Meet Your Drill Instructors: Collection Boot Camp Panelist Interview (sponsored)

PDCflow’s March Skip Tracing Guide blog post marked the end of our collection boot camp series. Throughout these posts, we discussed compliance management systems, collection settlement campaigns and more. The knowledge provided in our write-ups is thanks to the expert panelists at the California Association of Collectors who created the courses on which our articles were based. Now it’s time to learn a bit more about the collection professionals who provided all that knowledge. Meet your drill instructors: 

Shawn Suhr - CEO, Continental Credit Control

Shawn B. Suhr, the CEO and Co-owner of Continental Credit Control (CCC), is a Santa Barbara native with third generational roots in the collection arena. Growing up in his family’s repossession business, he had begun his education within the industry far before he began his 25 year career w/ CCC. Prior to his current position, Shawn worked his way from a clerical position into the Operations Manager role for more than a decade. He sat on the DAKCS Software Advisory Board, and currently serves as the Vice President for the California Association of Collectors. In his off hours, Shawn is an avid fisherman, Francophile and photographer.

What do you hope the collection boot camp accomplished?

Bring education to the front end collector and collection managers.

What is the one takeaway you hope attendees got from these courses?

That CAC is a place for sharing and networking with peers.

What would you like to address/see discussed in future installments of Collection Boot Camp?

Defusing escalated calls, and how not to be pushed into a bad answer.

What do you hope to see in the future of the credit and collections industry?

Safe harbor and a clear allowable voice message and TCPA reform.

Fun Fact:  I’m an avid fisherman and the only way you can get me to a 7am meeting is on the water. 

June Coleman - Shareholder, Kronick, Moskovitz, Tidemann & Griard

June, Shareholder at Kronik, Moskovitz, Tidemann & Girard, is a defense litigator with more than 20 years of experience representing local, state and national clients in complex civil litigation disputes before state and federal courts at both the trial and appellate levels. Her areas of emphasis include defense of consumer rights actions, including litigation involving the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, as well as professional liability defense, class actions, commercial litigation, creditors rights, employment law, and litigation involving technology and electronic data. June has also developed an expertise in opposing attorney fee motions in both state and federal court.

Number of years in the industry: 19 

What do you hope the collection boot camp accomplished?

I hope the Collection Boot Camp provided agencies with enough information to ensure that they are compliant, and shared the importance of written compliance procedures.

What is the one takeaway you hope attendees got from these courses?

How to develop compliance procedures.

What would you like to address/see discussed in future installments of Collection Boot Camp?

I think another topic of interest might be credit reporting or collection litigation                    

What do you hope to see in the future of the credit and collections industry?

I hope that there is more clarity in the legal obligations for agencies, because the agencies I work with want to be compliant.

Fun fact: I enjoy judging rabbits, which I have done for about 35 years.

Kelly Parsons-O’Brien - CEO, Credit Bureau Associates

Kelly Parsons-O’Brien is a third generation debt collector; she has worked for the family business since 1994 when she was a freshman in high school. Kelly took a small break from the business for an adventure in college, then a couple of jobs including work at Wells Fargo Bank and Sierra Spring Water. She came back to Credit Bureau Associates in 1998 for the adventure of being the Collection Manager. In January of 2015 Kelly, along with her business partner, purchased the company. She has worked diligently to learn every aspect of the business in her over 24 years with Credit Bureau Associates. Kelly currently serves as the President for the California Associations of Collectors, and has a passion for transforming a new hire into superstar performers.

Number of years in the industry: 25

What do you hope the collection boot camp accomplished?

I hope that we shared information that would be helpful for each agency. Our goal was to provide a balance of compliance and opportunities for increased income through our Tax settlement plan.

What is the one takeaway you hope attendees got from these courses?

Of course the Tax Settlement Plan would be something that I hoped everyone used, but I also believe we shared several great compliance items to help with compliant collections.

What would you like to address/see discussed in future installments of Collection Boot Camp?

Judgment collections and Skiptracing are things that I really enjoy. It would be nice to see more information on creative ways that agencies are collecting on their judgments.

What do you hope to see in the future of the credit and collections industry?

FDCPA reform is top of my list, however I know that will take time. It would be nice if one day we can have security in knowing that if we collect in this manner, then we can be safe from frivolous lawsuits. I know, seems far-fetched, but a girl can dream!

Fun fact: For many this is no surprise, but I am a big baseball fan. We enjoyed a few Spring Training games in Phoenix, before we drove to Las Vegas for the ACA Spring Forum.

Courtney Reynaud - President, Creditors Bureau USA

Courtney Reynaud is the President/CEO of Creditors Bureau USA. She is a 3^rd generation Debt Collector who began working in the family business when she was just 15 years old. Over the years, her career has allowed her to wear many different hats within the Collection Industry.  Her professional experience is rooted in the healthcare industry, with a special understanding of law and consumer rights. Courtney is currently serving as President-Elect/CFO of the California Association of Collectors

Number of years in the industry:

I have been in the Collection Industry forever…well, since my  birth.  Don’t worry, no child labor laws were broken, but this business has been in my blood since birth.  My great Aunt and Uncle started this business in 1935 and my Mom purchased the company a few years before I was born.  I am the 3^rd generation of our business and my husband and I purchased the Company in 2017.

What do you hope the collection boot camp accomplished?

I hope that we were able to provide at least one piece of information that an agency didn’t know before or some new piece of information that can help in your shop. I also hope that my fellow CAC members know that we are all in this together. 

What is the one takeaway you hope attendees got from these courses?

There is not one “cookie cutter” way to handle Debt Collection and Debt Collection Compliance as evidenced by the fact that Kelly, Shawn and myself all perceive and manage these issues different from each other. That being said, I hope that a takeaway for members is not that the Agency has to handle their Debt Collection/Compliance exactly like I do but that they can pick and choose which compliant methods and ideas work best in their own Agency. 

What would you like to address/see discussed in future installments of Collection Boot Camp?

I would like to have a future bootcamp that addresses the issues that our Front Line (aka Debt Collectors) face.  A Best Practices from the front lines that provides tools for a Debt Collector to probe for more information from a reluctant consumer and new ideas for overcoming stalls and objections and how to recognize and handle “Call Baiting”. 

What do you hope to see in the future of the credit and collections industry?

For the first time in many years, we have a sympathetic legislative climate.  My hope is that with more business-minded politicians and appointees in the Federal Legislature, and hopefully the State Legislature come 2018, that we will be able to positively impact the debt collection industry’s image and update some of the outdated regulations. 

Fun fact: I enjoy Freedive Spearfishing. Freediving is the sport of diving underwater without the use of breathing apparatus. However while I do this, I use a Speargun to hunt for fish to eat and enjoy with family and friends.  My next big trip is to Baja, Mexico in June where I hope to land a Tuna and/or a Dorado (Mahi Mahi). 

PDCflow would like to say thank you to these four credit and collection professionals for sharing their experience and knowledge in the Collection Boot Camp series. See more Collection Boot Camp articles.

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