locating and recovery lost and missing people, along with assets, a key to reducing BHPH losses is quite simply keeping up with customers' locations.

He recommends that a dealer update his files every sixth months.

Another vital key is keeping an eye out for red flags on applications. For instance is the residence phone number the same as the person's work number? If so, this is a red flag.

Also, look for applications that just seem too neat. If it's all written in "perfect" block letters and every box is filled out, this should raise attention as well, he stressed.

"Don't think this is not going to happen because it is," Brown said.

"Where is your vehicle? Who's driving it? It could be bought by one person and being driven by another," he highlighted, pointing to straw deals.

In fact, Brown said he just helped bust such a case. In this instance, a guy bought like 40 cars and turned around and gave them to illegal aliens. The illegal aliens were paying the man who in turn was paying several BHPH dealerships throughout the nation for these purchases.

Well, when the state this man used as home base cracked down on illegal immigrants, many of the immigrants fled, taking the vehicles with them. This left many dealers in the lurch.

"Look for late payments and then partial payments. That's usually where it starts (when the person stops paying," he explained.

Another vital tip he shared is not to "skip guess" but to skip trace. Base decisions on knowledge not assumptions, Brown noted.

When it comes to hiring recovery agents Brown said it's not a good idea to pay them on a contingent basis as it can increase risk.

"Don't have them work on a contingent basis. I can give you three cases that were contingent and consumers died. (The agents) will take risk and chances they shouldn't if you hire them on this basis," Brown stressed.

Finally, Brown said that dealers should make sure they are attempting to collect deficiency balances. And if they don't have luck, then hire a collection firm to try. Many times these firms only take a percentage of what they take in, so by going after this money, it ensures a dealer isn't leaving money on the table, he stated.