Houston, Texas-The National Alliance of Buy Here, Pay Here Dealers (NABD) reports that approximately 500 attendees participated in its Underwriting and Collections Conference held recently in Houston on November 11-13, 2007.

This show focused on what operators must do to succeed in todays challenging economic environment, says Ken Shilson, CPA and NABD conference chairman. With the recent subprime mortgage meltdown, tightening capital markets and low consumer liquidity have moved good underwriting and collections to center stage!

Keynote Speaker Terry OLoughlin, director of compliance for Reynolds and Reynolds and formerly of the Florida attorney generals office, and attorneys Tom Hudson and Chuck Dodge, pooled their knowledge to educate the participants on the many regulatory and compliance issues facing the BHPH industry. The show included over two hours of questions and answers where attendees could get answers to legal and regulatory questions. OLoughlin outlined what operators must do to avoid attorney general complaints which carry substantial penalties and adverse publicity.

Speakers Rick Potter (Car Financial Services), Somir Paul (Woodlands Financial Services), Jennifer French (Equifax), and Ken Shilson (Subprime Analytics), emphasized the importance of improved underwriting practices in order to avoid the huge losses which have plagued the subprime mortgage market. In todays market, deals must be structured to ensure that customers can pay for the vehicles they purchase over the term of the contracts.

New market opportunities with unscored consumers and customers over 55 years old were discussed. Equifax and Subprime Analytics announced the launch of some new products to help identify the best customers in these markets. Operators were encouraged to use these new analytical tools in order to capitalize on the opportunities.

Skip tracing techniques was another important topic of discussion by international recovery expert Ron Brown. In addition to Ron Brown, four of the nations leading operators, Fran Chatman, Bruce Kennett, James Meinecke, and Thomas Pass, shared their best practices for how attendees can improve their underwriting and collection systems and procedures. The program also featured nearly one hour of role playing examples which illustrated the best practices discussed during the interactive sessions. All of these sessions were moderated by Ingram Walters, one of the nations most successful operators.

A sold-out exhibit hall allowed attendees to network with other operators and industry experts during two receptions and a luncheon. The program also featured vendor presentations in separate workshops covering credit scoring and portfolio analysis, payment devices, dealer management software, and other topics to deepen each attendees understanding of the information covered during the general education sessions. These presentations focused on important information and not on infomercials, Shilson notes.

Shilson indicates that attendees left the conference much better prepared to prosper during the months ahead. Copies of all presentations will be posted on the NABD Website for the benefit of those who could not attend. Copies of some new portfolio performance benchmarks will be posted at the Subprime Analytics Website, www.subanalytics.com, as well.

NABD also announced that it will hold its tenth annual National Buy Here, Pay Here Conference on May 6-8, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Sponsors and those interested in participating are urged to visit www.bhphinfo.com or call 713-290-8171 for further information or to register.