Speakers

The Honorable Judge Richard Blake

Chief Judge of the Hoopa Valley Native American Indian Tribe 

Judge Blake is a Native American of the Hoopa Valley Indian Tribe of California and currently serves as the Chief Judge of this Tribe’s Tribal Court. Judge Blake received his Baccalaureate and Masters Degrees from the University of Southern California in the fields of Pubic Administration and Psychology, graduating Summa Cum Laude, and later received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Nevada Judicial College of Reno. He is an Executive Board Member of National American Indian Court Judges Association and was the founder of the Northern California Tribal Court Coalition. This coalition currently serves the needs of eleven Tribal Courts in providing training, organizational development and education. Prior to his experience as a Tribal Court Judge, Judge Blake worked with the Solano County Probation Department and as a Gang Officer with the Fairfield Police Department. Judge Blake has been a past Guest Speaker of the Allied Finance & Adjusters Conference providing valuable insights pertaining to Native American indebtedness issues and the legal aspects of the seizure of collateral on Native American Reservations. Much of his presentations to our membership in the past have provided a bridge of understanding between our industry and Native Americans and have become integral parts of many lending instructions training manuals. The Allied Finance & Adjusters Conference is proud to once again host Judge Richard Blake as a Guest Speaker at this years Conference. The title of his presentation is  “The Legal Ramifications of the Seizer of Collateral on Native American Reservations”   

 

Michael Howk, Esq.

Recovery Specialist Insurance Group 

Mr. Howk is the Industry Relations Manager for the Recovery Specialist Insurance Group (RSIG). He has been involved in the recovery industry for more than 25 years and is a recognized national expert in repossession law. Mr. Howk was originally from upstate New York and served four years in Military Intelligence before graduating from the University New York at Binghamton School of Management with a Bachelors Degree in 1977. In 1980, he graduated from Nova University in Florida with a Juris Doctorate Degree and became a member of the Florida State Bar that same year. He frequently serves as the keynote speaker to associations and groups of clients across the nation to further educate the industry on risk reduction and liability avoidance in repossession and collateral recovery. Mr. Howk was also involved in the development of the first insurance policy specifically designed for repossession agencies. Based on his work and research, he has developed extensive educational programs, which have become recognized as industry standards. Moreover, he teaches certification courses for recovery specialist, including a forty-hour state-licensing course for repossession agents. Mr. Howk joined the RSIG staff as their Industry Relations Manager in September 1999 after spending 17 years with the American Lenders Service Company in a variety of positions, including Vice President of Operations. He has been a Guest Speaker at our Conferences in the past providing his knowledge and expertise in recovery law with the intent of enhancing the overall professionalism of the craftsmen of our industry. The Allied Finance Adjusters Conference is once again excited at the prospect of learning from this nationally recognized leader in the area of Repossession Law. Mr. Howk’s presentation to the membership is entitled Recent Changes in the Laws Concerning Recovery Agent Certification”. He will also discuss with the membership their concerns regarding bonding, insurance and recovery law and will be teaching the Repossession Agent Certification Course for new recovery agents in attendance.

 

Dr. Ramesh Garg, D.B.A.

Professor of Finance, Eastern Michigan University College of Business 

Dr. Ramesh Garg received his Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.) and Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) degrees from Kent State University in 1974 and 1967, respectively and received his Bachelor of Commerce degree from Vikram University in India in1964 with a gold medal honor. Dr. Garg has written extensively on the subjects of finance and marketing authoring and co-authoring several books and numerous articles in renowned publications such as the Amity Global Business Review, The Bankers Magazine, Multinational Business Review, Intereconomics, Economia Internazionale and the Encyclopedia of Management and Managerial Planning. Some of his more notable articles were entitled  India & The United States: Outsourcing Opportunities and Risks”, "Americanization Versus Globalization", "The Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and Its Consequences”, "Poison Pill Strategies" and "The International Debt Crisis: A Concerted Solution," Moreover, Dr. Garg has conducted extensive research in the areas concerning the indebtedness of developing nations and has actively participated in several national and international economic conferences. In addition to his research, authorship and economic counsel on financial matters, Dr. Garg is considered by his peers as a top ranked expert in the fields of financial markets and institutions, international finance, problems in financial management, mortgage banking, accounting, and financial administration policies. He currently teaches extensively in these subject areas to both graduate and undergraduate students at the Eastern Michigan University College of Business where he has been a faculty member since 1978. Recently he has begun research into the effects associated with the sub-prime mortgage market and its relationship to the auto lending industry. Allied Finance Adjusters Conference is pleased to provide a platform for this notable academic and honored that he would allow us to hear first hand his findings and expert opinions concerning the current problems associated with the mortgage crisis and how it will affect our industry. The title of his presentation will be “The Future of Auto Repossessions & Financing in the Post Sub-Prime Mortgage Meltdown”.   

 

Michele Stuart

Owner and President of JAG Investigations, Inc. 

Ms. Stuart is a licensed Private Investigator in the State of Arizona with over seventeen years of experience specializing in the areas of Financial and Open Source Investigations. Her investigative expertise and techniques are considered at the cutting edge of her industry and has identified her one of the nations most renowned investigators in these areas. She started her investigative career as an Economic Fraud Investigator and her success in finding facts quickly earned her notice among her peers. Soon her clients included such notables as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Resolution Trust Corporation as well as several banks and lending companies. In 1996, Ms. Stuart started her own Private Investigative Firm, JAG Investigations Inc., located in Gilbert, Arizona. Since then, she and her firm have primarily specialized in the areas of Internet Profiling and Open Source Investigations. Her success in these areas of investigations have once again earned her the respect of her industry and brought her to its forefront. As a result of her notoriety as a master craftsman in her field, Ms. Stuart decided to impart her knowledge to others and now provides seminars on her specialized investigative techniques. Over the past few years she has provided presentations to such groups as the Office of Homeland Security, the National Defender Investigators Association and most recently, the Recovery Specialist Insurance Group. Moreover, she has written and published several articles pertaining to her investigative methods in various investigative publications and journals and has been a featured author of several articles concerning the Internet and Open Source Investigations and Profiling in PI Magazine, a widely distributed trade publication of the private investigations industry. The Allied Finance Adjusters Conference is pleased to present Ms. Michele Stuart as a Guest Speaker at this years Conference. Her presentation is entitled "Using the Computer to Locate Collateral" .