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Compliance

Got Compliance Headaches?

I don’t know about you but Fall in my household means allergy season which means sneezing and headaches. While we love the cooler weather, sports and other activities, outdoor adventures come with some challenges. Fortunately, a little prevention and some good habits help us manage the effects.

For our powersports dealers, you might feel the same way about compliance! The paperwork, the details, the disparate federal, state and local regulations might cause widespread headaches for your team. But just as I deal with my allergies, some good habits can really minimize the impacts for your team.

If you think you’re immune from compliance regulations because the Federal Trade Commission announced that powersports dealers were exempt from the Combating Auto Retail Scams Rule (CARS) – think again! There are several other federal regulations as well as state and local compliance rules which apply to powersports dealerships.

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Compliance

New CARS Rule Lesson: Compliance is Back

Does it ever feel like once a year, compliance rears back up to take over the headlines, only to die down again? Well compliance is back and it is making waves.

Our friends over in the retail automotive space received a white elephant gift at the end of 2023, wrapped up in compliance paper with a tag from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with the announcement of the Combating Auto Retail Scams (CARS) Rule.

The CARS Rule specifically provides protection for military and active-duty service members who, according to the FTC, are frequently targets for vehicle scams. The FTC states that service members have an average of twice as much auto debt as civilians.

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Compliance

Compliance Still Matters

Powersports dealers have a myriad of challenges facing them today. Between sky-high interest rates and waning consumer demand, profit margins are beginning to feel the sting of a market that is on the precipice of right-sizing. With this mounting pressure, dealers are rightly concerned about how to maintain their profit margins in the weeks and months ahead. All too often, when the going gets tough, compliance falls to the wayside, and you may be asking yourself, “where is the CFPB anyway?”

The CFPB and FTC have not been making waves like they have in the past, but that does not mean they are not present. In fact, the CFPB has been busy this year bringing lawsuits against auto lenders and servicers. You may think that since these suits don’t affect you or your industry, you don’t need to worry.

If that is you, consider this. According to the National Council on Identity Theft Protection, there is an identity theft case every 22 seconds in the U.S. and 33 percent of all Americans have faced some kind of attempt in their lives, with experts predicting this number could increase significantly this year. So far this year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has received 5.7 million total fraud and identity theft reports, 1.4 million of which were identity theft cases accounting for $10.2 billion in losses. This is a great example of why policies like the FTC Safeguards rule were put in place. Compliance procedures often serve as critical guard rails that can protect your customer’s data – and your dealership.