Dealers to soon face Red Flag requirements

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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – If you’re a boat dealer, and the federal Red Flags requirement isn’t on your radar screen yet, it should be.

The Red Flags requirement is designed to detect, prevent and mitigate instances of identity theft. And while identity theft can be devastating to individuals, who do you think typically bares the brunt of the monetary damage? That’s right – businesses.

Not only will your business be required to comply with this rule, scheduled to go into effect on May 1, compliance can go a long way toward protecting you and your customers from becoming victims of identity theft.

Then, there is your boat finance service to consider. Lenders also fall under this rule, so they put themselves at risk by doing business with you if you’re not compliant. Therefore, it is critical for you to be compliant if you’d like to continue to offer your customers boat financing.

To learn more about this and other key areas of compliance, as well as training solutions for your business, click here to read Boating Industry magazine’s Web Exclusive, “Protect yourself,” or visit www.boating-industry.com and scroll down to the Web Exclusives section.

Solex to provide dealers with tool kits

One business stepping up to help dealers with compliance is Solex, which provides technology to help the RV and marine industries streamline the finance and insurance (F&I) process. The company will offer Wolters Kluwer Financial Services’ Red Flags Tool Kit to RV and marine dealerships across the U.S., Wolters Kluwer Finance Services reported in a statement yesterday.

The Tool Kit provides resources to help dealers implement an identify theft prevention program, including checklists, printable forms and templates that help record and report Red Flags according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requirements, the company reported.

“Understanding Red Flags requirements and ensuring their organization is compliant is a very time-consuming process for dealerships,” said Steve Butler, president and CEO, at Solex. “Wolters Kluwer Financial Services’ Red Flags Tool Kit makes preparing for the May 1 deadline much easier by providing an overview of the rules and how they apply to a dealer’s business.”

“Lenders won’t be able to conduct business with dealerships that do not meet the new requirements — it’s that simple,” said Kevin Kopp, senior director and general manager of Indirect Lending at Wolters Kluwer Financial Services. “The Red Flags Tool Kit shows dealers the steps they can take to build a successful identity theft prevention program, which allows them to maintain strong relationships with the lenders that fund their customers’ loans.”
 
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