Colleyville, Texas – In response to dealer demand, the Association of Finance & Insurance Professionals (AFIP) introduced AFIP Certification Boot Camps, two days of accelerated preparation for the federal and state regulation-based AFIP certification exam. The first Boot Camps are being offered in Cleveland, Kansas City, Scottsdale and Trenton in April.

The AFIP certification course addresses the laws that apply to in-dealership vehicle funding and leasing and aftermarket product sales. According to David Robertson, AFIP executive director, “As a result of recent high-dollar penalties and enforcement actions, we’ve been inundated with calls from dealers who want their people AFIP certified, but don’t want to wait the six to eight weeks it typically takes to complete the course. Boot Camp allows dealers to certify their people in a much shorter time period. We recommend that attendees spend about three weeks of independent study before the sessions.”

The first day of Boot Camp is devoted to an intensive review of the key state and federal regulations. The second day begins with a final exam review and culminates in administration of the proctored exam. The Boot Camp fee is $150, plus the cost of the AFIP certification course. Boot Camps are open to first-time, senior- and master-level candidates in AFIP’s three-tiered continuing education program.

The Boot Camp concept was originally developed to assist a national dealer group’s personnel who were having trouble completing the course. “The methodologies implemented with this group turned out to be highly successful,” said Robertson. “The scores and passing rates were higher than those typically achieved through the traditional course of study. When we started getting calls from dealers who wanted their people certified yesterday, we already had an accelerated program in place that we knew would ultimately benefit all candidates and expedite the certification process.”