7 of the Most Important Car Finance Requirements Banks Don’t Want You to Forget

car finance requirements

Is your dealership on the right track when it comes to car finance requirements?

Strict auditing, fines, and delayed funding are precisely why in-house compliance is more important than ever. But when it seems like car finance requirements are always changing, dealers can feel like they have to jump through hoops to get funded.

Funding delays aren’t just frustrating, either. They have a financial impact on your dealership and they usually mean someone in your office is doing extra work to track down and fix paperwork problems. You don’t, however, have to sit at the mercy of the bank. Follow these seven essential car finance requirements and your relationship with the bank will be better than ever.

car finance requirements

Master these car finance requirements to keep the funding running on all cylinders


1. Perfect your policies and procedures.

Successful dealerships have well thought out policies and procedures to keep things running smoothly, and they always update them when regulations change. It’s important to stay organized, and up to date on ever-changing compliance rules. If you don’t, you face delayed funding, fines, and a chance lenders won’t want to work with you anymore. You could even lose clients because of lack of financing options, or the fact that you had to go back and forth with them so many times to get their contract right.

2. Stop forgetting stipulations and fill the forms out right the first time.

This requirement may sound silly, but banks agree that dealers need to be better at quality control. While car sales is a fast-paced business, it’s not so busy that you can’t make sure to have all the stipulations ready to go the first time. Even if you feel like you’re too busy, find someone in the office to help you. Use the bank checklists. Taking extra effort in the beginning, will save you hours of frustration, and help you get funded faster.

3. Make sure the license copies are legible.

A driver’s license an essential item in the car buying process. You need one for a customer to take a test drive, to register the vehicle, and banks need a copy as well. The problem is, most dealerships send in super dark or illegible copies. Maybe you don’t have the time to mess with copier settings, but you do need a CRM tool. AutoRaptor’s license scanning tool eliminates all the frustration. No more messing with your copier or calling the customer for a new copy because the original was misplaced. Just scan the license, and a copy is kept safely in your CRM. You can access it from your phone or your desktop.

4. Is everything signed?

Signatures are one of the most significant car finance requirements, period. If you don’t have the contract and other paperwork signed in the right places, you won’t get paid.

Before you sit down with the customer to finalize their contract, make sure you have all the paperwork necessary. It helps to sort it all (bank, dealership, registry paperwork, warranty documents), and highlight or flag all of the spots the customer should sign. Some dealers prefer to pre-sign their portions, but you can even do that when the customer leaves, and before you turn it into the office.

5. Don’t neglect quality control.

Before you send your runner or that overnight package to the lender, have someone give the contract package one last look. Having an extra set of eyes on the paperwork is a great way to prevent delayed funding. Banks will love it if you’re organized enough to send everything the first time. Don’t turn a process that should take a few days or a week into a month-long back and forth because quality control was an afterthought.

6. Build a relationship with your bank rep.

They call, they stop in randomly, and maybe even at the worst times, but your bank rep is there to help you succeed. It’s important to take the time to communicate with them on a regular basis. They can help you address any concerns you may have, keep you informed of rate changes, work with you on compliance issues, and keep you up to date on special programs. Sometimes they even bring in free goodies, and who doesn’t like that?

Work with your lenders, and if you feel like it’s not the right fit, you can always find others. There are hundreds out there competing for your business.

7. Use your CRM.

While a CRM doesn’t work for the banks, it will help you stay organized, helping you focus on those car finance requirements. You can set up daily work plans, and have the data necessary to prioritize your sales pipeline. Don’t forget that you also can scan those licenses and even VINs. No more guessing if the salesman scribbled a 5 or an S because it’s easy to read and straight from the unit sold.

Interested in an Affordable, Full-Featured Auto Dealer CRM?

Schedule an AutoRaptor Demo Now!

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Patrick H.
Patrick H.