Five Questions… Consumer Portfolio Services COO Mike Rabin

and Consumer Portfolio Service (CPS), Chief Operating Officer and Chief Legal Officer Mike Lavin His leadership approach focuses on humility and providing a platform where team members can be heard.

Lavin’ boasts a historic resume. He began his career in a law firm, where he worked for seven years before joining CPS as Vice President of Legal Affairs, before being promoted to Senior Vice President and General Counsel in 2001. He took office in March 2014 and was named Chief Operating Officer in 2019.

Today, Lavin is involved in nearly every aspect of the business.

“Every day is different, every day is a challenge,” said Rabin auto finance news“I could be in sales one day, credit another day, IT another day, and then jump into a big lawsuit the next day. It’s a very exciting job.”

The Irvine, Calif.-based lender tightened credit in the third quarter. Originations brought him $468.2 million, up 43.3% year-over-year, but in consecutive years he fell 14.6%. Lenders have also raised interest rates by more than 200 points. federal reserveincreases. CPS scored his $548.1 million record-breaking origination in the second quarter.

auto finance news We spoke with Rabin about his career, approach to leadership, and the auto finance industry. Below is an edited version of the conversation.

Auto Finance News: Describe your Consumer Portfolio Services goals in 10 words or less.

Mike Lavin: Grow your company, treat your customers well, and provide your employees with a great working environment.

AFNMore: What do you think are the most undervalued lending trends?

ML: The most underrated lending trend is that everything is still built on relationships. It’s great to have new and exciting technologies to harness the efficiency. It’s great that algorithms are used for credit decisions and debt collection. But at the end of the day, relationships still matter.

These relationships start with building salespeople and dealers trusting them to send us applications. so they trust us to explain the situation and trust us to pay their debts.

Also, to receive proper service from a vendor, you need to build a relationship with the vendor. To get the best contract terms, you need to have the right relationships with your Wall Street partners. As such, these relationships span nearly every area of ​​business.

AFNMore: What’s your favorite piece of leadership advice you’ve ever received?

ML: Be a good listener and be humble. I think many people in leadership tend to believe their own hype and not accept other people’s suggestions and ideas. I think the company would be better off if we listened to them and extracted things that would help them achieve their goals. It also empowers employees and gives them greater morale to work each day when they feel they are being listened to.

You cannot think of yourself as better than anyone else, regardless of your title or income. It’s like everyone is rowing in the same direction, and people get off the boat when they believe you’re better than them.

AFNMore: Who has had the biggest impact on your career?

ML: My wife; she has been with me since the beginning. She has been with me from her school in Law through her transition to big business, CPS. We have been through her two recessions and her COVID at CPS. We almost closed the door.Stock price to $14 [and] It came to $1.25. There’s corporate politics, there’s the day-to-day ups and downs of business, and through it all, she’s been there.

AFNMore: What surprises your employees to find out about you?

ML: Employees will be surprised to learn that I love reading, researching, and writing, especially World War II and historical research. I stay up late on weekdays and often watch documentaries about ancient battles, ancient civilizations, World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. I love history and all that I can learn from it.