TFA & ARA Combine Associations
We, the leadership at Time Finance Adjusters, are excited to announce that two of the nations’ most professional repossession trade associations, the American Recovery Association (ARA) and Time Finance Adjusters (TFA), are joining together.
We believe this is the most significant event to take place in the repossession industry in modern times. By taking advantage of each other’s strengths, this move forms a unified and restructured organization unlike anything that has existed in the industry’s past.
At TFA, we’re proud of our TFA Guide, our member communication network through the ‘E-Zines,’ and how we’ve fostered the TFA ‘Family Mentality. ARA has led the way with industry-wide events like the North American Repossessors Summit, compliance monitoring, and member benefits. By merging these two associations and combining our clout, we will enhance our efficiency, efficacy, and outreach.
The new organization is being formed with the direct input of many of the best repossessors in the country. This is the result of two day-long brainstorming sessions held earlier in 2018. Men and women from both organizations volunteered their time and resources to help build the framework for this new entity. This has never happened before.
The underlying theme of those strategy sessions was to build an organization with “One Voice, Strong and United”. That premise resonated throughout each of the historic meetings.
As a result of these planning and input sessions, the new organization will remain member-owned, with an all-volunteer board of directors. Patrick Altes will be named to the executive board of the new organization. TFA will remain as the publishing arm of the new organization, with TFA’s Todd Squires joining the communication and social media team.
TFA’s heritage has been rooted in its independent ownership by our family. While that worked extremely well in its day, now is the time to restructure and turn the ownership of this new association to its collective members. We think Harvey (TFA’s founder) would approve.
When you look at Washington, you see the inefficiencies caused by the pointless polarization and game-playing by both political parties. Until today, that could also describe our industry. As a result, we’ve been completely unable to affect any sort of change for our members. We’ve had no large collective voice, and this has paralyzed our industry. Unifying is our last, and best chance, for making any long-lasting changes. ARA has shared the vision, and it has been a real pleasure working with Les McCook and David Kennedy on bringing this initiative to life.
The response from membership has been overwhelmingly positive. They know it’s time for a change for the betterment of the industry. We are responding to the call to unite. This is our chance to really make a difference.
We expect the new association to launch January 2019.
Sincerely,
Nicki Merthe and Patrick Altes of Time Finance Adjusters