"Credit unions need to also make sure they don't have all their eggs in one basket," Maniaci said. "They need to make sure they have relationships with different dealers in the area, in this case, other Chevy dealers so that they can direct customers back to the credit union."

Meyer also stated the importance of credit unions developing relationships with other dealers in the area after a large dealership closes.

"Credit unions should seize the opportunity to connect with and strengthen relationships with other dealerships in their region, when a dealer closes its doors, as they will be gaining additional business of local consumers and members."

Immediately after a dealership closes, Maniaci said that credit unions need to look at the contracts that are in transit. They need to look at trade-ins and make sure they are protected in products that might be in transit. If they find that they are missing any information, Maniaci recommended finding someone still working at the dealership or contact the borrower to get the missing information as quickly as possible.

"They need to see what's in the pipeline, see what's missing and get it," Maniaci said.

Credit unions also need to look at their portfolio, specifically their titles as that is going to be the biggest exposure area, Maniaci said.

"It's really about monitoring your portfolio on an on-going basis. If you see that you're starting to miss little pieces of documentation, that's a red flag because that's where your exposure is going to be if the dealership happens to go under."

Kayce Bell, chief operating office at Alabama Credit Union in Tuscaloosa, Ala., said that the credit union had dealings with the Bill Heard dealership in Huntsville several years ago but dropped the dealership from its program.

"We had so many problems getting correct documents and titles filed in a timely manner that we dropped them from our program even though they were the only Chevy dealer in one of the largest cities we serve," Bell said.

Bell said that even for direct loans to members who were buying from Bill Heard they watched the deals very carefully.

"We watched the deals very carefully as we were aware of Bill Heard's reputation in Huntsville as well as other markets across the Southeast. I remember Googling 'Bill Heard, complaints' several years ago and querying the Better Business Bureau and found dozens of hits about consumers who filed claims. That certainly helped guide our decision to drop them from our indirect program."

The Bill Heard Huntsville location was one of the 14 dealerships that closed.

Amber Tynan, business development manager at Florida Credit Union League Service Group said that she is sure some of their credit unions have relationships with the dealerships that have closed in Florida but they "haven't heard any flack since the closings."

Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union located in Charlotte, Fla., near the Bill Heard Plant City dealership that shut down and TIC Federal Credit Union in Columbus, Ga., where the Bill Heard headquarters was located both declined to comment about the dealership closings.

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