By Tariq Kamal
ON THE C OV E R
ON THE
BACK
ROAD
Meet four dealers who are closing deals and driving
loyalty by providing a much-needed service to
customers who have fled for bankruptcy.
Severa l yea ago, afer the U.S. housing
Several ye
e e a years
ma k col
market collapsed, Angie Vines found herself n n i
e
self in an increasingly desperate situation.
She and he
h n
She and her husband, Michael, were homeners themselves, and Michael was in the
r
owners the
ooring in
r n ind
fooring industry. When he was laid of by
the com
h company
the compan he had worked for the past 10
years, the Vines were pushed to the brink.
"We had to fle for bankruptcy to hold
onto the house," Angie says. She had reason
to be hopeful for a fresh start. She was on
14
track for a prosperous career in fnance and
Michael was able to fnd fooring jobs on his
own. But there was one last obstacle: Michael
needed a dependable truck, and it seemed unlikely they could qualify for an auto loan.
Tat's when Angie learned about Prestige Financial, a subprime fnance company
based in Salt Lake City. Prestige was able to
fnance the Vines' purchase of a late-model
Chevrolet pickup. Te initial interest rate
was high — 17.9 percent — but Angie says
AUTO DE ALE R MONTHLY • AUGUST 2013
the price was right and the payments were
manageable. By setting up automatic payments and making them on time for six
months, they were able to begin reducing
the rate.
Afer going through bankruptcy, "we
didn't know what to expect," she says. "To
our surprise, we were able to get this done."
For sports broadcaster Ben Catley, bankruptcy was the end result of a sofball injury.
"I was trying to run down a play at frst," he