LUCIEN W. HOPE III
North Miami, FL 33181
Cell 305-***-****
SUMMARY
Over 30 years of diverse experience in collections, billing, credit, sales, customer service, marketing, budget management, administration, procurement, and organizational development. Proven track record in management and operations, particularly with start-up departments or troubleshooting-failed departments, turning them around to be fiscally sound.
EXPERIENCE
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY FINANCE DEPARTMENT, Miami, FL 2002–2011
Manager, Credit and Collections
Establishment, development, administration, and management of a full-service collections and recovery department, handling billing and collections for non-ad-valorem debts, including bad debt collections for Jackson Memorial Hospital patient accounts and Fire Rescue Ambulance Service accounts in Miami-Dade County, the fifth largest county in the United States. Developed and implemented all policies and procedures for department, consisting of Accounting, Collection, Outside Agency Management, Billing, Computer Operations, and Legal units. Presented to, and obtained approval from, the Board of County Commissioners for the first monthly monetary incentive plan in Miami-Dade County. Established new relationships with County departments to handle their collection efforts. Negotiated contracts with outside collection agencies to collect accounts, once in-house collection process was completed.
In November, 2010, appointed by County Manager as the Program Administrator for the Red Flag Identity Theft Fraud Prevention Program county-wide. Management of detection, tracking and mitigation of all Red Flag incidents. Oversight of all County employee training for the Program.
APPLIED CARD SYSTEMS, Boca Raton, FL 2001- 2002
Call Center Manager, Collections
Management of as many as 13 Supervisors and 200 collectors involved in collection of delinquent and over-limit credit card accounts for $3B bank. Responsible for hiring, training, and development of supervisory and associate staff. Manager of the Month award for June, 2001. Units reporting to me won Unit of the Month award for 6 consecutive months.
REPUBLIC BANK (acquired by BB&T), Largo, FL 1997 - 2000
Mortgage Analyst
Originated new mortgage loans for residential customers, handling all types of first and second mortgage products. Responsible for new business development as well as cross-selling additional banking services.
• Consistently ranked in the top 10% of sales force in new loan production.
• Selected to the President’s Club; honor restricted to top producers in Mortgage Division.
• Maintained ranking in top 3% of sales force in cross-selling additional banking services.
TECH DATA CORPORATION, Clearwater, FL 1994 - 1997
Marketing Manager
Developed and implemented marketing strategies for liquidating “non-sellable” inventory of computer products for second largest computer distribution company worldwide. Responsible for minimizing inventory levels through monthly and quarterly sales, while maximizing sales revenues.
• Increased customer base from 10 customers to over 100 liquidation customers.
• Reduced inventory level from over $2MM to average of less than $0.5MM per month.
• Recovery percent increased by 40%.
FINANCIAL CLAIMS CONTROL, INC., Tampa, FL 1992 - 1994
General Manager
Managed all functions of national collection agency. Key responsibilities included management of 40 collectors and skip-tracers, marketing and sales, client relations, and staffing.
• Increased revenues by more than 20%.
• Developed new relationships with several national banks.
• Received passing grades on all audits by every client.
• Positioned company to be sold to a larger collection agency.
CITICORP/CITIBANK, Chicago, IL 1985 - 1992
Director, Consumer Credit Collections and Recoveries
Developed, implemented, and managed start-up operation and all functions surrounding recovery of consumer credit losses incurred against a $1B portfolio. Responsible for multiple collection agency and attorney relationships, an in-house collection process, bankruptcy, payment processing, and budget development and forecasting.
• Developed comprehensive in-house and outside agency collection program.
• In first year, increased recoveries from $0.5MM to $5.1MM; to over $10MM in second year.
• Developed and implemented re-write program to help debtors repay charged off accounts and reestablish their credit.
Other positions held at Citibank:
• Recovery Manager
• Corporate Compliance Officer (company’s subject matter expert in collections)
• Collection Supervisor
WALLACE AND DEMAYO, ATTORNEYS AT LAW, Atlanta, GA 1984 – 1985
Operations Manager (for full service collection agency)
GENERAL ELECTRIC CREDIT (CAPITAL) CORP., Atlanta, GA 1979 – 1984
Credit and Collections Manager
EDUCATION
Auburn University, Auburn, AL
BA, Psychology; double minor in Related Business
State of Florida Licensed Mortgage Broker (inactive status)