USED CAR NEWS
April 3, 2017 • 3
Compliance Causes Concern Among Consignors By Jeffrey Bellant
LAS VEGAS – Industry compliance, with a focus on checklists and the issue of personal property left in consigned cars, were the subjects of a panel discussion at the Conference of Automotive Remarketing here in March. Robert Sullivan of XLerate Group said the issue of compliance looms large over the industry. “It’s no longer (about) days to sell or days to pick up,” Sullivan said. “It’s about compliance.” He said industry stakeholders are partnering to boost compliance across the remarketing industry. “It’s the irst time that I can think of where remarketers and the auto auction folks are working very well together for the beneit of both parties,” Sullivan said. Part of this is due to the International Automotive Remarketers Alliance Compliance Committee, which held a summit last December and has since communicated via
teleconference to discuss compliance issues. Bank of America’s Jeannie Chiaromonte said the group developed a mission statement to foster understanding and compliance with applicable laws, including federal and state laws, regulations and acts related to consumer inancial law. The goal is to assist consignors’ clients – auctions, repossession agencies, transportation companies, etc., – to work together to develop detailed policies and procedures set forth in a lexible structure. Tim Meta, national remarketing manager for Fifth Third Bank, said one of the main issues discussed when the group met in Nashville last December was developing a way to help with compliance audits for auctions. “About four years ago, IARA got ahead of the game and they created an auto auction checklist,” Meta said. “But a lot of people didn’t realize it was out there. So now it’s out on the website.” The checklist was made in
Photo By Jeffrey Bellant CHECKLIST: An auto auction compliance checklist was provided to attendees at the recent Conference of Automotive Remarketing and is available on the website of the International Automotive Remarketers Alliance.
conjunction with the auctions, consignors and legal groups, he said. Members of the committee are now working to update the list. Meta said the other big issue for the committee is personal property in vehicles that come to the auction. He said consignors want these items handled on the
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repossession end without ever reaching the auctions. But auction reps say many items still end up in the cars when they reach the sales. This forces the auction staf to tag and store the items. Heather Cameron Greenawald, ADESA’s vice president of legal, said the second email that hit her inbox when she arrived a year
ago had to do with personal property that ended up at the auction. Auctions are in agreement that it should be the responsibility of the repo agents to remove these items, based on state laws and contracts. But they are not doing this in many cases, Greenawald said. Continued on page 5