Category: News

The Compliance Gap That Was Missed – Until RISC Was Hired

Posted on by Holly Balogh

A fraudulent policy passed every review but ours.

Earlier this year, one of RISC’s due diligence reviews caught something that had gone unnoticed for years: a vendor operating under a fraudulent insurance policy that had cleared every prior review—just not RISC’s. In a few weeks, we’ll walk through what we found and how. For now, it’s the clearest example we have of what “independent” third-party oversight means. Trust us, it’s more than just a word on a website.

Since 2009, RISC has set the standard for independent third-party compliance oversight in the repossession industry. We don’t represent a lender, forwarder or recovery agency. Our job is simple: independently determine whether the vendors in your network are actually meeting your requirements.

That distinction matters. In 2026, RISC uncovered fraudulent insurance documentation that had passed previous reviews.

It wasn’t uncovered because we collected another certificate. It was uncovered because we verified it.
 
For several clients and forwarders, this year compliance stopped being a box to check. Vetting vendors properly, verifying what’s actually happening on the lot, and keeping pace with licensing requirements and insurance challenges requires a partner who can independently confirm what’s real, not just accept what’s on paper.

RISC has been the industry standard for independent third-party compliance oversight since 2009.
See what independent oversight looks like. Contact RISC for more: [email protected]

RISC Is Excited to Announce our New Partnership With Resolution Management Group

Posted on by Holly Balogh

Resolution Management Group Partners with Recovery Industry Services Company to Strengthen Compliance Oversight

Tampa, FL — September 2026

Recovery Industry Services Company (RISC) today announced a new partnership with Resolution Management Group, a national forwarder in the recovery industry. Through the agreement, RISC will provide independent vendor vetting and site inspection services across Resolution Management Group’s agent network, supporting its commitment to a compliant, professional recovery operation.

About the Partnership
RISC provides a vendor oversight framework designed to support audit-ready operations across a forwarder’s agent network. The partnership gives Resolution Management Group added visibility and independent review across its network, complementing its existing compliance efforts.
Through this partnership, Resolution Management Group will benefit from:

  • Vendor vetting that helps confirm agents in the network meet compliance requirements.
  • Independent site inspections across its agent network, conducted with consistency and rigor.

“RISC is excited to work with the leadership at RMG. Kirt Ziesman and Jason Clark bring decades of experience from all pillars of the industry: lender, forwarding, and recovery. By choosing RISC, RMG shows what a modern, compliance-focused forwarder looks like. RISC supports RMG’s commitment to compliance, and we couldn’t be more proud to stand beside them.”— Holly Balogh, President, Recovery Industry Services Company

“The recovery industry was built on trust – trust between forwarders, agents, lenders, and the consumers we serve. At RMG, we know the strength of a forwarder is only as good as the network behind it. We’ve never been a ‘volume at all costs’ company and believe that doing this right matters more than doing it fast; that compliance, integrity, and professionalism aren’t obstacles to results, but the foundation of them. RISC has spent years building the infrastructure that protects that trust, and aligning with them is a natural extension of who we are. Their independent vetting and inspection process holds our network to a standard we’re proud to stand behind, and that independent accountability is exactly what our clients and our agents deserve. We don’t partner with just anyone. We partner with the best – and RISC is exactly that.”
— Jason Clark, Managing Partner, Resolution Management Group

Have questions about how RISC can support your compliance needs? Reach out today to start the conversation.

RISC is proud to be the leading compliance platform in the repossession industry.

About Recovery Industry Services Company (RISC)
RISC provides independent compliance and vendor oversight services to clients in the recovery industry nationwide. Its framework is built to support audit-ready operations and risk reduction across lenders’ recovery networks. Learn more at RISCUS.com.

About Resolution Management Group
Resolution Management Group (RMG) is a nationwide repossession management forwarding company serving the automotive finance industry from its headquarters in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. RMG was founded with a shared vision of breaking the forwarder mold and becoming a genuine voice for the foundation of the industry: the service providers in the field. With a vetted network of 500+ independent recovery agents spanning all 50 states, RMG bridges the gap between lenders and agents, operating at the highest professional standards while fostering a culture of respect, transparency, and shared success. The company remains focused on advancing the recovery industry through knowledge, accountability, and partnership – putting the “Customer” back in Customer Service.

Trynity Financial Services Selects RISC for Independent Compliance Oversight

Posted on by Holly Balogh

Partnership will bring centralized vendor vetting, document monitoring, and facility inspections to Trynity’s national Partner Agent Network

 

TAMPA, FL – RISC announced today that Trynity Financial Services has selected RISC to provide independent compliance oversight for its national Partner Agent Network. Under the agreement, RISC will perform vendor vetting and due diligence, verify and monitor required documentation, and conduct facility inspections across the network.

The agreement builds on a period of significant growth for RISC. In the past 90 days, RISC has added Credit Acceptance and Bridgecrest as clients, reflecting increased demand among lenders for independent, centralized oversight of recovery networks.

“We are pleased to welcome Trynity Financial Services to RISC,” said Holly Balogh, president of RISC. “Trynity’s decision to engage an independent compliance provider demonstrates a commitment to applying consistent standards across its Partner Agent Network. RISC will provide Trynity with a centralized process for monitoring required documentation, reviewing vendor qualifications, and verifying facility conditions.”

Forwarding companies manage complex networks of independent repossession agencies across multiple states. They are accountable to lender clients for the conduct and qualifications of every service provider in their network, often spanning hundreds of independent agencies across multiple states. RISC’s platform and inspection program are designed to centralize that work, reduce administrative burden, and provide greater visibility across the network.

“RISC provides the independent, consistent compliance support we need to meet our clients’ requirements,” said John Fountaine, president of Trynity Financial Services. “This partnership will strengthen our oversight, improve visibility across the network, and allow our team to remain focused on transparent, efficient recovery management.”

Onboarding of Trynity’s Agent Network will begin immediately.

About RISC: RISC provides compliance support and professional education to lenders, forwarding companies, and repossession agencies nationwide. Its services include vendor vetting, document monitoring, onsite facility inspections, and industry education. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, RISC helps clients centralize vendor oversight, reduce administrative burden, and maintain greater visibility across their recovery networks. For more information, visit www.riscus.com or email [email protected].

About Trynity Financial Services: Trynity Financial Services is a technology-forward collateral recovery management company serving lenders and recovery agencies through its national Agent Network. Owned and operated under Transaction Solutions, LLC, Trynity coordinates the collateral recovery process from assignment through completion and serves high-volume accounts throughout the contiguous United States. For more information, visit https://trynityfs.com/

RISC to Power Credit Acceptance’s Compliance Oversight

Posted on by Holly Balogh

Tampa, FL — July 2026
Recovery Industry Services Company (RISC) today announced that Credit Acceptance Corporation has selected RISC to provide independent, inspection-related service provider vetting and due diligence across its repossession service provider network. The engagement establishes a consistent, independent due diligence process that supports Credit Acceptance’s ongoing commitment to a vetted, compliant, and professional network of recovery partners.

About the Partnership
Under the agreement, RISC will provide independent, inspection-related vetting and due diligence services across Credit Acceptance’s repossession network. By centralizing these functions with a single, dedicated provider, Credit Acceptance gains a uniform standard of review and greater visibility across its agent and forwarding networks, reinforcing a due diligence process built on professionalism, compliance, and strong business relationships.

Through this engagement, Credit Acceptance will benefit from:

  • Service provider vetting that helps confirm providers meet compliance and due diligence requirements
  • Independent lot inspections
  • Document review and ownership background checks
  • Greater visibility across agent and forwarding networks, supporting audit-ready operations and risk management across tiers

“We’re proud to support Credit Acceptance with the kind of independent, detail-oriented oversight that helps lenders maintain strong, audit-ready compliance programs. Applying a single, consistent standard across a repossession network is exactly the kind of work RISC was built to do, and we look forward to a long partnership with Credit Acceptance.”
— Holly Balogh, President, Recovery Industry Services Company

“Transitioning our service provider vetting and due diligence to RISC gives us a consistent, independent process across our entire network. It strengthens our compliance program while supporting the professional service providers we rely on every day, and we’re glad to be working with RISC as we continue to invest in that network.”
—Matthew Siewicki, Senior Manager, Repossession Network and Services Support, Credit Acceptance Corporation

Bridgecrest Partners with RISC to Strengthen Compliance Oversight

Posted on by Holly Balogh
RISC is excited to announce our new partnership with Bridgecrest! 
Tampa, FL — June 2026

Recovery Industry Services Company (RISC) today announced a new partnership with Bridgecrest, one of the most respected names in automotive lending. Through the agreement, RISC will provide independent vendor oversight and compliance services that support Bridgecrest as it continues to scale its operations and invest in the strength of its compliance program.

About the Partnership
RISC provides a vendor oversight framework designed to support audit-ready operations across a lender’s recovery network. The partnership gives Bridgecrest added visibility and independent review across its agent and forwarding networks, complementing its existing compliance efforts.
Through this partnership, Bridgecrest will benefit from:
* Vendor vetting that helps confirm agents in the network meet compliance requirements
* Independent site inspections across its direct agent network, conducted with consistency and rigor
* Greater visibility into its forwarding network, supporting accountability and risk management across tiers

“We’re glad to welcome Bridgecrest as a partner. Our goal is to deliver the kind of independent, detail-oriented oversight that helps lenders maintain strong, audit-ready compliance programs, and we look forward to supporting Bridgecrest’s continued growth.”
— Holly Balogh, President, Recovery Industry Services Company

“We’re excited to partner with RISC as we continue investing in the strength and scale of our compliance program. Their platform adds valuable visibility across our network, and we look forward to building on that as our operations grow.”
— John Messiha, Head of Loss Mitigation and Lending Operations, Bridgecrest

RISC is proud to be the leading compliance platform in the repossession industry.

RISC Expands Its Education Platform – State-Specific Continuing Education Now Included Free

Posted on by Holly Balogh

RISC is making it easier than ever to stay ahead of compliance expectations. State-Specific Continuing Education is now included at no additional cost with every Federal Law CE course purchased — giving your agency more value and better preparation in a single step.

Why it matters

Lenders and National Forwarders expect agents to be armed with state-specific compliance knowledge — even if those requirements aren’t yet formalized. By demonstrating your commitment to compliance at the state level today, you will be better positioned to retain and grow client relationships tomorrow.

RISC’s expanded curriculum gives you exactly that — practical, scenario-based training built around the statutes and enforcement standards that apply to your location.

Each state-specific module delivers:

  • Targeted interpretation of state laws and regulations
  • Real-world scenario training for recovery situations
  • Stronger client credibility through demonstrable compliance competence

Getting started is simple

  1. Visit www.riscus.com and go to Education
  2. Under CARS for Agents or CARS for Continuing Education, select your state-specific supplement
  3. Add it to your cart — it’s automatically added to your dashboard

RISC Pro members save 45% on all CARS and Continuing Education courses.

In Memoriam – RISC Founding Partner, Joe Taylor 1936-2026

Posted on by Holly Balogh

It is with profound sadness that RISC announces the passing of Joe Taylor, a founding partner, visionary, and dear friend, who left us at the age of 90. Joe entered the repossession industry in 1961 as a repossessor for Associates Finance Company and spent the decades that followed leaving an indelible mark on the profession — known throughout the industry as a man of calm, patience, and deep compassion for both the industry and the borrower alike.

In 1999, after recognizing the urgent need for change in the industry to better protect agents, consumers, and clients, Joe Taylor partnered with Stamatis Ferarolis to create what would become his defining legacy: the Certified Asset Recovery Specialist (CARS) program — the industry’s first nationally accepted repossession compliance certification. Working tirelessly alongside RISC CEO Stamatis Ferarolis, Joe and Stamatis developed the comprehensive education manual to support agents’ understanding of federal repossession law. To this day, CARS remains recognized by the legal and financial worlds as the cornerstone of all repossession compliance education programs.

Joe remained a trusted business partner and close friend to RISC until his retirement at the age of 82. In 2020, Joe was diagnosed with Lyme disease, a debilitating illness that brought him chronic pain, dizziness, and fatigue. With the steadfast support of his wife, Elizabeth, and his son, Brian, Joe pursued treatment and faced his illness with the same quiet strength and dignity that defined his character throughout his life.

“Joe was a true pioneer, industry advocate, and close personal friend. Joe’s legacy will live on through the CARS program.”
– Stamatis Ferarolis, CEO & Founder, RISC, LLC

Joe Taylor was one of the kindest and gentlest men the repossession industry has ever known. His passing is a loss felt deeply across the profession he dedicated his life to improving. Our heartfelt condolences go to his wife, Liz, his son, Brian, and all who had the honor of knowing him.

5 Marketing Tactics for Your Repossession Agency to Gain More Clients

Posted on by RISC

Marketing your repossession agency is not necessarily a straightforward endeavor.  Repossession agencies do not market themselves like a typical local business nor are all marketing tactics apparent. As a repossession agency, your primary customer is the creditor: banks, credit unions, captive lenders, national forwarding companies, and so on. How do these clients find their vendors? There are multiple marketing tactics for repossession agencies. The most important tactics are through your compliance profile, with online presence and via email outreach. 

Compliance Profile

A compliance profile is generally not the first thing that any recovery agent thinks of when making a marketing plan. However, the savvy ones know that creditors have a high level of risk when dealing with self-help repossession and therefore need to be sure that their vendors are taking all precautions to reduce their risk. The creditors want to know they can trust you and that you will keep them away from lawsuits. When an agency demonstrates that their compliance documentation including annual training, insurance accords, business licenses, lot inspections, and more are in order, they have a leg up on the competition.

The best option to showcase compliance is through a RISC Pro membership. RISC Pro gives you this compliance profile, tools, and support to keep your compliance rating at the top. In addition to the tools, RISC Pro is a platform where creditors can see the agents who take their compliance seriously. It allows agents to quickly share their profile with creditors, creating an easy marketing tool to talk with prospective clients. You know that the collateral recovery industry has different rules, so being able to market your compliance standing is more important than any website or advertisement.

Website

A website will not necessarily be the most crucial element of marketing a repossession agency, but in the 21st century, nearly every business should have a website of some sort. Everyone goes to the www to find what they need or to get more information on a company. You may not necessarily land a new client through your website, but it can be your online contact card. Use your website to showcase that you are CARS certified or licensed in a specific state. List your services, your coverage area, and promote your mantra on how you do business professionally. Without a website, you are missing an opportunity for a potential client to find and learn more about you. 

It can be intimidating to make a website, but it does not need to be a multi-thousand-dollar endeavor. Many platforms such as Wix or Squarespace provide the tools to create a website with no coding necessary. These plug and play options will cost you under $25 per month if you are moderately tech-savvy. Or, search out online services that will create a website for you at a low price. If you need a logo, there are dozens of sites that do affordable logo design. Tailored Logo, Fiverr, or Canva are a few examples. Online apps are making marketing material creation easier each day.

Social Media

Social media can be a time suck and a rabbit hole for negative dialogue. If properly used, it is another way to increase your online presence. LinkedIn and Facebook are the most valuable platforms where repossession dialogue occurs and industry contacts ‘hang out’. LinkedIn is the platform where many contacts of your creditor clients are active and searchable. It is also the more professional platform where creditors seek the professional agent. Locate the vendor managers, repossession supervisors, or asset recovery directors working for the clients you hope to work for. Connect and add them to your network. Reach out to them via LinkedIn Inmail or a personal email to set up a call or talk via email. Be proactive in finding the clients you want for your business. 

Facebook is the platform where a lot of the recovery agent chatter happens. Generally, you do not see much conversation from lending clients or third-party providers, but they are definitely on Facebook listening. Actively posting in the groups that have a positive or constructive dialogue can elevate you as an agency owner. It will shine a positive light on your business but be aware who might be reading. Bashing creditors will not help you get business with any of them. In some cases your posts can even be used against you in a lawsuit. Overall, social media is a great tool to increase your online visibility, but it can eat up a lot of your time. You also must be careful of how you want to present yourself and your company online. 

Google Listing

One quick and easy way to improve your online presence is to add your company to Google My Business. Finding recovery agencies is generally not something lenders do by searching the web, but there is always the chance that someone might be looking for you. It only takes about 10 minutes so there is no reason not to check this simple online marketing checkbox. 

Electronic PDF Sales Flyer

Many recovery agencies choose to omit certain details on websites since the recovery business has unique safety and legal concerns. For this reason, a great marketing tool can be a simple email along with a detailed digital sales flyer for prospective clients. This flyer can provide more details about your lots, offices, policies, services, and attention to compliance. It’s a perfect piece of marketing collateral to send direct to prospective clients. Designing a sales flyer can be done in Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple Keynote, or other simple online design tools. Ensure it looks professional, matches your website, includes contact details, and is an emailable-sized PDF. 

In short, marketing tactics for repossession agencies need to be nurtured if gaining new clients is a goal. These are not the only tactics to increase your client base, but they are essential. Your compliance profile is the most important thing creditors want to see. If you do not have an online presence, you are missing the boat.   

Insurance: Creditor Requirements for Repossession Agents

Posted on by RISC

by Holly Balogh : RISC / President

Insurance coverage requirements vary significantly from one creditor to the next. Although the insurance industry provides coverage in the trillions of dollars, repossession is a $50MM niche market. Unfortunately, many insurance carriers and professionals struggle to understand this unique industry and many times are unable to provide the insurance these agents are asked to carry.

Recently, RISC was asked to provide an analysis to creditors about common expectations and baseline requirements for repossession insurance.  RISC performs vendor vetting compliance services to more than 40 creditors and national forwarders across the U.S. and monitors over 2,000 repossession agencies.  RISC’s vetting services includes reviewing agencies’ insurance policies and puts us in a unique position to observe trends in this critical area of compliance.

Recent trends of non-standard requirements include the waiver of subrogation on an employer’s liability insurance and cyber liability limits of $5MM per occurrence. For the waiver, only a small handful of lenders ask for this, but carriers will almost always deny this request as it puts them in an unenviable position. For the requirement of a cyber liability insurance limit of $5MM per occurrence, recovery agents simply do not have these limits, and finding a repo agent who will obtain and pay for a policy with this requirement is challenging. Another request that is unusual is Professional Liability, also known as Errors and Omissions (E&O) with a limit of $5MM per occurrence.  Again, repossession agencies do not carry a policy with that high of a limit. Generally, agents maintain limits according to their service level agreements with their clients and they vary from no required limit to as high as $1MM per occurrence as seen in the chart below.

Despite these unique expectations, commonality does exist.  Of the 40+ creditors that RISC supports for vendor vetting, 63% require a Commercial General Liability insurance of $1MM per occurrence and $2MM general aggregate, and 25% require limits of $1MM per occurrence and $3MM general aggregate.  Only 6% require a $2MM per occurrence coverage, and another 6% have no specific requirement on limits. 

Similarly, all of RISC’s creditor clients require Vehicle Liability insurance covering owned, non-owned, and leased vehicles of not less than $1MM combined single limit. In addition to the major coverage requirements, creditors have varying limit requirements for garage keepers, on-hook, and wrongful repossession coverages, as seen in the following charts.

The most important takeaway from our observations regarding insurance for repossession agencies is that there are very few insurance providers in this industry. Creditors need to be aware of nonstandard requests that are near impossible for agents to obtain or afford. Creditors may need to be prepared to pay agencies a premium if they want to demand these out-of-the-ordinary coverage requirements.

RISC is the leading authority in the compliance services industry for collateral recovery. We provide education, vendor vetting, and lot inspection services for clients across the country. If lenders or national forwarding companies have additional questions about insurance coverage standard practices, please contact RISC at [email protected] or call (813) 712-7535 to start a conversation with an expert.

DISCLAIMER: Limits defined in the statistics from the charts above are based on an average of RISC, LLC’s more than 40 vendor vetting client requirements. These are not intended to provide legal advice to creditors or claim to be legal standards, but rather are intended to show potential trends.

Skip tracing not only helps locate bad debts, but also helps unmask child predators on the internet.

Posted on by RISC

Story by RISC

Skip tracing has long been a crucial skill and an integral part of the auto repossession process. It involves collecting information on a person in question, analyzing and verifying that information, then using it to determine that person’s location. A skip tracer is part data miner and part private investigator and the art of skip tracing requires talent to nurture. One of the leading experts in repossession skip tracing is Alex “SkipGuru” Price, the Director of Training & Development at LocateSmarter. Price has been skip tracing and advising the auto finance industry for over 30 years on tracing individuals who are no longer making timely car payments. Price is also the creator of RISC’s Skip Tracer Certification program that is widely used by the collateral recovery industry as well as private investigators, bounty hunters, news reporters, and others.

Price has always been first in line to use his skills or certification programs to help out a good cause. His latest volunteer effort is support for the Innocent Lives Foundation (ILF). ILF is a nonprofit organization that utilizes the unique skill set of computer security and OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) professionals to unmask child predators on the internet and help bring them to justice. Sadly, 1 in 10 children will be a victim of sexual abuse before their 18th birthday. ILF is committed to protecting childrens’ innocence as they hunt down the worst of the worst — pedophiles, sexual predators, and human traffickers — while also providing critical evidence to US and international law enforcement agencies. Since its inception, the ILF has had over 239 cases accepted by law enforcement. The impact the case support has had on childrens’ lives is immeasurable. “Working with the ILF is a great passion of mine, and I intend to put all my resources and contacts into helping their mission,” says Price. “As parents of two great kids, my wife and I have been blessed never to have had the experience of any violent crime in our family. It is hard for us even to imagine the torture these poor children have endured, so if one dime of my certification program sales or one friend volunteers to help the ILF to save children, then my entire career will be worth it”, says Price. 

To support ILF, RISC and Alex “SkipGuru” Price will donate 100% of the proceeds of the sale of the Skip-Tracing Certification Program to ILF for the months of February and March 2021. RISC and Price have also set a challenge to other skip tracers to reach out to ILF to donate any amount of their time and skills to support the cause. “I know many of the best investigators in the world, and I challenge each of you to find out how you can help save a child. God bless anyone that is able to contribute in any way!” says Price. “Partnerships with individuals like Alex Price, and companies such as RISC are vital to our mission, for many reasons,” adds Shane McCombs, Chief Operating Officer at ILF. “First off, it can cost up to $10,000 for the ILF to create and deliver a case to law enforcement. And, as a 501(c)3, we rely solely on generous donations to continue our vital work”, says McCombs. “In addition to fundraising initiatives, these partnerships are an essential way that our organization can gain new exposure to groups and individuals who align themselves with our mission,” declares McCombs.

Here are a few ways that the public can help. First, visit the Innocent Lives Foundation website, to learn more. You may have a needed skill or another way you can contribute. Second, purchase the RISC Skip Tracer Certification Program in February and March, and in addition to becoming a Certified Skip Tracer, all proceeds from the program will go directly to ILF. Lastly, you can watch Alex Price and ILF during a fireside chat on February 9th at 7pm EST to hear more about their efforts. Join them live on the streaming website Twitch. Please spread the word and contribute where you can. 

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