Wake up, Buy Here, Pay Here people. It's a beautiful day. Go grab yourself another cup of Joe and say hello to Jim and Michelle Rhodes on the Buy Here, Pay Here Morning Show. Take it away, you two. Hey, good morning. A little technical difficulty this morning. Yeah, we're a little bit late. Yeah, but we're here. Yeah. And we're upright and on the show on a Wednesday. So, you know, all of you know that we were in Vegas last week and, you know, doing the whole, it's the other city that never sleeps and a place where germs from all around the world collide. And so Jim came home with a cold and he has been sick. You think it's a cold? I think you're dying. Are you dying? Well... All I can say is, you know, God bless my, you know, Uncle Robin, my ex-in-law, who's since passed. But Uncle Robin used to say, I'm sicker than most people in the hospital. And it's like I told Michelle when I first started not feeling well. I said, you know, I feel really sick. I just feel like... I don't know that I'm going to die, but I'm going to spend the next couple of days really complaining about how I feel. Well, and I have to say, yeah, it's like the just. Yeah. Yeah. He's he's not been feeling well. And so last night or last night. So are you going to sleep? Because we have a guest room downstairs and he slept downstairs Monday night after the show. He kind of just in a way. just like not crashed but I mean because you worked most of the day but you just after the morning show on monday oh yeah yeah um yeah but uh this morning I woke up and it's like he slept in the same bed and I was like I'm stripping the sheets because I think he I'm still having a fever or something so if he if he looks a little off or acts a little off or sounds a little off I finally have an excuse for acting off that's great nice yeah nice But I'm glad that we're here and all that. And so please, apologies in advance for the sniffles on the microphone. So yeah, we got quite a few things to recap. Had a V8 meeting last night that was excellent. And a lot of data work around that and new conversations. And we had a member from another group who wasn't able to make their meeting in the early part of the month to join in. So that's been an interesting thing. Yeah, same size group. So they... are able to kind of float like that. It's been a nice, um, um, option with that. But yeah, otherwise it's been, uh, been good. A lot of, uh, important conversations, a lot of things going on. And, uh, so yeah, happy to, uh, fun stuff that you have to report. I mean, cause usually when he walks upstairs after the thing, it's like, so how did it go? Right. and so yeah it's always it's it it feels good yeah absolutely to be able to watch people kind of do that the uh the connections and looking at the numbers and asking the questions because jim's like I'll drop a question boom and then step back and see you know or or like here's the thing what do you have to say and it's just interesting to watch Yeah, last night's conversation was really good. We definitely started to touch on some important stuff about decision making relative to underwriting and income factors and a lot of things to look at there. So yeah, it was interesting. But why don't we get to our subject of the day, which I can kind of recap that we have... We had the opportunity to go to the podcast stage on Tuesday evening when they opened the expo hall. Yeah, we were there the whole time. And we were able to interview four different folks. And so today I brought the interview with Chris Machika, who is a COO at Pastime, been with them 26 years. We'll get to the video and let him explain kind of the story. But We also interviewed Tim Lawrence. And I say interview. These were just really nice, casual conversations. You know, we know the people. So, yeah, Tim Lawrence from LHPH. We had Taylor Bird from Dealer Re. And then we had Gordie Tormolin come over. I'm looking forward to it. I enjoyed all of them. There's some of the things we talked about with Gordie that I'm looking forward to sharing. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. But this conversation, I just had them teed up in the order that we recorded them. And so we did the edits. And so we're going to do the Machika one first. And we'll probably just since we interviewed each of our founding sponsors for White Hat Way, we'll probably bring them to the next few White Hat Wednesday conversations. And so today with Chris Machika, I got a video teed up to be able to play our time with him. Shall I start it? You got it over there? that to the stage again we are sitting here on the podcast stage at niada's 2024 expo right now with one of our founding sponsors with Chris Machica from Pastime. So folks who don't know Mr. Machica, Pastime as a company has been 30 plus years. We just stopped and snapped a photo at the booth over there of your timeline and your 30 plus years. Oh my goodness, yeah. Yeah, it's wonderful stuff. And so we're happy to have you here to share a little bit about, especially your relationship with NIEDA as a 30-year company, especially somebody who's heavily served by your payer's base as we do. Just talk a little bit about your company's history and how you guys came to intersect, especially with NIEDA. Sure. Yeah, no. So I've been with pastime for 26 years now that the company's been around for 30 primarily focused in automotive. So you can imagine which I, okay. I just, I, it, the, the audio on this is a little bit low. Um, but, uh, yeah, you just mentioned that he's, he's been with the company for 26 years and past times been around for 30. Right. So, um, Chris actually joined them in, in their it's infancy, I guess you would say as a, at when it was. So he's seen an awful lot of, As being in the industry, he's been around for quite a while. I mean, it's been over two decades. He's been around almost about as long as you have. yeah well he he's been he's been about the same right you and when I first got to know gps I got to know chris and the folks at pastime and so you know we've obviously known them a long time and I think as we go through this um yeah as you mentioned the other thing in the video is we didn't explain that there's also a speaker there so that the people who are passing by in the conference hall can also hear the conversation that's going on and so you pick up a little bit of that so apologies for the the audio quality there, but it's an important conversation. We hope you can hear Chris well enough. And I was going to try to share, Michelle, I don't see a good way to get it. Let me see if I can get it on the screen. I'm going to show that image that we have. Oh, right here. So that's the image right there. So we snapped that photo of their timeline, but then I've also got, let me get it shared. I've got an image that I can show that is can kind of zoom in on, I'll quickly walk folks through the timeline of past time. So can you share? Yes, please. And so that, this is kind of zoomed in on their timeline. So I think it's, oops. So what you've got is Kind of the background on them, they launched with something called Triloc in 1993. And then Payment Assurance Technology came around in 98. And then Past Tech became Pastime. So some of us have been around long enough to remember that name of Past Tech. And then they became Pastime in 2000. Then in 2002, they launched their first GPS device, Pastrax. So those prior devices worked in the car. They were mounted in the car and had certain technology, you know, to be able to, you know, disable if a payment was made, et cetera. But then in 2007, they unveiled the Elite product, which many of us know. I mean, those dealers that are out there using Pastime are quite familiar with that. It combines GPS and collection technology. Okay. So now you've got. That's basically a starter interrupt. Yeah. Yeah. And so, you know, so I think that the significant element of this is you can see that when you're talking to pastime, you're talking about really the innovators, right? These were the people who were innovators. The original innovators, certainly in our country and in our industry, and they've been known to the buy here, pay here space since back then. And then at 2013, they started their shift from 2G to 3G, which we've seen that be a big thing. Those of you who've experienced that know that when they shifted into 4G- And, you know, a lot of people found out the devices that they were working anymore as the as the network changes. So this is something that that's that's what happens when you back on cellular technology. But that's really the only way to to to do effective GPS. Yeah. And I think, you know, we can pause here and say when we talk about and, you know, in this case, we're talking about pastime and GPS technology. I think this is part of the reason that we say that it's important to know who you're doing business with. A lot of times what we see, and again, I wrote an article, it's on LinkedIn from years ago, about this information making decisions about providers, like who do you go with as a provider? And I think what we want to say, and now we, we say that, you know, it's important to understand that past time as a company is a founding sponsor for white hat way. So we, we share that. We add that as, you know, a kind of a thing for people to know sort of a disclaimer. And I think that we want people to also understand the reason that you want to know the people behind the product, know the history of the company is that it's in those kinds of situations where you, Innovation is changing. Technology is changing. Who are the people that you're with and what's their reputation for standing behind what they have? And so I think it's the people element here that is so significant and knowing kind of the history when you're starting to do business with folks like this. It's just you've got quality people. I think as you listen to Chris speak and as we roll the video some more, you'll be able to hear that you're talking about somebody who is very authentic and you know, and genuine in their, their desire to support this industry. And, and obviously they have their own, I'm not having as much luck rolling this as I hope. So. All right. Do you want me to put that back on? Um, yeah, I just want to show just a couple more elements of this. So they, this one. Okay. I apologize. No, it's fine. I just, I wouldn't look at what you were pointing at. So then, uh, the part that we fast forward to, uh, 2019 is when they introduced the wireless encore. So we're five years into that technology. And then, uh, uh you know they continue to expand obviously new industries and they're they're and we talked about in the video that they also you know are in other industries besides automotive of course but um if we roll the video again you can you'll hear chris talk about their kind of involvement and I think what I want you to listen for is their genuine desire to support dealers in this industry yeah right And we've been a huge supporter since the beginning, both with NIDA and NADA, understanding the importance of having one voice and one association that we could get behind that's going to be here and be an advocate for the dealers and for the vendors and ensure that the industry is protected from all sides. One of the things I needed to just actually pause that. One of the things he just said is that they've been, and I've watched this. I've really, I've, I've been observant of how pastime is actively involved in in trying to help the the association and it's like he has been at at it's they've been huge supporters of the association always right and and that's not just financial And that's not just financial. Yeah. And, and that they are someone that, that are, that are consistently at the policy conferences and all of that. And it's just, it's interesting because, you know, as, as a founding sponsor, we will have conversations with, with Chris every once in a while. And, and it's just interesting how, how, how much he is respected by the leadership of NIADA too. Just, you know, yeah. Cause he's, well and and beyond because he's just he's a solid guy right as you can tell as you listen to him you just tell you talk about the word support so what I hear is obviously people would come in with a financial interest of you know having a chance to build business and of course you have the opportunity to do that as a local being a sponsor but what I hear is you have a genuine desire to support the association create education and you recognize the value that niad brings as an association Absolutely. Right. As an association, helping the dealers grow and be educated about how to grow and be wise about running the business. I mean, you saw in the sessions today just how much great content there was for the dealers to learn and better themselves and better their businesses and their communities. And we're a big believer in that. yeah and we see that I mean obviously it's part of what as michelle said you're one of the founding sponsors with that way so we know that part of the reason you guys stepped in is because of the education element the ethics element kind of that that we talked a lot about playing the long game that is yeah your payer and that's obviously a lot about customer success and making sure that not only the dealer is successful but the customer has a chance to be successful in the arrangement as well and we just know that's something we see with you guys that's a big thing for real Yeah, one of the things that's always bothered me is that image of the car dealer, right? It's not always been a positive one. And any way that we can continue to support an ADA and White Hat Way in particular, raise that image and help people understand that there are great people in this business and people that are helping the community and the people in it. absolutely yeah so we you know obviously we're working to create a community that will help advance that mission and that message because it's just a matter of publicity and unification around those things for us why that way was just a way to put a name on the thing that we all talk about which is you know that principled way to do business right and we we just continue to work to try to find ways to attract people to that message right and and so it's part of what obviously when you're in a room full of used car dealers which by the way is really electric amazing straight to the place full obviously niad has been through some trials in recent years you know they've had a lot of changes and and some great changes some really really positive changes a huge believer in jeff martin and what he's building he's done a great job and really excited to see what he's got to Kudos to Jeff. He's only been here for just a little over a year, and then Theresa joined him from TIADA. Looking forward to seeing what that dynamic duo will shake up, make happen, all of that. Absolutely. I think we all have a ton of confidence in what they will do, and obviously we're all going to lean in and support their initiatives. And I think you talked about kind of one voice that is an idea. We think there's obviously a lot of benefit to having people have the go to source. They know where to find the information. And obviously, one of the big things that the association does is around compliance, which I know is also a big thing for us. Right. Yeah, yeah, no compliance is so important for these dealers with everything that's out there with the FTC, the CFPB, the different state regulations, any anywhere they can go and have that voice that that individual or that association that can help guide them through those pitfalls. Yeah, right. There's a lot out there to learn. And so having a strong and idea is really important. Yeah. It is. And they do such a great job. And every once in a while, the hashtag join your state association, J-Y-S-A, we're going to be seeing a lot of media pushing about that. But your state associations, your national associations are the only ones that really have a substantial voice. for all of the dealers with the people that make the decisions and make the rules and make the absolutely I mean it was evident this past year we worked really closely actually with one of our competitors later on in the state of illinois and the state association and niada to help defeat some legislation that would have severely hampered the use of starter interrupt and GPS in Illinois and really put the dealers in a bad place. And so we were able to come in and educate through the association, the legislators and the individuals that were backing this legislation and help them understand that this is not a good idea. Yeah. So we obviously are happy to be a participant in that, but really we couldn't do it without NIDA. Yeah. So something there that I just, I really, really, really, really appreciate. You know, we've talked about, I frequently get on my little soapbox. It's like, join your state association, your state associations, your national associations. They are the voice and the big, big things. I love, love, love that, um, pastime as well as it around, which is another, um, another player in the GPS, um, starter interrupt space that through their friendship with an IAD were able to speak in behalf of the technology, um, And the whys, I mean, cause that's, that's kind of what I'm, I'm seeing from that is that they, through the association that they, the NIDA, our organization was able to get these two together. vendors in front of decision makers, in front of those that are driving some of these, these rules and, and the compliance pieces. And, and that, you know, how fantastic is that, that, that, you know, if they had gone just individually, alone, to the CFPB or the other organizations that they probably would not have gotten any opportunity to speak to them. But because we have such a solid, good voice on Capitol Hill, that they were able to pull them in to be able to explain and paint a story and, and help them understand the benefits, the positives, the things that this, that, that, that technology actually helps. And so, I mean, for me, the, the, the big part, big part of my takeaway from this part of the, the conversation is that is Chris and others are out there fighting the fight as well. And it's not just about their livelihood and their technology, but it's about they've, because both of them have this kind of technology in their systems of the start and interrupt and all of that, that how it actually helps them. Um, it helps the dealer and it helps the consumer as well to, to like the reminder, the remember the, all of that. Yeah. And this kind of fits in the, the, the more than category, because what you, what you hear in that is they, these companies, you know, pastime in particular here is, is doing, um, more than just writing checks to the association. They're actively engaged in supporting the efforts, and that extends to the efforts on behalf of car dealers, even who are not their customers, right? So I just think this is part of what it's important to recognize. That's something to consider when you're looking at who you're going to do business with. And you're looking at, you know, quotes from different providers. It's important to think beyond just the price tag of the thing. And, you know, it's not that, you know, pastime is not competitive on pricing. Of course they are. But the question really is, you know, what are we to consider as we make a decision about where we do business? And so we just think this is a really important thing for dealers to consider when they're making their decision. Well, and, you know, and when you're talking about something that will benefit the industry. I just really love how it's not about competition at all. And, and so, you know, in, in as much as I know that there are a lot of GPS providers out there, I mean you know, there's, there's new ones that start up all the time that there's, there's a long list of GPS providers and, Um, that, that just like the national organization is the voice for all dealers that both pastime and it around have, uh, have had the opportunity to be able to be the voice of all GBS providers. I really love that, that both of both of them were there because it's, it's not about, this is just going to help my company. It's about, this is going to help the industry. This is going to help this segment of the industry as well. And so I just really like the idea that there was a voice, that multiple players that were able to come and to speak on that. And the fact that those two were invited says a lot, right? Yeah, very actively involved in all of the things. And well-established. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So talk to me about first of all, pastime as a let's talk about a product line a little bit, just a high level on what you guys do for anybody who's listening, who's not familiar with the company, like talk to me just about I first knew of your company 20 plus years ago as a dealer myself. And at that time, you were offering what I've called an auto disable starter interrupt device that would automatically disable based on a schedule. You still have that technology. We still do. Yeah, it's obviously become a little bit more efficient than it was back then with the advent of cellular and GPS. But that ability to essentially automatically remind a consumer when their payment is due and then prevent the vehicle from operating if it is excessively delinquent. For me, that is great for the consumer. And I think a lot of consumers and advocates have come to understand that that situation is far better than a repossession. You don't incur all the fees. You don't incur the hit on the credit repossession. This is something that helps educate the consumer that this payment is a priority. So we still do a lot of that. But we see more today this, we have a wireless GPS, a battery powered device that can be easily installed in a vehicle and just track that asset in the event that that loan doesn't come in. So it's about mitigating risk and recovering that asset more easily. We have a whole gamut of products from that basic starter interrupt solution to GPS tracking to the most popular now, which is our wireless battery powered device. You know, it's interesting with that whole starter interrupt. Pay Near Me did a lot of survey studies recently. And one of the big reasons why people are late is they forget. Yeah. And so it's really is just like you said, it's better than a repo, but it's just can be a reminder. It's like, oh, darn, it's time. I got to get this taken care of. And it's really it's it's a great way to have other priorities. It happens. And what we really found it did is it raised the priority of that car payment. Yeah. So your cable bill, your phone bill, your house payment and then your car payment and kept it there. Right. So it kept it as a high priority. I find it interesting. Your cable bill, your phone bill, your rent, and then your car payment. I wonder where he came up with that it's that kind of a stack. Yeah. Um, but it's, I, uh, for those of you who have not had the opportunity, I think that they probably have an awful lot of this survey that the big one that was done about a year, year and a half ago from pastime, uh, not pastime, but from pay near me. And it was about, you know, why people pay late. And, um, and this is just a beautiful, uh, kind of a, uh, conjunction a marriage of like uh they forget and so that start interrupt has the ability to remind and you know just understand too for those of you that don't use this technology we've you know we've had a lot of dealers that it just it depends on what they what they want to be able to do But you get to program. And as far as I understand from the ones that I'm familiar with, he said, you know, if you get really delinquent, then it shuts off. And so you get to choose what really delinquent is. Right. And he used the word, yeah, excessively delinquent. So I think that's interesting. Like, yeah, the dealer chooses. And so sometimes that might be three days and sometimes that might be a week or, you know, whatever, but you get to choose. Let me explain real quick too, that, um, we may drop the video because the device that I'm hosting the video on is, um, yeah. it's about out of power, but we can just put the full video. We're about two thirds of the way through the video. Now we can play it. I'm just saying, if it drops, we'll just make the video that it's about 11 minute video. We can put it with the broadcast. Let's get it back on. Sure. Go ahead. Live up to their obligations. Yeah. And, and, changes the dynamic too with the dealer and the lender in that the dealer and the lender isn't chasing that individual right the device is forcing that communication so you can have that difficult discussion around hey your payment is due can you make that payment if you can't we just need to deal with it now before it gets too late and they're calling in instead of having to call out yes and let's address it now yeah Yeah, for sure. And we recognize that. And I want to confirm in our travels, you know, we work with a lot of dealers and hear from them. And I can say too, and even across social media, we see that the wireless device is proving to be quite popular. It makes sense. It's a pretty small device. And so, yeah, we're seeing dealers use that as a backup. Yeah, next to one that's actually wired. We see people installing two now more frequently, you know. It's, it's just very simple and easy to use. And it's inexpensive by comparison, because there is no installation cost or anything. Right on. And of course, we're here to talk about automotive, but I know pastimes also branched into lots of other industries, you're finding that there's there's collateral protection or Which is automotive, but not. We track about anything from porta potties to dinosaur bones. Yeah. You name it. We're tracking it. That's amazing. That's amazing. So, yeah, we, we're excited to, obviously we're, we're grateful for your sponsorship and we're, Excited to work with you and whatever ways that we can continue to bring education to dealers and eventually consumer so that we can help. Because I know that even as a company where you guys make your living, you don't want to see the account end up in repossession. No. So, so sometimes we all obviously hope that that. equipment that is part of what you guys offer is that it's able to help to a successful conclusion for the dealer and the consumer. So we know that about your company. Yes. It's important thing for folks to understand is that you never wish for the repo. Never. Never. That's that's the last thing anybody has in this whole situation. Right. Well, as you know, we as a founding sponsor, we've gotten to know you. And so I can genuinely I understand how I see what you are doing with pastime. It's about helping customers to be able to fulfill their obligation of the car, their contract. And how can we do it in a way that it's just it's it's a help for both. One of those things, when we first started, our founder, Stan Schwarz, back in the 1980s, he had terrible credit. He knew what it was like to be in that situation where you couldn't get a car financed. So one of the foundations and the principles that he built the company on was being respectful to the consumer and understanding, hey, they're in this situation for a reason. How can we help them get out of it? Sure. Very good. I just real quick. I, I love that. I really do. Not the fact that he used to have poor credit, but so the founder back in the eighties had a period of time where they were unable to get financing because of really poor credit. And so when they created this the, the, one of the, one of the core principles was to not diminish the customer in the process. And so I really love that. That is... without it being on the appendix W, but it might be in threads and a lot of different ones is, is it, is it this, you know, the white hat way is, is not about the, the white hat way is about dealers, but ultimately it's about consumers. Yeah. And, and it's about how do we help consumers be successful and, Yeah. And before that, what lens do we use in viewing the consumer? Because that's going to affect how we approach. It might affect how we train. You know, there's a lot of things there. So, you know, the word compassion comes to mind, which we don't talk about enough. But what you hear there, he referred to and it's kind of hard to hear in the audio. I noticed even in the text translation that it thought compassion. he referred to Stan Schwartz who passed away, I think he said six or seven years ago. And, um, so Stan was one of the co-founders and that was a driver. And I remember Stan, I met him on a few occasions, just really a prince of a guy. And, um, it just, yeah, yeah. It just, it just tells you a lot about the company. Well, and, and I would say that Stan is never referred to the customers as these people. Right. Ever. Sure. And that's been something that we've, when we hear dealers or vendors talk about the segment as these people. Right. It's, it's, it kind of changes it. Yeah. For some reason, the, the, the, What I get is it's a diminishing thing, these people. It's a diminishing thing. That's what I hear. And so it'd be interesting to talk to Chris and find out what kind of phrases and whatever that Stan used for the customer, for the dealer's customer, for the segment that he had once been a participant of. Well, you know, regardless what it tells you is that this is the approach they bring is, you know, let's show some respect. Let's show some compassion for the consumer. And you heard him say, you know, repossession is never the outcome that you're looking for. And I think that's one of the tricky things is one of the things that I look forward to working through with Chris and the others as we move forward is like, you know, what you heard basically Chris acknowledges that in the, in the best case scenario, uh, the GPS device would be practically invisible. It would be almost unknown and never needed because the GPS is really tracking the collateral, which makes it about the car. And we want to certainly do everything we can to make it about the customer and a successful business relationship and never have to, you know, locate the car and recover the collateral. Obviously it happens, but we just know really this is about the approach and the attitude. And what you're hearing here is the attitude that they bring and kind of the backstory behind their own foundings. Let's see if we can get the rest of this before you go. Wonderful. Yeah. Well, I appreciate you making time. Thank you guys. Thank you enough for all that you guys continue to do for the industry and White Hat Way is just getting going and I'm excited to see where it goes from here. Thank you so much. All right. You know, there's something part of this I wanted to see if I can that I wanted people to be aware of. And this is this is something that I was pretty I it was interesting to have a conversation with Chris about this. And let me see if I can get this up. We're going to add this to the stage. um so back in when was this um march march of this last year a company called blitzbay and pastime partnered to um they for uh They partnered for payments to make it easier for customers to be able to make their payments and get their car turned back on. Because one of the hurdles that governmental entities, you know, it's they want to be able to remove all barriers for customers to be able to pay. For customers to be able to fulfill that and that when dealers make it difficult, when dealers are making it so that it's harder to pay if they're late or it's just that they have to jump through hoops, that that's something that kind of pulls up red flags. Yeah, and maybe we don't just say dealers, but creditors. Creditors, yes. And so what this part of, from what I understand, this partnership, strategic partnership is about, is when a DMS goes down. Mm-hmm. It is harder for a customer to make a payment and have their car turned back on. Right. And so this mitigates that scenario. Yeah. And I want to talk about, there's the actual technology here, right? So this is why they're moving. So, you know, But DMSs don't really go down, you know, as far as actual total failure. Very often it happens. I mean, we've heard a couple of recently where it's like, I can't do the thing and I can't do this. So it happens. So more likely what you're talking about is can be a glitch scenario. So the part I want to talk about is, you know, what we understood about this situation. And this really came, you know, from one of the other providers is like the. Because of what you said, if the customer is in a difficult place, and sometimes that might be affecting their ability to enable their car, like some of this technology has starter interrupt, right? Or that the dealer creditor may be taking action against them because they don't show that the payment has been made. Okay, so what's happening here is they're creating a connection directly between the payment processor and the GPS device. So the reason I think this is important is sometimes I get the idea in this context when we talk about compliance and the long arm of the law that is the CFPB and this new regulatory agency. I think let's ask ourselves for a moment, what are they doing? In this exact context, what the CFPB or FTC would be doing and the reason they found it necessary to take this action is because they're really out there acting to protect consumers, right? They're acting to make sure that consumers are not being mistreated. And so I hear that and I think, why would we have any problem with a regulatory agency taking steps to protect consumers? We all, I hope, are doing the same thing. Nobody that, you know, I hope nobody hearing our voice would be out there trying to mistreat and take advantage of consumers. So I think, you know, what I'm hearing here is, you know, It's an opportunity and is an example of why we cooperate with them and demonstrate that nobody over here is really trying. It may have that appearance on occasion, but most dealers and certainly these vendors and providers that we work with, there's no calculated effort to mistreat or take advantage of consumers. And I think it also can maybe affect our approach and our attitude toward the CFPB. You know, some people act like, well, they're just they're overreaching. They're, you know, they're making my life difficult. And I'm thinking they're charged with making sure that we as creditors and the buy here, pay here space and other, other industries as well are not mistreating consumers. And so on a white hat Wednesday, it's important for us to say, guess what? We're also on the side of not mistreating consumers. And so, I mean, for me, when I look at this and try to put it in a different visual and And, you know, correct me if I'm wrong. I can be a mama bear. It's like, do not come after my kids. I will. I will. I will. eat you. I'm protective of my children. And so sometimes in the past when my kids have been little is my first reaction is just like, and then you have a conversation and you can um adjust and and you know everyone involved can can come to a good um what works for everyone kind of conclusion and so I kind of look at this um the cfpb as the mama bear over the consumer which is like their kid it's like this we are we are our um our purpose is to protect sure the customer right which like the and so I you know it's it's it's understandable that when a red flag comes up that it's like okay we're gonna do all of this and then it comes time for for um those that are part of what is going to be shifting and changing to come forward and say okay um Um, and, uh, you know, this is, this is why this is the way that it is. And this is, you know, get giving the example and painting a clearer picture so that they can come to a, a win-win, um, scenario. And, and I've, you know, I know that the NIADA has been, uh, past time as, as, uh, this, this whole conversation around starter interrupts and GPS is just one of the things that, um, and iada because they do have a voice on capitol hill are able to bring the people in to have the conversation about the why so that we can you know with mama bear it's like yes I'm still going to protect but I do recognize that there are, you know, that there are things that, that are necessary in order for, because it is maybe the things that I'm thinking are not a protection, are a protection or, or all of that. So I just, I, as I, as he was going through that last little bit, I was like, or we were talking about the, the blitz pay and all of that is the CFPB is like a parent and, that is just like a mama bear it's like we're gonna make sure that that that our kids are protected that our con that the consumer um especially in this instance the subprime consumer sure is protected And I think the tone of voice that we would bring, if I'm a dealer speaking on behalf of a dealer, the tone of voice that I would bring to a conversation in response to, you know, some sort of an inquiry or whatever is like, I think you want to be able to demonstrate. We've talked about this some in the past. It's like, I think what we want to be able to demonstrate, if I'm, let's just say I'm a dealer and I'm being investigated, you know, or something, then I want to be able to I want to be able to demonstrate that whatever it is that has raised this question, I want you to quickly see that this is not, we're not over here mistreating consumers intentionally. You know, do we make a mistake here and there? I'm sure we could find out that's true, but our, there's a pattern to show that, that we and then there's a culture right all these things would support the fact that we're as a company we're not over here trying to you know take advantage of anybody yeah and so when that I think would be the tone that we would bring to any dialogue with the cfpb whereas if we come up and say, you guys are overreaching, you don't belong in here, you know, and so that just, you put up a wall and now you really create a, you know, sort of a, and I'm not saying that's happened with dealers, certainly not with people that we know, but because the CFPB is fairly new and they've traditionally up to now have only really, you know, sanctioned some of the larger creditor dealers out there in the space. Obviously, they have the authority to do what they need to do to protect consumers. But I think that's a bit of a tangent from the conversation with Mr. Machica. But it's like the space that they live in. They're sitting there as a technology provider between creditor and debtor. And so now it's like it just kind of accelerates the conversation in some areas. Well, and, you know, going back to that whole thing of like the mother children, that kind of thing, you know, I and I and I'm kind of getting that the CFPB is is moving forward in this kind of way is that you get someone comes to tattle. You get that one side of information. And so it's as you start to gather, then it's usually somewhere in the middle. Or it's like, hey, you were upset about this, but that's about being responsible and having consequences or whatever. But it's... The long and the short of this whole conversation is I'm really, really grateful for businesses like Pastime and Chris specifically for being out there and leading the conversation around what's good for the dealer and what's good for the consumer and having a genuine desire to help consumers. Sure. No, for sure. And I think you also understand around that. And you heard him say in supporting in in past time supporting White Hat Way, part of the motivation with them is they they want to add to any opportunity to shine the light on dealers who are doing business the right way. There are plenty of good guys and good gals out there. And so that's part of what White Hat Way will continue to do. And so, you know, again, we're grateful for their sponsorship. And we think as you hear the conversations with, uh, you'll hear Taylor bird and Tim Lawrence, uh, you know, Taylor with dealer re and Tim Lawrence with LHPH capital, they bring a similar, you know, attitude about those things. And so look forward to, uh, those, uh, videos to, to be shared. Again, I'll put the entire video from, uh, from the conversation with Chris Machika on the threads with our podcast from this morning. So White Hat Way, it's today's White Hat Wednesday. White Hat Way, one of our whys is to be able to bring together the voices of dealers that really do have that best interest at heart, who really are trying to help their consumers, help the customer succeed. And so it's about creating a voice that is that... that can help lead others and become something that is heard across the industry or whatever for good for, you know, let's, let's, let's really rally behind core principles that are about helping. the success of our customers. And we're now probably 100 episodes or more of White Hat Wednesday. So we appreciate folks lending their ears to the conversation in the days and weeks and months to come. We're going to be asking you to lend your voice to that as well. So we definitely look forward to having folks continue to join us in this conversation. So all of you out there in listener land, thank you so much for joining us. I'd want to say, uh, J Y S a J Y S a. You'll bring to hack out of J Y S a hashtag white hat way. Thank you so much for joining us. I hope you guys all have a great Wednesday and we will see you on Friday with another morning show episode. All right. Have a great day.
