What Slump?

by Marv Eleazer
for F&I Showroom
March 2015

In response to a reporter’s question about a hitless streak, Yogi Berra, the oft-quoted New York Yankees legend, once said, “Slump? I ain’t in no slump. I just ain’t hitting.” Yes, Berra was known more for his one-liners than his athletic prowess, but you have to wonder if the Hall of Fame catcher just didn’t want to admit he was in a slump. Having suffered through more than a few slumps myself — some so bad I couldn’t give my products away — I’d understand if he did.

The CFPB's Encroachment in the F&I World

by Brian Casey
AgentEntrepreneur
February 4, 2015

When Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, both the auto dealer and insurance industries were at the table to be sure they were carved out from the jurisdiction of the now powerful Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, better known as the CFPB. As is frequently the case, however, legislative exemptions are usually not wholesale in nature, and later interpretations of law can whittle them back from their ostensibly intended purposes. This may indeed be the fate for some insurance and insurance-like products sold to consumers who purchase and finance such products in connection with the purchase or lease of an automobile.

Passing the Compliance Test

by John Lovin

F&I Showroom

February 2015

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has not wavered in its belief that policies that allow dealers to mark up the interest rate on retail installment sale transactions creates a fair lending risk, with Toyota and Honda’s captive finance companies being the latest finance sources to be targeted. The attention dealer reserve is getting has caused some finance sources to limit rate participation, while others have eliminated dealer markups altogether.

This bureau’s activities have left dealers with a lot of unanswered questions: Is the CFPB coming after dealers next? If so, how can a dealership protect itself? If finance sources are pressured into eliminating rate participation, how will dealers make up for the lost revenue? Let’s examine these questions individually.