Twitch's repo-madness tales

[Marmalady]

Is Twitch married? I think I'm in love....

[crashhelmet]

I used to repo cars part time when I lived in the Bay area. It can be some of the most fun you've ever had and some of the most scariest experiences you've ever been through.

I was lucky enough to not have a tow truck, so I only got the cars where the banks gave us the key code so we could drive off with it. The sucky part about that is dealing with nosy neighbors.

When you repo a car, you have to call it into the police and report that your'e picking up the vehicle. That way it doesn't get started as a stolen vehicle case. If you call it in before you have it and the owner chases you off with a baseball bat or something worse, the police don't like having to redo paper work to show it wasn't collected or additional paperwork to book someone for attempted assault charges.

So you take the car, drive around the corner, and then call it in. However... if a nosy neighbor sees you, thinks your'e stealing the car, and calls the police. They tend to stop you, handcuff you, and treat you like a car thief until every last bit of information on your repo order is verified.

I actually miss doing it and would love to be able to afford to do it full time.

CH

[LillFilly]

Yes! A Twitch fan club! We need t-shirts!

I'm wondering, did the guy have to return the tires for the ATV too?

[Argabarga]

The bank just put a new set on, sent the ATV to auction, and the cost of replacing the tires is added to the debt he already owed on the outsanding part of his loan.

Hiding wheels or taking parts off is a "clever" thing a lot of folks do to try and make thier vehicle repo-proof (Like taking the handlebars off of a motorcycle if they think it's about to be repo'd) and all that happens is the missing parts are replaced and the deadbeat gets the bill.

Sometimes, people will actualy DESTROY the car/ATV/Bike if they know it's going to get Repo'd so the bank can't recoup ANYTHING on them at auction.

They still owe on the loan of course, but, it's a "IF I CAN'T HAVE IT, NOBODY CAN!" tantrum that is stunningly amazing coming from an alleged adult.

One guy managed this by spray-painting the car a different color, WITHOUT masking off anything. There was paint overspray on the headlights, the taillights, the windshield, all the windows, the license plate, the tires, EVERYTHING.

The bank took one look at it and declared it "junk" as it would fetch nothing at auction as-is and would cost too much to clean and repaint, car went for scrap.

To this day, I don't know if it was an attempt to subtly destory the vehicle by tanking it's value, or a really bad attempt at trying to convince us that it was a TOTALY DIFFERENT CAR! YEP! NOT THE BLUE ONE THE BANK SAYS I HAVE! NOPE! IT'S A YELLOW ONE!

Hey moron, ever hear of a VIN?

[HYHYBT]

It might not be any more effective, but it would at least be much simpler to park the car at a friend's house, preferably in a garage or something.

[casey13]

It might not be any more effective, but it would at least be much simpler to park the car at a friend's house, preferably in a garage or something.

Sounds like they may still follow you or watch where you go to see if they can get it.

[Argabarga]

A standard repo order has last known address, last known place of employment and addressess of known family members/friends/hunting cabins/hangouts/garages/ from either talking to folks, or just shaking the public records/Google tree and seeing what falls out.

In effect, if you think you can dodge the Repo man by going to a friends house, guess again.

Also, every address is checked, but then a quick drive around the neighborhood is conducted, and a good 50% of the time, the car is parked around the block, or 3 blocks down at a church/school or on some side street.

People seem to think we aren't that bright.....

[Andara Bledin]

It might not be any more effective, but it would at least be much simpler to park the car at a friend's house, preferably in a garage or something.

My brother was behind on his car payment for a while because he's not particularly responsible.

So, while he wasn't driving the car and until he got the payments up to date, he'd park the car in, up against a tree in the front yard. The tree was between the driveway, which curved, and the street.

^-.-^

[HYHYBT]

Please don't take this the wrong way: I've never had to deal with this sort of thing, and find it interesting, and by the way my car is paid for... but say I was trying to hide my car from you. You know the addresses of most or all of my friends and family... but how many garages are you allowed to break into just to find out whether the car is there or not? (This is assuming it's a short-term arrangement, where the payments will soon be caught up, and also assuming I don't go near the car until then)

[Andara Bledin]

They aren't allowed to break into anywhere, from what I understand.

If the car is accessible to the truck, then it's fair game. But if it's in something like a garage with the door down, they can't really do anything with it. They'll wait until you go somewhere, like the store or work, and grab it from there.

^-.-^

[Argabarga]

Pretty much

[crashhelmet]

Hey moron, ever hear of a VIN?

Funny you should mention that...

We had an idiot driver for us pick up the wrong truck once. Repo ticket was for a red 1996 Ford Ranger. Driver went out to the address and found one in the apt complex parking lot, hitched it up, and drove off without bothering to check the plate or the VIN. Caused a big ol shit storm with that.

CH