Tag: Steve Roennau

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Compliance Economy Industry Trends

Skipping Steps Is Never a Good Idea

While the country is still in the grips of the pandemic, sales of new and used vehicles showed signs of life in May and June with big pickup trucks leading the way. For the quarter, analysts predict that car sales were off about one-third from 2019 levels, thanks in large part to plant shutdowns and shelter-in-place restrictions imposed in March and April. The economic stimulus CARES and PPP programs, along with enhanced state-level unemployment benefits, provided a bit of a boost in May, prompting consumers to consider purchasing a vehicle. Low interest rates and OEM incentives sweetened the deal. Savvy dealerships who pivoted to online and digital sales were able to capture the bulk of the upswing in June.

Q3 results hinge on several factors. Pandemic hot spots across the country could prompt local governments to return to some level of shutdown. Whether or not Congress provides a second round of stimulus could also have a dramatic impact on consumer confidence. And the U.S. unemployment rate could put a notable damper on both new and used vehicle sales.

Also, let’s not forget inventory concerns. Factories that shut down in March and April are just beginning to ramp up. There will be a noticeable delay in restarting the parts supply chain as well. Areas of the country that experienced strong sales in May and June could be faced with slim pickings on their lots.

But there is another – somewhat hidden – concern. Identity fraud has reared its ugly head. While fraud has always been an area of focus and concern in the retail automotive world, a couple of unique pandemic situations have exacerbated the situation.

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Compliance

Consumer Privacy in Retail Automotive

Contributing Author: Steve Roennau Vice President Compliance EFG Companies
Contributing Author:
Steve Roennau
Vice President
Compliance
EFG Companies

Do you know someone who was affected by the Equifax data breach? How about the Verifone hack or, the breach within the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)? According to the Identity Theft Resource Center® (ITRC) and CyberScout®, 1,579 data breaches occurred in 2017, representing a 44.7 percent year-over-year increase.

A study of more than 10,000 consumers by Gemalto, a data security firm, stated 70 percent of consumers would stop doing business with a company if it experienced a data breach. And, 69 percent feel businesses don’t take security of consumer data very seriously.

In retail automotive, dealers have been regulated on consumer privacy ever since the Gramm Leach Bliley Act was passed in 1999. Under Gramm-Leach Bliley, dealers are required to implement, and regularly audit, a written “Information Security Program,” to protect information about its customers. This is called the Safeguard Rule. However, in 1999, digital data breaches were not even a feasible consideration for most dealers.

To date, these “Information Security Programs” detailed how to physically secure private consumer data. It’s because of these programs that most F&I offices are locked, and F&I managers pay very close attention to make sure no private consumer information can be displayed on a desk or computer screen for anyone to see.

While these procedures are important, they now need to be augmented to incorporate every possible way a consumer data breach could occur. From a physical standpoint, this includes training the sales team on how to properly manage private consumer information, and holding them to the same standards as F&I professionals. For example, let’s say a salesperson made a copy of a driver’s license for a test drive and the consumer ended up leaving the dealership without purchasing. What does the sales person do with that photocopy? Do they just put it in their desk trash bin, or do they put it in a secure shredding bin? If they just put it in their desk trash bin, that data is not secure. Anyone could come and take that photocopy out of the trash.

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Compliance

Compliance: Not Dead Yet

Contributing Author: Steve Roennau Vice President Compliance EFG Companies
Contributing Author:
Steve Roennau
Vice President
Compliance
EFG Companies

Sighs of relief turned into sighs of frustration this past December when the Department of Defense (DOD) issued a new interpretation of the Military Lending Act (MLA), potentially resulting in severe implications for all dealers who sell or have sold vehicles to active duty members of the U.S. armed forces and/or their dependents.

It seems that even the holiday season can’t put the brakes on compliance initiatives. As of December 14, 2017, creditors providing credit-related products and services, like GAP, Credit Life, Credit Disability or cash-out financing, must now comply with a full range of duties and restrictions imposed by the MLA. While this interpretation didn’t go into effect until December, it applies to all transactions going back to October 3, 2016.

Dealers are now spending the first month of the new year consulting with their legal counsel to determine whether to continue to offer such products and services to active duty military consumers and their dependents, and if so, what actions must be implemented to comply with MLA requirements.

History of MLA

Congress passed the MLA in 2006 to help protect active duty service members and their dependents from predatory lending. Since 2015, the DOD has been slowly amending the final rule to expand the scope of the MLA to include the majority of closed and open-ended loans.

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