Credit Where Credit is Due

“HELL, I WAS THERE”

GUEST EDITORIAL

Recently, while providing testimony as an expert witness in a “Wrongful Repossession” case which had resulted in the death of the consumer, the opposing counsel asked me a very interesting question, “Mr. Brown, when was the last time you actually worked a repossession?”. My answer came immediately, with no hesitation, “Three days ago”. The questioning immediately changed to another subject, and at that time I did not give that question any further thought.

In the weeks and now months that has followed I continue to go back to that question every time I work an assignment, whether in my office tracing a “skip” consumer or in the field participating in the physical recovery of mortgaged collateral.

My First and My Last

My thoughts go back to that question, and I remember the first repossession I worked, a Volkswagen, enter through the wing window with a carefully constructed coat hanger used to unlock the door, put it in neutral and ease it out of the driveway, push it a block down the street, hot wire it and drive it to the storage lot. No locked ignition, no locked transmission, no special keys needed… January 18, 1973.

From that date, January 18, 1973, until Monday, October 24, 2022, close to 50 years in the asset recovery industry, I have worked over 40,000 repossession assignments. Does that sound like an impossible number? If you calculate the math on that figure, it equals approximately 800 assignments per year, 66 assignments per month.

The last assignment worked, Monday, October 24, 2022, was a 2021 Ram 2500 Heavy Duty truck, everything electronic, electric doors, no wing windows, alarm system, push button start, locked steering, locked transmission with a remote key system.

Times have certainly changed through the years and I can, without any hesitation say, “HELL, I WAS THERE”.

Direct assigning has been replaced by many clients with middleman forwarding models, expensive key making equipment is now required, even more expensive tow vehicles, dollies, roll backs, camera systems, spotting vehicles insurance and the list goes on and on.

I have witnessed many changes in the recovery industry, some good and some, in my opinion, bad.

Awards?

One major issue I have, which surfaced recently after reading where a Forwarding company employee was given a prestigious award, was the fact that so may of these accolades and awards are being presented to people who have never, in their life, worked a physical repossession. They claim to have experience in the recovery industry. Experience at what? I ask.

Have they ever sat in a vehicle at 3:00 AM in a consumers driveway trying to “slam a lock”? Have they ever gone up a 50-yard driveway to hook up a vehicle and get off the property before the consumer comes out of the residence?

Have they ever had to get in a vehicle to check the VIN because the consumer has covered up the dash VIN with papers? Have they ever had to face down an irate consumer when confronted or a whole family streaming out of a house demanding to know why you are taking the only means they possess to get the entire family to work?

Have they ever had to use tow dollies to get a vehicle, do they even know what is involved with using tow dollies? Have they ever sat patiently waiting for hours to get approval to pick up a vehicle on a camera hit? Have they ever had a knife pulled on them or a gun stuck in their face? I could go on and on, but in this short missive we do not have enough room.

Many of these award-winning individuals may very well be worthy of the awards presented to them but I know of many, again in my opinion, who are not. If they push anything it is a Pencil, not tow dollies, wheel lifts, or disabled vehicles, if they count anything it is “Beans” not the miles driven, the hours on the road, the time spent away from their families in dangerous parts of the city or country, not the stacks of fuel bills and repair tickets.

If the automobile industry is going to present awards, I feel they should be given to those men and women who are actually doing the work, those men and women who put their lives and their fortunes on the line every time they crawl up in that truck or camera car, those men and women who have to clean out those filthy, roach infested, needle and drug filled vehicles in order to inventory personal property.

Those men and women who perform the task of locating and recovering the vehicles, not the pencil pushing, bean counters who sit around designing a one-sided contract or figuring ways to not have to pay for work performed based on some micro-technical violation of no relevance. Not the middleman who has skimmed part of the bonus the lender has had to offer to expedite good service.

Credit Where Credit is Due

Have I put this matter too strongly? Possibly I have; but when I see awards and accolades given to people who have not been under the gun, people who draw a huge salary just for showing up and not risking life or limb, people who make their fortunes by figuring ways to take from those who are performing the tasks, I wish to speak a word of sympathy for the men and women in the recovery industry who against great odds, succeed.

The men and women who succeed and then find there is nothing in it but the ability to barely meet their financial burdens. The men and women who cannot afford lavish vacations, pricey vehicles, and huge homes with swimming pools and 4 car garages. My heart goes out to these unsung, unrecognized, and unrewarded men and women of the asset recovery industry.

One may ask why I would have a right to feel the way I do and why I would write this Op-ed… I would answer with one short statement, “HELL, I WAS THERE” and “STILL AM”!