2023’s Top Stories
2023 was a very eventful year for the repossession industry. And while the last six months of 2023 was the deadliest period of time in the history of the industry, there was a lot more than just that catching your attention. Looking back at the year, we thought it worthy of looking back at the year’s top ten stories.
The following top 10 stories list is based solely upon the number of clicks on the stories and not by an preference of my own.
Number 10 – Repo Agent Murdered in Chicago
With 7 repossessors murdered in 2023, it should come of little surprise that some of the top stories of the year involved these. But the fifth agent killed this year was especially tragic.
On October 6th, 28-year-old Jack Jacobson of Northwest Recovery had just repossessed a black Land Rover without incident and the borrower even gave him the keys. Moments later, he was ambushed by a group of unknown people who fired a reported fifty rounds at him. Seven struck and killed him.
It was about 1:30am when Jacobson was found murdered in his bullet riddled tow truck on the 200 block of West Fifth Avenue with the repossessed Rover still attached. Multiple calibers of bullet casings littered the ground near the scene.
Adding to the tragedy, Jack and his fiancée were holding a baby shower the following day to celebrate his first child and were soon to be married. As is the sad tradition, funds were raised to cover funeral expenses and a tow truck procession in his honor was held. None of which can heal the loss to his family, friends and coworkers.
No arrests have been announced in this case and it is suspected to be a random gang shooting. An issue you will hear about again later in this article.
Number 9 – Jamie King Repo Shooting Trial Begins
Back in September, we followed up on the trial of the alleged shooter of Jamie King, an adjuster for International Recovery Systems (IRS) of Philadelphia in May 2022. Jamie was shot in the head and stomach causing injuries that put him in critical condition.
While Jamie struggled on the long road to recovery, the accused shooter managed to avoid arrest until July of 2023 when Marshals arrested 24-year-old Jabril Ali in Philadelphia. Authorities reported that Ali attempted to jump from the back window of the house he was hiding in but was surrounded by federal agents and apprehended.
Ali has been charged with attempted murder and held on a $1,000,000 bond. He was scheduled to be formally arraigned on October 3rd and there has been no further word of the results of the trial.
Jamie and his family have since left the repossession industry and Philadelphia for Florida. Jamie still struggles with his recovery.
Number 8 – Wrongful Repossession Death Lawsuit Names Massive Credit Union Lender and Agents
Back on September 29th, officers of the Decatur, Alabama Police Department responded to a report of a gun drawn at agents during a repossession attempt. Placing themselves in strategic positions around the alleged suspect’s home, they assisted the repossession agent(s) to make another attempt to repossess the borrower’s truck.
With scant time to respond to officers demands to drop his weapon, 39-year-old borrower, Stephen Perkins was gunned down.
What followed was a prolonged internal police investigation and a complete refusal to release police body cam video. But the police were not the only ones with cameras. Neighbors began releasing Ring door cam video that exposed inconsistencies in the police statements and showed a repossession agent pulling away with the repossessed truck even while Perkins laid dying in his own front yard.
Frustrated in what they’d seen and a lack of action by the city, the people of Decatur took to the streets demanding action against the officers and a full release of the results of the internal investigation. There were protests and there were arrests as well as a call from some prominent leaders in the city demanding a law be created to make repossessions after dark illegal.
On December 12th, attorneys representing the family of Stephen Perkins filed a lawsuit against the city, the officers, the repossession agents, the repossession agency and the lender. All of whom were finally named.
For a lender or a repossession agent or agency owner, this is one of the worst things that can happen. No one comes away feeling good about this no matter how many millions they pay to settle it.
Number 7 – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of a Packed Repo Lot
On a less somber topic, on September 1st, we published a guest editorial by one of the industry’s best data driven leaders and writers. Jeremey Crosses editorial “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of a Packed Repo Lot” echoed an issue caused by lenders and forwarders refusal to pay for vehicle storage; lots too small to handle today’s huge volume of repossession activity.
As usual, Jeremy articulates with great specificity how the stagnant fees and lack of storage fees has prohibited his, and many other agencies, from growing their companies to accommodate the current volume of repossession not seen since the early 2010’s.
Having to cease all repossessions for even a night is a sign that the business model just isn’t working. And that’s just what Jeremy reported having to do. And Jeremy is not the only one to make the top ten for these very same reasons, but we’ll get to that shortly.
Number 6 – Former Repo Industry Executive Arrested on Charges Indicative of Child Sex Trafficking
Sitting in the number seven spot for most read stories of the year is one that caught us all off guard. On September 10th, we reported the arrest of veteran repossession industry executive and software pioneer, Jeffrey Koistinen at LAX.
He was arrested on charges of child sex trafficking. He was denied release and ordered to remain in detention pending trial over allegations that he posed a flight risk.
Jeff had a long and storied history in the repossession industry since late 1980’s when he started as an adjuster in San Diego. He later rose to higher positions with companies ranging from RDN to MBSi and others.
His arrest topped a tragic two years from him and his then wife who had lost their 17-month-old child Liam by abuse in the hands of their daycare giver Amanda Walder who later plead guilty.
Many of us have known Jeff professionally and around the repo conference circuit. His arrest came as a shock for most, if not all of us. Jeff is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Number 5 – Borrowers Forced to Wait Weeks to Pick Up Personal Property from Repossessed Vehicles
Sitting in the number 5 spot is a story that dovetails into our number 7 story from Jeremy Cross. While it’s easy for anyone with an unobjective eye to look at the situation and lay blame on the repossession agency for this problem, it’s not that simple.
The reported agency was blindsided by a news crew and politicians that put them in the spotlight. To their credit, they did not deny that there was a problem. They addressed it professionally.
Theirs is a problem few in the industry would have the guts to admit. They’re overwhelmed with personal property appointments and storage lots packed to their limits. These issues are really a simple matter of a problem created by rising repossession volume and the services that neither lender, forwarder or borrower pay for.
As I’d written about earlier, the industry is at the Breaking Point. Repossession fees have barely risen in twenty years and at least twenty-five percent of the repossession industry closed their doors during the pandemic.
2023 has shown increases in repossession volume unseen since the tail end of the Great Recession and there’s no signs that it is about to let up anytime soon. While not everyone will fall victim to such public scrutiny, many if not most, agencies will find themselves suffering similar symptoms of fee structures that are insufficient to accommodate necessary growth.
Number 4 – Relentless Recovery Enters into a Settlement Agreement with Digital Recognition Network
There are two sides to every story. But Relentless Recovery of Ohio’s story was more popular than Digital Recognition Network’s (DRN). At the heart of the story was resolution to a lawsuit filed against them by DRN over breach of contract.
In October 2022, Relentless Recovery provided written notice to DRN that it was terminating the License Agreement and began doing business with Insight LPR.
On December 30, 2022, DRN filed a lawsuit against Relentless Recovery in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division, asserting a cause of action for breach of contract based upon violation of the Non-Competition Provision.
On October 26, 2023, Relentless announced that it had entered into a settlement agreement with Digital Recognition Network, Inc. (DRN), now a subsidiary of Motorola Solutions, to terminate its license agreement. The landmark settlement eliminated their non-competition agreement.
It is no secret in the repossession industry that there is a great deal of dissatisfaction with DRN and their non-competition clause that prohibits agencies from entering into LPR data agreements with other LPR service providers.
Days later, DRN provided more details about the settlement in their own press release titled; DRN Release on Relentless Recovery Settlement Agreement. Within, they illustrated the cost of Relentless’ freedom from their contract, which was not cheap. Regardless, a path from their contractual bondage has been shown and I suspect that there may be more efforts by agencies to free themselves from them.
Number 3 – ARA Past Due Forwarder Invoice Survey Results
Over the years, the complaint about repossession forwarding companies billing practices has been never ending. While some forwarders made improvements to their processes, others did little to improve their reputations amongst their agency partners.
In August, Vaughn Clemmons, President of the American Recovery Association (ARA), launched an agency owner directed poll through CURepossession to gauge the performance and reliability of various forwarders. On the 14th, he released the results.
Needless to say, there were some forwarders who were not pleased. Vaughn heard from these companies and conversations were had, which was his intention after all. Whether or not any major improvements in the polled issues have been made is hard to measure, but the outcry has diminished, for now.
Number 2 – Repo Agent Murdered in Compton
Murder number 6 of the year came from the gang infested city of Compton in south central Los Angeles. On December 13th, 17-year veteran repossession agent Blaine La Prairie was gunned down outside of his truck during a repossession.
He was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital after being found with a gunshot wound to the torso. Blaine was a family man and a longtime employee of Nations Recovery of El Monte, California where he worked with his older brother Ryan.
Ryan later told reporters that on the night that Blaine was killed, he had traveled to Orange County for a repossession assignment while Blaine headed to Compton. Ryan confessed that he now lives with guilt over not taking the South L.A. assignment that Blaine was killed on that night.
“I can’t believe he’s gone,” Ryan said tearfully in the interview. “I really can’t. And I don’t know what I’m going to do about it. I don’t know how I’m going to get by. I go to sleep crying and I wake up and realize what’s happening and I go and cry again.”
Just as previously mentioned in the Jack Jacobson story; in this case as well, there have been no arrests and no suspects named. It is also suspected to be a random gang shooting.
Less than 24-hours later, the 7th agent of the year was killed in Alabama. While his story did not make the top ten for the year, it was equally tragic.
Number 1 – AFA Critique of New ARA Legislation
If not for being overshadowed by the explosion in repossession violence, 2023 could have been known as the year of the state repo associations. Most vocal and strongest of these was the Alliance of Illinois Repossessors, who in August celebrated the passage into law of a data privacy law they had helped author and lobby through the legislative process.
Initially applauded by the Allied Finance Adjusters, in fact even before publicly announced, after the dust had settled, they found issues with it stating that the legislation, considered to be a “template” for other state associations to follow, “is a very bad piece of legislation that should not be enacted, passed or enforced by any state government.”
In great detail, they spelled out numerous objections to the Illinois legal template, but perhaps the most pointed was in relation to the data privacy law itself, which they claimed “…requires an enormous new obligation while circumventing the possibility that the repossession business can get paid for taking on that obligation.”
Perhaps their most pointed objection to the law was articulated near the end of the editorial where they pointed out the laws “requirement that every repossession business in the state would have to utilize “a standardized electronic solution that has been approved by the American Recovery Association…”
In question was the American Recovery Association recent announced a “partnership” with Privacy4Cars, the only such provider of these services approved by the ARA. This brought to question the availability of this service for a competitor that is not a “partner” with ARA to be approved by them.
It is a well written beast of an editorial. While usually only silently simmering, the AFA and ARA do bump heads on occasion and this was a prime example.
Was this worthy of being the top story of the year? I guess so, it was the most read by the readers. I didn’t pick it and am actually a little surprised.
Goodbye 2023
Like many, if not most of you, I don’t necessarily agree with this list, but like I said in the number 1 article closing, these were the most read stories of the year. I didn’t make it up.
This decade has given the repossession industry some tough years. And while pandemic shut downs and low repossession volume strangled the life out of it for the first two years, 2023 gave it new life.
That statement itself is almost ironic, due to the increased repossession activity that spawned the “life” has also spawned the deadliest year in its hundred-year history. Equally disturbing is the fact that the killing didn’t start until July and has only worsened since with two killed in a 24-hour period.
It is no secret that the act of repossessing collateral is dangerous. But what we’re seeing now is a new level of violence. It’s never been this bad.
I wish I had an answer to end this, but I don’t. I can only pray that you all do everything you can to keep your staff and yourselves safe. I’ve said it a thousand times and I’ll say it a thousand more; no car is worth dying for. Let us all pray that this unprecedented rash of violence eases and that 2024 provides a safer and more profitable year for everyone.
So, as we celebrate the oncoming new year and all of the hope that it brings, do not forget the lessons learned from the year that has passed. Do not forget to tell those closest to you that you love them. You may never get another chance.
To all of you, I thank you for another big year at CURepossession. I sincerely appreciate all of your support. Your editorials and submissions have always been the heart and soul of this site and you all helped make 2023 our biggest year yet. I would also like to thank our advertisers, without whom this site would not even exist.
I am blessed to serve you all and grateful for your support. Thank you all again.
Happy New Year!
Kevin Armstrong
Publisher
2023 – A Year in Review – 2023 – A Year in Review – 2023 – A Year in Review – 2023 – A Year in Review – 2023 – A Year in Review – 2023 – A Year in Review – 2023 – A Year in Review – 2023 – A Year in Review – 2023 – A Year in Review –
2023 – A Year in Review – 2023 – A Year in Review – 2023 – A Year in Review – 2023 – A Year in Review – 2023 – A Year in Review – 2023 – A Year in Review
2023 – A Year in Review – Repossession Violence – Repossession History – Repossess – Repossession – Repossession Agency – Repossessor
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