[arete]

TO stem these losses, lenders say they are increasing their credit requirements. Yet at the same time, they're also encouraging people to borrow by offering zero percent down or extending loans to 75 months from 60 months.

I talked to a local "recovery specialist" who told be that his business is absolutely booming and sees it getting better as the auto makers try to push more inventory off their lots. He said that it is not unusal to repo a car from a guy and then have to go back again 6 months later and get another from the same person.

Richard W.

[arete]

FYI

Comments and opinions welcome.

Richard W.

[Brian S]

There was a article a few days back on the Pawn Shop industry. It too is booming, big time.

[patton]

How interesting. Well, I was getting bored in my current career anyway...

[txzman]

"Repo Man" - one of the wildest science fiction movies ever made. A classic!

[sarcasm]

According to the repo trade association Time Finance Adjusters, banks took back some 2.25 million autos last year.

The economy is getting stronger every day.

[ContentiousObjector]

my father-in-law had trouble with an idiot repo-dude last year who kept trying to take his truck, not only was he not behind in his payments, but he bought it with cash.

After chasing the guy away with a shotgun four times, and half a dozen calls to the police and threatening a restraining order the idiot finally stopped trying to swipe his truck.

You would think after the keys didn't work and the names didn't match the redo-dude might have done a little homework rather than wasting three months trying to repo the wrong truck.

I don't think this occupation attracts the best and the brightest

[thatsnotnice]

Amazingly, this theft is 100 percent legal. Max Pineiro is a repo man.

That’s because this “theft” isn’t theft in most states. It’s recovering someone else’s property that is illegally being used.

Anyway, you have to be careful if you do this type of job in Texas. It used to be that you could use lethal force to protect yourself or your property – especially at night. The general rule of thumb is that if you can take the car and remove it from the premises, it constitutes a repo. If you get killed in the process, the guy prevented the theft of property that he was legally responsible for making payments on. At least that’s the way it used to be.

That’s why the towing company I worked for as a kid (owned by an ex-cop) used a paid off duty (but uniformed) officer to come along to notify the owner that it was a legitimate repo. On top of that, we’d try to do it in the daytime and preferably get it from the parking lot of the guy’s job if he had one.

[Billthedrill]

I'm gonna start small. Tricycles. Work up from there. Hope some 4-year-old drug dealer doesn't off me with his squirt gun...

[GovernmentShrinker]

If the debtor catches him and tells him to get lost, the law says he has to leave — unless he's a good sweet talker.

What the h### kind of law is that? (and this is a J.D. asking here) If the financing contract says that the lender has the legal right the repossess the vehicle if the payments aren't up to date, then the lender's agent has the legal right to repossess it, and the borrower has no legal right to interfere. Maybe the Socialist State of New York has passed some weird law specific to car-repos, but this sounds mighty odd. The repo guys can legally snatch the car, except if the borrower happens to see him starting to do it and asks him to stop, and then it would be illegal???

[xm177e2]

Repo guys take everything from A.T.M.'s to office furniture to jet skis

Don't tell me the NYT flubbed an apostrophe... that would just break my heart.

[AlaskaErik]

Makes me glad I pay my trucks off soon after I buy them. No repo man for me.

[coloradan]

Yeah, you got it. Time machines!

[STONEWALLS]

.....Jerry, a friend of mine got repoed....then they went after his wife's station wagon...she was in the supermarket shopping, comes out and can't find the car...calls the cops to report it stolen....that's how she found out it was repoed....Jerry caught hell at supper that night, then his wife packed her bags took the kids and left.....next day Jerry checks into Rehab for his percodan habit, gets clean and moves in with a cute little 20 year old blonde aerobics instructor he met at the Y....he says life is good now and he owes it all to the repo man....oh, and he had no problem getting another car; a brand new Esplanade...he's an orthopedic surgeon.

Good luck to everyone!

Stonewalls the Ant

[meyer]

In other words, creditors need the repo man. "Without repo guys, we'd lose millions of dollars every year," said Dan Jarvis, a spokesman for Ford Credit.

My first thought is why are they giving loans to unqualified customers. I realize that many repos are based on drastic changes in job circumstance, but there are many more that are the result of lending to people that are a bad credit risk prior to the loan.

[MaxTheRepoMan]

Hi all,
My name is Max Pineiro and I am the owner of Elite Collateral Recovery, Elite Search Team and Repoland.com. I am also a Licensed Private Detective in NJ. The article that you read above was written on our agency. Several important point were missed by the writer who spent 2 full days with our agents. The majority of licensed and bonded recovery agencies throughout the country run a very respectable business. I took insult to my introduction that reads "Max Pineiro knows where someones car is and he is about to steal it". I do not consider my agents or myself to be thieves. Many of our agents are former police officers and private investigators. One of our agents was recently hired as a Secret Service Agent for the Department of Treasury. I am an x-law enforcement officer and concider the service that we provide to the financial community, a very important one. Without our service, where would the lending institutions be today? Where would interest rates be? Would we all be able to even afford financing a vehicle? Most folks that do have a vehicle repossessed, know that it is coming. Our agency has been involved in over 30,000 repossessions over the past 17 years. Most people that we have been confronted by do understand that we are doing our job and are usually only interested in getting the personal belongings out of the car. Professional Recovery Agencies are bonded, insured and certified. Of course there are the few tow jockeys that run around calling themselves repossessors when in fact they have no clue of the laws that govern our business. These are the same guys that usually get interviewed on nationwide TV and tell everyone how dangerous this job is and how many times they have been shot at. After 17 years in this business I can assure you that if you carry yourself professionally and are properly trained you will seldom have a war story to tell. I have enjoyed everyones posts and replys on this forum. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Thanks,
Max Pineiro