Recent fraudulent emails to dealerships purporting to be from the FTC prompt attorney Tom Hudson to issue a word of caution to dealers: Make sure any "authorities" who approach the dealership are the real thing before taking any action.

In the buy here pay here business, deal structure must be sound, which means it makes sense for the dealer and the customer. Brent Carmichael, BHPH expert, explains the components that make up deal structure—term, payment, interest rate, back-end products, and vehicle.

The Durbin Bill, which was a part of the Dodd-Frank Act, regulates the merchant processing costs associated with taking certain types of debit-card payments. Technology Expert Allen Dobbins explains how the bill is lowering costs for dealers who accept credit and credit card payments.

Alan Mosher looks at the options available for buy here pay here dealers to adjust to increased wholesale vehicle prices.

Special finance expert Greg Goebel discusses the three best things he came away with from the 2011 Special Finance Conference—Auto Auction Insider, Bidzpin and VegasFlyTrap.

The best first line of defense against class action suits is the practice of requiring consumers to sign mandatory arbitration agreements as part of the car purchase and finance transactions they enter into. Attorney Thomas Hudson provides an example of how the use of arbitration agreements saved the day when the class action lawyers came calling.

CarChat24 the premier U.S. and Canadian provider of 24/7 staffed dealer live chat support and dealer chat software has successfully integrated Edmunds.com data with its New Auto Dealer Chat Software.

OnlineBKmanager.com is pleased to announce a partnership with AFS Acceptance intended to expand its Lender Partner Program. This program is designed to provide automobile dealers with Bankruptcy Leads and a relationship with a BK focused finance company.

RedBumper,a new breed automotive inventory management company, today announced that it will unveil its SmartApp at the 2012 NADA & ATD Convention and Expo in Las Vegas, NV, February 3-6. SmartApp is the first mobile App on the market to include built in VIN and QR scanners for use by consumers.

CAR-Research XRM, a single-source CRM solution uniquely branded as “XRM, Exceeding CRM,” today announced that the company has not, and will not, share, sell or trade any auto dealers private customer data, short of a government subpoena, or with the dealer’s consent.

Dominion Dealer Solutions, industry leader in automotive marketing, CRM, lead generation, reputation management, social media, equity data mining, websites and inventory management, today announced the launch of their new company website (www.DriveDominion.com).

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems announced today a 20% increase in new auto dealer clients in 2011, along with a record number of new installations.