MORTON, IL –The Illinois Recovery Association (IRA), founded in 2001, is pleased to formally announce today their 11th Annual Convention hailed as IRA 2012: Operation Collaboration. The conference will take place in Rosemont, Illinois at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare on July 17-18, 2012.
IRA Executives were quick to develop the open-source agenda designed to bring industry leaders together to collaborate with the State of Illinois on the new Collateral Recovery Act, a law that will take effect beginning July 1st, 2012. In attendance from the State of Illinois will be Steve Matrisch, Acting Bureau Chief of the Illinois Commerce Commission. Additionally Commander Baner of the Illinois Commerce Commission Police, whose chief responsibility will be enforcing the Collateral Recovery Act and managing all of its police officers, will be in attendance.
IRA Board Members worked quickly in communicating with national association leaders.
“Industry leaders and board members of nationally recognized associations as well as lenders need to participate in this process. It is the first time a State has regulated the repossession industry to such a stringent level of accountability and it makes absolute sense to bring all the associations together to work with the IRA, its members, lenders and the State of Illinois.” stated Al Janus, President of the Illinois Recovery Association.
Expounding on the collaboration was IRA Secretary-Treasurer, Janette Smith, stating, “The bill had originally died with our association and was later revived outside our association a few years later. The language of the bill was devastating to all of us in the Recovery Industry when we first became aware of it; we worked with lawmakers in the final stages of writing the bill to add language benefiting recovery agencies. In addition, we committed extensive resources working within the rules process and successfully had language added to further clarify the rules to benefit everyone operating in Illinois. The Illinois Commerce Commission and legislators have been so accommodating in listening to our concerns. It makes sense to have a meeting with all those impacted by the law and those that can make a difference. This is a hugely important convention for everyone in the Recovery Industry and we encourage everyone concerned to attend.”
Director Kelly Maguire voiced her opinion on the lenders in attendance by stating, “For educational purposes alone, it is important having the national associations and the lenders there with us, along with officials from the State of Illinois. I think it is crucially important for the lenders to understand the process we will have to go through to get licensed and in maintaining that license. The collaboration for everyone and lenders couldn’t be more important. From verifying they are using a licensed agent, requirements, forwarders and more, this law could potentially have a rippling effect as regulation becomes more and more predominant in this industry along with the culmination of the CFPB rules.”
Associations and organizations in attendance in alphabetical order will include: Allied Finance Adjusters Conference (AFA), American Recovery Association (ARA), National Finance Adjusters (NFA), Recovery Industry Services Company (RISC), Recovery Specialist Insurance Group (RSIG) and Time Finance Adjusters Conference (TFA). Each organization will have a booth present and will be presenting five questions to the IRA board for the Q&A session with the State of Illinois.
According to Les McCook of ARA, “Being involved in this event along with the State of Illinois and a State association like the Illinois Recovery Association is just the type of collaboration ARA hopes for; engaging with agents and the Illinois Commerce Commission will bring greater value to our voice in the industry.”
Jennifer McDaniel of NFA expounded on the importance of the meeting by stating, “NFA has long believed in supporting State associations and the fact that the IRA and the State of Illinois are taking a proactive approach to the new Collateral Recovery Act makes our participation a mandatory for our vision and future.”
Patrick Altes of TFA summarized the event by saying, “We believe the State of Illinois’ aggressive legislation may be the start of other States moving in the same direction, such as Tennessee’s attempt at legislation. The CFPB’s aggressive approach to compliance and holding lenders’ boards accountable clearly makes this collaboration important.”
The opportunity to collaborate with industry leaders and the State of Illinois elicited the following comment by Michael Howk, Risk Manager and Director of Education for RSIG, “My personal philosophy has always been education, not legislation. However, since the latter is reality, this meeting should be a great opportunity to now focus on the former from the added prospective of the new law and regulations.”
Joe Taylor of RISC said of the collaboration, “We are very appreciative to be invited to be a part of this historic event. As a strict compliance and educational organization, RISC is very attuned to the new requirements of the CFPB and we feel this collaborative effort on the part of national and state collateral recovery associations will serve the industry well in bringing government, lenders, forwarders, vendors, repossession agency owners and field agents all together in a compliance focused event.
For more information on sponsoring and registering for IRA 2012: Operation Collaboration, please Click Here.
About Illinois Recovery Association (IRA)– The IRA was founded in 2001 by a group of independent repossession agency owners. The goal of the founders, and now the association, is to be the collective voice of the industry. Although the association has a focus in Illinois, the association has an overall focus on the betterment of the Recovery Industry as a whole, knowing the benefits for all of its members and all of their clients. The Mission Statement: The Illinois Recovery Association was formed with a fundamental belief designed to benefit every recovery firm in the state…. a belief determined to exemplify core values, ethical conduct and pride of ownership. As a true advocate of industry reform, the IRA champions causes that directly result in viable and substantial industry advancement.
The Illinois Recovery Association – 140 West Queenwood Road, Morton, IL 61550
info@illinoisrecoveryassociation.com – 708-237-1040 (Office) 309-266-9525 (Fax)
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