Page 101 - CARS Standard Program

Failure to notify law enforcement, regardless of the type of recovery, could result in the collateral being reported stolen. Such negligence by the Recovery Agent could also result in criminal charges or civil litigation against the Recovery Agent, the Recovery Agency, the creditor and the insurance carrier.
Personal Property Inventory and Storage
If personal effects or other property not covered by the Security Agreement are contained in or on recovered collateral, a complete and accurate inventory shall be made of such personal effects or property by the Recovery Agent who recovered the collateral immediately upon securing the collateral at the place where it will be stored. After- market products that have been permanently affixed to the collateral are not considered to be personal property and must not be removed. “Permanently affixed” is defined as those items that require a tool of some kind be used for removal. Such items include, but are not limited to:
A. In-dash GPS systems
B. Televisions
C. Power Stereo Amps
D. Speakers
E. CBs
F. After-market tires and/or rims
G. Custom exhaust systems
H. Permanently affixed tool boxes
I. Any hard-wired or bolted items
Note: Removal of any item considered permanently affixed must be approved, in writing, by the creditor, and the creditor or debtor is required to pay any removal fee.
The personal property inventory should be signed by the Recovery Agent who recovered the collateral and any witnesses (if possible). The personal effects or other property inventoried shall then be properly labeled with the debtor’s name and placed in secured storage. The signed, Personal Property Inventory document shall immediately be provided to office staff so that the required personal property notification can be provided to the debtor. (See Section 7, Office Procedures Post Recovery).
Note: There have been lawsuits for conversion when the debtor’s car contains personal property at the time of repossession. In GMAC v. Vincent and Nadalin v. Automobile Recovery Bureau, Inc., the courts have recognized that the Security Agreement between the creditor and the debtor authorizes the creditor to take “any goods found in the vehicle not covered by this Agreement at the time of repossession, provided that the lender makes reasonable efforts to return them to the debtor after repossession.”