Have You Ever Really Thought About It?

Have you ever thought about what you really are taking when you take someone’s vehicle?

EDITORIAL

Have you ever really thought about it? I mean really thought about what you are taking away when you repossess a person’s vehicle. Have you thought about how the consumer will fight and even kill to keep a vehicle?

I think everyone would agree, and I have heard this stated many times during my many years in the recovery industry, “No vehicle is worth anyone’s life.”

I think anyone in their right state of mind would agree with that statement, and if so then why do we constantly read where a recovery agent, camera car operator, or consumer has been injured or killed during a repossession.

Have you ever thought about what you really are taking when you take someone’s vehicle?

The question rang out in my mind repeatedly. “Why would anyone fight and even kill over a hunk of metal”. The person agreed to make payments, they failed in that obligation, did they think they could keep the vehicle? Surely, they knew someone would come and repossess the vehicle. Why were they so upset? I thought about it.

Beyond the physical hunk of steel, plastic, rubber, and electronics there are other things that we take when we repossess a vehicle and maybe, just maybe, that is what the anger and the fight is about.

When we take the vehicle, we take away a part of their freedom. We are removing that freedom and ability to go where they want, anytime they want. Do you remember that feeling you had when you got your first vehicle, that feeling of independence and freedom. You have just taken that away from a person and they may feel that is something worth fighting and even killing over.

We take away a bit of their pride and damage their reputation with family, friends, and neighbors. Pride in ownership is a very strong thing, and it feeds a person’s ego and as we attempt to take possession of that vehicle and drive off with it, we have deeply damaged that ego.

We have possibly made this person look and feel like a failure, creating deep feelings of resentment and anger. This is the anger that precipitates the violence and the consumers stand ready to take that anger out on the person taking their vehicle…YOU.

It may go even deeper when we examine the domino effect of repossessing their vehicle as without a vehicle they may feel they have no way to go to work, if they cannot work, they cannot make the money needed to pay for groceries, rent, medicine and other things they view as necessities. Without a vehicle they may feel they have lost the ability to take their kids to school or go to the doctor’s office or even escape to another city or state to look for employment and avoid collection efforts on other debts they may owe.

I think all these things, and probably some I have not thought of, contribute to embarrassment, humiliation and even fear of isolation after having their vehicle repossessed. It is my opinion these are the things which are the precursors to the deep anger which results in violence when a vehicle is repossessed.

I ask myself if there is anything we can do to suppress or mitigate the anger felt by the person we are taking the vehicle from?

We, as members of the asset recovery industry, are involved in the most invasive and dangerous act in the credit and collection process and we must realize that there is very little we can control outside our own activities. We are a third party in the process as we did not make the loan, we did not try to collect the loan, we did not make the decision to repossess the vehicle, and we did not cause the consumer to default on their contractual agreement.

We are a third party tasked with locating and legally recovering vehicles covered by a defaulted security agreement. In most instances we have had no previous contact with the consumer, we do not know their circumstances, we have no concept of their mental state or what they may have been told by the lender. We basically are going into the assignment blind and that is one of the reasons I feel it is important to know what we are taking when we repossess their vehicle and why they may react violently.

Knowing the “WHY” has always seemed just as important as knowing the “HOW” to me. Understanding the “Why” the consumer harbors such a deep and aggressive anger should create a state of caution on every assignment we work. This state of caution might keep you from becoming another statistic.

Stay safe, watch your 6 and keep your head on a swivel.