Business Is Booming for the Repo Man

Mike Riggs | July 18, 2008

The Miami Herald reports that not everyone is taking the credit crunch as hard as kids in Britain:

While the recession means hard times for most people, it's a godsend for the repo man, the person who shows up—often unexpectedly—to snatch your property when you're behind on payments.

At [Repo man Charlie Clarke's] employer, Fort Lauderdale boat repossessor and auctioneer National Liquidators, business has tripled in the last 18 months as higher maintenance fees, fuel and docking costs—as well as the real-estate crisis—have put boat owners behind on payments.

"Before the house, everything else goes,'' says Clarke, a former navy engineer who's never seen more boats in five years on the job. He has taken small motorboats, sailboats and multimillion-dollar yachts. For the 63-footer he takes on this day, its loan hasn't been paid for months, with $200,000 overdue.

I grew up in a Florida neighborhood where repos were a daily occurrence long before the housing bubble burst, and as such, I view folks like Clark with a mixture of disgust and awe: they make their money off saps who can't pay the bills, but they do so with incredible efficiency. As Bryan Burrough points out in his Vanity Fair story about the collapse of Bear Stearns, one person's (or company's) bad news, is another person's cause for celebration.

Katherine Mangu-Ward blogged here about the repo man's alleged credit crunch cohort: payday lenders.

Comments

Nigel Watt|7.18.08 @ 11:25AM|#

A broken-window fallacy to say it's a good thing, though, but there's nothing wrong with being a repo man. Somebody's gotta do it.

Fluffy|7.18.08 @ 11:25AM|#

Repo men are indeed the Navy SEALs of consumer finance, but people make it easy for them.

A locked garage door will defeat the repo man. But people persist in leaving their cars in the driveway even when they're way behind on their payments. Move some of that garage stuff into your basements, guys, and lock the car up.

Episiarch|7.18.08 @ 11:30AM|#

Repo men must be more like ninjas than SEALs, because I can't see how they avoid getting the shit beaten out of them (at best) constantly.

People get testy when you take their shit, even if they aren't paying for it.

|7.18.08 @ 11:30AM|#

I hafta get my wife's car out of this bad area.

|7.18.08 @ 11:31AM|#

Why is there no Emilio Estevez picture in this post? I demand an explanation.

Repoed|7.18.08 @ 11:31AM|#

A locked garage door will defeat the repo man

I don't have a garage. The repo man took it!

|7.18.08 @ 11:34AM|#

Besides general human sympathy for people down on their luck, I've never understood the hatred people have for repo men.
Once you stop making payments, you've essentially stolen the item, and an honest person would make alternate financial arrangements or return the merchandise to the seller.
But then, I've only been laid off 3 times in my life, so I wouldn't know anything about being really broke.

|7.18.08 @ 11:34AM|#

[...] I view folks like Clark with a mixture of disgust and awe: they make their money off saps who can't pay the bills, but they do so with incredible efficiency.

No, they make their money off of the people who loaned money to saps who can't pay the bills. You know... the actual owners of the property.

I don't get the disgust for the repo man.

|7.18.08 @ 11:35AM|#

Putting your car in a friend's locked garage might defeat the repo man, but what's the point? You end up riding the bus to work, either way.

|7.18.08 @ 11:36AM|#

Not may people have a code to live by anymore.

I shall not cause harm to a vehicle,
or the personal contents thereof.

Nor through inaction, let vehicle or
personal contents come to harm.

Me, I'm thinking now is a good time to buy a boat.

Fluffy|7.18.08 @ 11:40AM|#

Putting your car in a friend's locked garage might defeat the repo man, but what's the point? You end up riding the bus to work, either way.

Well, if you ultimately plan on making your payments, then you won't have to also pay the repo man fee and the per diem storage charge. That's in the states where you have time to get the car back before it goes to auction. Or in states where you don't get that time, if you can keep the car hidden long enough to get caught up on your payments, you don't lose the car. In the meantime, if you have an emergency where you absolutely need to use the car, you can.

Lots of upside to hiding the car.

|7.18.08 @ 11:42AM|#

Repo men must be more like ninjas than SEALs, because I can't see how they avoid getting the shit beaten out of them (at best) constantly.

Repo men tend to be pretty good at avoiding confrontation by taking back the property after hours or when you aren't there.

Some of them do recon and do their best to get the shit quickly and quietly and never even make contact with the dead-beat. I believe the repo-man has a dangerous job, and they go out of their way to avoid any extra risks.

They are everything the cops should be, but aren't.

I have a dead-beat family member who got their SUV repo'd because they were behind 2 payments. Dude came overnight while deadbeat relative was asleep and just took the car from the parking spot.

I don't get the repo-man hate either. I know that people have hardships, but so what? Hardship doesn't entitle you to keep merchandise that hasn't been paid for.

|7.18.08 @ 11:49AM|#

Hey, anybody remember that repo man show hosted by Big Pussy?

|7.18.08 @ 11:52AM|#

epo men must be more like ninjas than SEALs, because I can't see how they avoid getting the shit beaten out of them (at best) constantly.

People get testy when you take their shit, even if they aren't paying for it.
Well, the life of the repo man is always intense.

|7.18.08 @ 11:56AM|#

I pay cash for my cars.

I guess that makes me some sort of un-American weirdo.

Grandson of Sam|7.18.08 @ 11:57AM|#

I don't get the tagline.
It's "yam"?
What do sweet potatoes have to do with this?

Episiarch|7.18.08 @ 11:58AM|#

I pay cash for my cars.

I guess that makes me some sort of un-American weirdo.

You're not alone. I do too.

Jackson Kuhl|7.18.08 @ 12:00PM|#

Putting your car in a friend's locked garage might defeat the repo man, but what's the point? You end up riding the bus to work, either way.

I do my best thinking on the bus.

|7.18.08 @ 12:03PM|#

Nicely done.

|7.18.08 @ 12:20PM|#

I blame society. Society made me what I am.

Anyone else want some FOOD(MEAT FLAVORED) and DRINK?

e|7.18.08 @ 12:32PM|#

I do my best thinking on the bus.

The more you drive, the less intelligent you get.

(I agree, but then again, maybe I did too much acid back in the hippie days)

Unclaimed Mysteries|7.18.08 @ 12:37PM|#

Repo man. Check. Payday loan operations. Check. But won't somebody please think of the rent-to-own stores?

It's a beautiful night, you can almost see the stars.

|7.18.08 @ 12:42PM|#

Lots of upside to hiding the car.

If you're not bothered by holding property you're not entitled to, that is.

God, I loved Repo Man. Among its other charms, it gives an absolutely textbook illustration of someone gets indoctrinated into a cult.

I pay cash for my cars.

That makes four of us, if you count my wife.

|7.18.08 @ 12:49PM|#

That makes four of us, if you count my wife.

I don't know if your wife counts. Does she have a VIN?

|7.18.08 @ 1:26PM|#

I pay cash for my cars, but I borrow it from M&P bank. M&P, as in Mom and Pop, I get really good terms from them.

|7.18.08 @ 1:33PM|#

I pay cash for my cars.

I guess that makes me some sort of un-American weirdo.

You're not alone. I do too.
Credit is a sacred trust, it's what our free society was founded on! Do you think they give a damn about their bills in Russia? I said do you think they give a damn about their bills in Russia!?

First Little Pig|7.18.08 @ 1:34PM|#

I pay cash as well.

However, one of my sisters had her car repo'd some years back. My father bailed her out and gave her money for a new car (cash) but she borrowed to buy the car anyway, wasted the cash on who-knows-what and filed for bankruptcy. The courts will not take your car in a bankruptcy... So in the end she snookered my pops and the dealership and kept the car.

What a piece of work.

|7.18.08 @ 1:55PM|#

They don't have bills in Russia. Everything's free.

|7.18.08 @ 3:06PM|#

I shed a tear for Emilio Estevez's acting career. One nice shot with Repo Man and then...please help me, what else was he in? That was good?

|7.18.08 @ 3:17PM|#

I'll throw out:

Maximum Overdrive

The Breakfast Club

|7.18.08 @ 3:46PM|#

I shed a tear for Emilio Estevez's acting career. One nice shot with Repo Man and then...please help me, what else was he in? That was good?

The Mighty Ducks ?

Men At Work ?

Stakeout ?


OK seriously -- I actually liked:

That was then...This is now.

lee brenn|7.18.08 @ 4:53PM|#

A close friend of mine did a stint as a repo man. They usually wait until you're inside of your place of employment and take you car from the business' parking lot.

The bank or dealership has all of your employment info on-hand, so it is a pretty easy wait.

I don't think they can remove the car from your driveway, let alone garage. This would be trespassing, at least without something from the sheriff and the court.

lee brenn|7.18.08 @ 4:57PM|#

Oh, and let's go do some crimes.

|7.18.08 @ 10:22PM|#

houses in florida dont have basements

|7.18.08 @ 11:57PM|#

I once worked with a lady who did repos with her husband. There were the usual stories about repo jobs, but the greatest story was when they repo'd a prison guard's car. From the Corcoran State Prison parking lot! They got caught and guards were shooting at them. They ducked and floored it. Fortunately there was a earthen berm in front of the prison, and once they got out of the prison proper they were shielded from further bullets. They stopped repoing soon after that.

|7.19.08 @ 1:02AM|#

This totally reminds me, I can't wait for Repo: The Genetic Opera to come out. Imagine a Saw rock opera. If you can handle the blood, check out the Youtube preview.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GfJxCYTKOi8

|7.19.08 @ 3:16PM|#

Let's go get sushi and not pay!