By:  Kenneth Shilson, CPA

        President / Founder NABD

                Last week I participated in the NIADA Leadership Meetings in Washington, D.C.  This allowed me to discuss matters of great importance to the BHPH Industry with both regulators and members of Congress.

Here are some take aways from those meetings:

1. Several members of Congress indicated that the “tax extender” provisions will likely be approved by Congress before they recess in December!  This indicates that tax refunds should not be delayed significantly in 2015. I anticipate these tax refunds will begin around February 1st provided that Congress acts as they indicated.  The competition for these refunds has increased as subprime lenders, credit unions, and franchise dealers compete for BHPH customers.  Operators must be very proactive in this tax season to recapture market share.

    

2. The CFPB and Department of Justice continues to closely monitor our industry for deceptive advertising, alleged unfair and deceptive lending practices, data privacy, collection abuses, and discrimination. Operators must avoid these problem areas in 2015 to be compliant. You can’t afford to make legal and regulatory mistakes if you want to succeed. Appointing a Chief Compliance / Privacy Officer to implement a compliance management system is the first step.  Training dedication of resources must come next.

    

3. In recent discussions with BHPH operators around the nation they indicate that “the old ways are just not working like they used to!” This results from increased competition, and from economic and regulatory changes.  You can’t expect to do the same things in 2015 and have better results.  It is time to rethink your business model, implement technology, learn from your losses, and get compliant.

                In response, NABD will hold a “Best Practices Conference” on January 18-20, 2015 in Dallas, Texas to provide training on prudent operating and compliance practices so operators can successfully navigate through the BHPH challenges which are ahead.  For more information or to register visit www.bhphinfo.com or call 832-767-4754. Early registrations and room discounts will expire soon.  So you are encouraged to register soon before they expire.