Bankruptcy Status Report
4th Quarter 2007

January 16, 2008 - Phoenix, AZ – The 4th quarter of 2007 continued the steady up trend in the bankruptcy markets.  Chapter 7 filings amplified and represented 72% of all personal cases being handled by the United States Bankruptcy courts.  Personal Bankruptcies increased 41% over the 4th quarter of 2006 with 326,749 households either filling or discharging.

“There’s obviously an impact from the down turn in the housing market, subprime-loan problems and the increase in foreclosures,” said Chris Bayley, a partner focusing on bankruptcies at the Phoenix law firm Snell & Wilmer.  The 2007 increase “presages even higher filings this year, as the heavy consumer-debt load is made worse by the home-mortgage crisis,” predicted Samuel Gerdano, executive director of the American Bankruptcy Institute.

As of January 16th, there are a total of 875,899 open bankruptcies that are being processed for discharged by the United States Bankruptcy courts.  What does all of this mean to the Automotive Special Finance Professional?  “Its simple,” said Robert Davies, President of www.OnlineBKmanager.com.  “37% of bankrupt individuals purchase an automobile within 30 days of discharge and a grand total of 70% purchase within a year of that discharge.  This suggests a substantial increase in sales for dealerships marketing to the discharged BK market in 2008,” concluded Davies.

Bankruptcies Awaiting Discharge by State

Total = 875,899

U.S. BANKRUPTCIES ON THE RISE

Phoenix, Arizona – February 15, 2007 – According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, personal bankruptcies filed between January 1st and February 9th 2007 increased 212% compared to the same time frame in 2006. So far this year 60,010 households have filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Of these, 37,206 households filed for chapter 7 and 23,803 filed for chapter 13. Furthermore, January discharges were up 23% over the previous 9 months, at 45,779. “These increases are quite a surprise,” said Robert Davies, President of Direct Marketing Associates, Corp. and www.OnlineBKmanager.com, “We did project a jump after the smoke of the new laws cleared, but we did not imagine 212% over last year. However, we did foresee discharges reaching pre-legislation quantities sometime in 2008; but, at this pace we may see this scenario quicker than anticipated.”

In addition, the U.S. courts are reporting higher than normal chapter 7 conversions. This is when an individual files for chapter 13 then, with the courts approval, converts their bankruptcy into a chapter 7. “I am not sure why the conversion rates are so high,” explained Robert, “I can only speculate that the courts are showing leniency towards the new federal guidelines.”

Direct Marketing Associates, Corp. upgrades web-application for OnlineBKmanger.com And Appoints Wiscombe to General Manager

PHOENIX, Arizona — May 11, 2006 — Direct Marketing Associates, Corp. (DMA) announces a major overhaul of its web-based OnlineBKmanager.com product. “We have hundreds of dealers logging on to our Bankruptcy system on a daily basis and we could see where adding processing capabilities would help us to continue to grow without affecting our current client base”, said Robert Davies, President of Direct Marketing Associates, Corp. “We were the first to the market with this type of system and our goal is to maintain our status as the industry leader.” The overhaul included new user features as well as performance and capacity increases. “Our application service provider (ASP), www.hyper-systems.com , upgraded our database software package to take advantage of the new features and optimizations that up until now were not available,” said Robert, “The application upgrades were done without any service interruptions and have increased the application performance over 10 times what was previously available putting us in a great position for further growth. This upgrade will allow us to offer even more enhanced features in the future. The overall application platform is completely scalable, meaning that as our customer base grows, we will be able to respond with out suffering performance.”

DMA appoints Senior Marketing Executive to lead its OnlineBKmanager.com division.

PHOENIX, Arizona — May 11, 2006 — Brian D. Wiscombe moves from Regional Marketing Executive to General Manager of online operations. Mr. Wiscombe has been affiliated with OnlineBKmanager.com since its infancy and brings customer service experience and product/technical knowledge as his foundation of management. His extensive background includes customer service and business development with Destination Hotels and Resorts Co. and DHL/World Wide Express. Mr. Wiscombe also serves our country as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Arizona Air National Guard.

Phoenix, AZ
January 26, 2006
For Immediate Release

Automotive Sales to Individuals with
Discharged Bankruptcies to Reach Record High

Due to record filings the 2nd half of 2005, the Federal Bankruptcy Courts are publishing discharges at record rates. 

According to the Administrative office of the U.S. Courts, 3rd and 4th quarters of 2005 set bankruptcy filing records at triple digit increases.  Filings were up to 542,002 for the 3rd quarter and 672,320 for the 4th quarter. 

“We are beginning to see the 1.2 million BK filings from the end of 2005 mature into discharges”, explained Robert Davies, President of Direct Marketing Associates, Corp. “Our OnlineBKmanager.com marketing system is delivering weekly discharges at record volume levels.  We anticipate this influx of discharges to completely enter the market during the next 5 to 10 months.  We know that nearly 450,000 of these individuals will purchase a vehicle within thirty (30) days of their discharge.”

Other Related News –

Due to pressure from federal regulators, credit grantors have announced they are increasing minimum monthly payments on credit card balances from 2% to 4%. 

“Some card holders could be devastated by the change,” said Davies.  “Those consumers hanging on by a thread will not be able to handle this monthly increase.  If a consumer is living paycheck to paycheck and their minimum monthly payments go from $350 to $700 per month, this extra money may not be available in an already stretched household budget.”  Bank of America has anticipated this scenario and has set aside an extra $130 million to cover projected losses from defaulting cardholders.

“In short, Bankruptcies will not be a thing of the past anytime soon,” concluded Davies.  “Consumers will continue to over extend themselves and require the protection of the BK courts.

Phoenix, AZ
September 19, 2005
For Immediate Release

Dear OnlineBKmanager.com users,

The new bankruptcy laws will go into effect on Oct. 17th. We at OnlineBKmanager.com, are expecting a bump in the quantity of filings prior to the deadline, thus creating a spike in leads for your account. We are anticipating increases in discharges for 2005 and throughout 2006.

The experts continue to predict no more than a 2% - 3% decrease in chapter 7 filings as a result of the new laws. However, the court systems are anticipating near double digit increases in bankruptcy filings (nationally) in spite of the new laws.

We appreciate your business and urge you to contact your weekly leads in a timely matter for best results.

Sincerely,

Robert Davies
President
OnlineBKmanager.com
rdavies@onlinebkmanager.com

I encourage you to read the following excerpts from an article published by msn.com.

Hang on for a tidal wave of bankruptcies…

Bankruptcy filings are rising… Consumer filings were up 8% in the first three months of the year, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, while bankruptcy experts predict even sharper increases for the second and third quarters.

"There's going to be a mini-tidal wave at the very end," said Sam Gerdano, executive director of the American Bankruptcy Institute http://www.abiworld.org/ , a nonpartisan research group. "Lawyers are going to be submitting mass filings over that weekend."

Few likely to flunk ‘means test’

The vast majority of consumer bankruptcy filers earn well below those medians and will be allowed to continue filing Chapter 7.
...only consumers whose incomes are above the median levels for their states have to worry about this possibility.

"I think our original number of 2% to 3% (of total Chapter 7 filers who will be forced to file Chapter 13) is actually going to be high," Gerdano said. "Ultimately the story at the end of the year will be the dog that didn't bark as far as the means test is concerned."

The above is a portion of an article published by Liz Pulliam Weston of msn.com on September, 16 2005.

Phoenix, AZ
8/23/05
For Immediate Release

Direct Marketing Associates, Corp. names General Manager and promotes from within to fulfill OnlineBKmanager.com growth demands.

Phoenix, AZ – Robert Davies, President, Direct Marketing Associates, Corp., announced that Michelle M. Abraham has been named General Manager of the OnlineBKmanager.com division.

Ms. Abraham, an Arizona native, comes to OnlineBKmanager.com from AmeriCredit Corp. (NYSE: ACF), where she held an Area General Manager position for 7 + years. In addition, her experience includes Assistant Manager (AVCO Financial Services), Branch Manager (Mercury Finance Corporation) and automotive retail F & I management.

"OnlineBKmanager.com is fortunate to have an extraordinary team member, such as Michelle", said Robert Davies. "Her dealer service experience, professionalism, and track record, has earned respect within the automotive retail community and at OnlineBKmanager.com. We are excited to have the dealer devolvement skills Michelle brings to our company".

OnlineBKmanager.com also announced that Traci T. Thompson has been named Customer Service Manager. Previously, she held the position of inside sales assistant and customer service support. As Customer Service Manager she will oversee member support, technical support and member training.

Ms. Thompson, also an Arizona native, joined OnlineBKmanager.com shortly after the research and development stage. "Traci understands the potential of the OnlineBKmanager.com product and relates well with our users", said Robert Davies. "She is truly a major factor in the success of the OnlineBKmanager.com members."

Source: Direct Marketing Associates, Corp.

Tempe, AZ
2/23/05
For Immediate Release

OnlineBKmanager.com Exceeds 1st Year Forecast In Less Than 8 Months.

PHOENIX, AZ, Feb. 23, 2005 – In the first 8 months of operation, OnlineBKmanager.com exceeded 1st year expectations. “On February 11th our number of dealer users surpassed our 1st anniversary goal,” said John Rainey, CEO of OnlineBKmanager.com. “That’s a full 5 months ahead of forecasts. We believe this is due to customer satisfaction and a level of service typically unseen in the bankruptcy data-providing market.”

 “In the past I have used several providers of U.S. Bankruptcy Court data,” remarked Martha Clampitt of Whitten Chrysler. “The automatic, weekly downloads to my private and secure web-site are very fresh, accurate and easy to manage, but, the biggest difference between other companies and OnlineBKmanager.com is the level of customer service. I can talk to someone at OnlineBKmanager.com and feel like a customer, not a number.”

OnlineBKmanager.com is a wholly owned subsidiary of Direct Marketing Associates, Corp.

For more information visit www.onlinebkmanager.com

Tempe, AZ
7/1/04
For Immediate Release

Direct Marketing Associates, Corp., the leader in sub-prime automotive direct mail, has announced the release of OnlineBKmanager.com, their web-based discharged bankruptcy (BK) marketing and dealer self-mailing system. OnlineBKmanger.com was developed to meet a growing demand within the automotive sub-prime world.

“We have seen our clients increase sales by sending mailers to individuals a few days after discharging a chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy,” said Robert Davies, Vice President of Direct Marketing Associates, Corp. “This new system has access to the HOTTEST public record file available. There is no guess work; the BK has just discharged when it hits the system. That is about 20 days faster than dealers are used to seeing.”

Modeled after Microsoft's theory of personal computers in every home, OnlineBKmanager.com subscription is priced to fit the budget of every franchised and non-franchised dealership in America.

“With our experience, we know that 37% of the individuals that file bankruptcy will purchase an automobile within 30 days of discharge,” explained John Rainey, President of Direct Marketing Associates, Corp.   “We want our dealers to receive weekly down loads of accurate and freshly discharged BK data so they can mail letters produced through OnlineBKmanager.com quickly and successfully.”

OnlineBKmanager.com is available nationwide and subscribers have access to their account 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from any computer with internet browsing ability.