History

Asset Acceptance was founded in 1962 by Rufus H. (Bud) Reitzel, Jr. in Detroit under the forerunner name Lee Acceptance Company for the purpose of purchasing and collecting charged-off consumer receivables.

Today, Asset Acceptance is a national leader in the accounts receivable management industry, with 1,700 associates across 10 offices in nine states. Seven of these offices house call center operations and three are stand-alone legal offices.

Nathaniel F. (Brad) Bradley IV, current Chairman and onetime President and Chief Executive Officer, joined the Company in 1979 as a collector.

Lee Acceptance Company became incorporated as Lee Acceptance Corp. in 1982. Asset Acceptance Corp. was formed in 1994, replacing Lee Acceptance Corp.

Expansion
The Company opened its first satellite office in 1997, in Southfield, Michigan. The next year, the Company opened an office near Cleveland, Ohio - its first outside Michigan. In 2001, the Company’s expansion proceeded to Tampa, Florida.

In 2002, Asset Acceptance Corp. merged with and into the newly formed Asset Acceptance LLC. The Company relocated its Southfield, Michigan office to Wixom, Michigan that year. Expansion continued through acquisitions of offices in White Marsh, Maryland and San Antonio, Texas from other accounts receivable management companies.

Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. was formed in 2003, and Brad Bradley was named Chief Executive Officer of the Company. The Company expanded to Phoenix, Arizona and Chicago, Illinois through further acquisitions that year.

Public offering
In 2004, Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. became publicly traded through an initial public offering and became listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. More expansion followed that year, with the opening of stand-alone legal offices in Woodbury, New Jersey and Plantation, Florida.

The Company moved into its current corporate headquarters location in Warren, Michigan in 2005. That same year, Asset Acceptance opened another stand-alone legal office in Richmond, Virginia.

Founder retires
Bud Reitzel, the Chairman and founder of Asset Acceptance, retired in 2006. The Board of Directors then named Brad Bradley Chairman of the Board.

Also in 2006, Asset Acceptance acquired the nation’s leading purchaser of healthcare receivables, Premium Asset Recovery Corporation (PARC), in Deerfield Beach, Florida.

In 2007, the Company consolidated its Wixom, Michigan and White Marsh, Maryland offices. Asset Acceptance opened a stand-alone legal office in Towson, Maryland.

Forward Vision
On January 1, 2009, Chief Operating Officer Rion Needs succeeded Brad Bradley as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, in line with a succession plan approved by the Board of Directors. Brad Bradley remains non-executive Chairman of the Board. Mr. Needs joined Asset Acceptance in mid-2007 following more than 22 years with American Express.