Detroit, Michigan holds the esteemed title “The Motor City” and for good reason. It is where the automotive boom of the early twentieth century was born. Soon after, came auto loans and what followed were the inevitable repossessions. So, it should come with little surprise that Detroit not only holds the distinction of being the birthplace of the professional repossession industry, but also holds a history as being one of its deadliest.
Most of the history of the repossession industry is buried in the back pages of newspapers. These were, after all, for decades, the primary source of news for most of the world. The internet of their time, but one with no search engines to locate information. News came and went like the weather and often with little notice or consideration.
As the result, much, if not most, of the history of the repossession industry is lost or misreported as acts of car theft, or “car-snatching” as they used to refer to it. Regardless, through modern technology providing the capacity to search old scanned newspapers for keyword content, some of this history has been rediscovered.
What has been discovered, provides us a glimpse at just how ingrained the history of the automotive industry is with the repossession industries. And like the auto industry, it all began in Detroit.
“Auto Snatching” 1925
The earliest written account of life as a repossession agent, referred to as an “AutoSnatcher” can be found in a December 10, 1925, story in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. According to the article, the agent states that the profession did not exist as recent as ten years ago and attributed it as an outgrowth of the installment loan plan.
He describes the majority of borrowers being honest and prompt paying but describes the need for his services when “a certain class of thieves and deadbeats attempt to beat the finance companies. That’s where I come in, when a man has fallen down on his installments and we are satisfied that he is trying to gyp us, I go out and repossess the car.”
Odd enough, he refers to his profession in the “Auto-Snatching” term which had been a term long used for auto thieves and also often refers to the cars as “machines.” Throughout the lengthy article, he describes repossessing cars chained to trees, placed on elevators, disabled, and hidden between floors or on upper floors of buildings.
His experiences resonate with a big city feel, while not naming one, as he discusses having been in numerous fights and having been shot four times. As has become a custom of such articles, he boasts of his immediate return to work from injury without losing a step.
This was the “Roaring Twenties” and the mob and prohibition were in full swing. It comes of little surprise that he would share the tale of his encounter with a “Notorious Gang” of seven brothers “three of whom have gone to the chair” who “have stolen millions of dollars of goods and are still feared by police and civilians alike.” His story goes on to reveal his successful repossession of a vehicle that he had to hide in the city as the gang watched out for it at every exit from the city.
Finally attempting to get it out of town, he reports that the gang “ran their vehicle directly into the front of the sedan, overturning it. The gang sped away leaving me unconscious beneath the wreckage. I was three months in the hospital and two months convalescing at home.” An entertaining story, but odd they didn’t get out and just kill him, if you ask me.
While speaking lightly of recovery tactics, he mentions using a “tow machine” or “tow wagon” as he refers to it, but never speaks of hot-wiring, breaking in or picking locks. Blocking in and disabling vehicles appear to be primary methods of recovery employed by this agent at least. Interesting enough though, he does discuss the use of law enforcement under conversion laws of the time. Regardless, he does caveat this stating that “this is not often done, though the courts have confirmed this right.”
In closing the article, he claims that “A good investigator, or a repossessor is known as a very valuable asset to a finance company. I know of one finance company that keeps a force from ten to fifteen men busy at all times.”
His perspective on borrowers is interesting in that he seems to draw an extremely hard line between the two types. “Honest people never lose their automobiles through defaulting payments. They can always make arrangements to keep their cars. It is the crooks and deadbeats who are my prey. Nine times out of ten, it is the man who attempts to cheat the finance company that has beaten the eyes out of the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker.”
He doesn’t speak of commissions or being part of any detective agency or adjustment bureau and appears to be a “lone wolf” repossessor, which was likely common in this era. Articles like these, which have been a constant in the industry, feed the presses morbid curiosity and can be difficult to judge for credibility. Regardless, they do offer an intriguing glimpse into the repossession industries past during different eras.
Weeks later, on December 24, 1925, in a different article titled “Car Snatching” a New Art, Detroit News writer E.J. Beck interviewed a man with an identical story. The man interviewed was George D. Wright of Detroit.
This places Detroit as the cradle of professional repossessions and Detroit would go on to play a prominent role in its history. By virtue of this article, George D. Wright can reasonably be credited as being the first professional auto repossessor, his motto was; “Don’t fight-em, fool ‘em.”
The Wysocki Gang
There are few straight lines that lead people into the repossession industry and perhaps there is no better example of this than the unlikely path of Detroit’s Frank Wysocki.
In early 1920’s Detroit, the Wysocki gang ran amuck committing armed robberies, assaults, theft and shooting at least one police officer in a crime spree across Michigan, Ohio and Illinois. The gang was led by brothers Frank and Walter Wysocki, and even included Frank’s new wife Theresa Kaul.
Things began to fall apart after police killed one gang member and captured the brothers in June of 1921. Under questioning, Frank turned finger on the rest of the gang. Frank, his brother and other gang members were sentenced to serve terms of fifteen to twenty years in Michigan’s Jackson Prison, but they had other plans.
Just days after his wife filed for divorce from him from her jail cell, on January 16, 1922, Frank, Walter and another man broke out. Frank was identified as the hold-up man of a soda shop the very same night and went on a long crime spree. Following the recapture of his brother and the other man, as well as the arrest of a third brother, Frank dropped off the face of the earth.
That is until 1931.
Karma catches up
While working as repossessors for the National Automobile Insurance Company, Thomas Madqueaux and his driver, A.C. Golsh were arrested for assault and battery after a car chase involving a borrower that ended in an accident. In addition to the $1,000 judgement awarded to the borrower in a November 1931 civil suit, Madqueaux arrest unveiled a long[1]guarded secret, he had been living under an alias.
Frank Wysocki had been caught. Once the state of Michigan found out, they demanded his return. California Governor Rolf Jr., refused to extradite him claiming that he had been a law abiding and respected citizen for ten years. The state of Michigan didn’t press the issue very hard and Frank remained in California living under the alias. But karma tends to get its way eventually.
Fatal Shooting Occurs at McGee Creek, Mono County Finance Company Adjuster Shot As He Attempts to Repossess Automobile.
McGee Creek, CA – September 26, 1932 – Jorie Thos. Medqueaux, age 31 was fatally wounded from a gunshot fired by Chas. Philbrick at McGee Creek Sunday about 8:45 a.m. and died at the hospital in Lone Pine after being brought here for medical treatment at about 4:30 p.m., of the same day. Shortly before he died, he signed a statement accusing Chas. Philbrick whom two of Medqueaux’s companions, Clifton Henigan and Donal Roberts, testifying at the coroner’s inquest stated that they had witnessed the shooting.
According to their testimony they accompanied Madqueaux, an automobile finance adjuster from Los Angeles (300 miles away) who was to repossess an automobile from Philbrick for the Auto Bank on which payments were in arrears. Having gone to the house to inform Philbrick, Henigan and Roberts remained as Henigan got into Philbrick’s car to inspect the registration slip to ascertain for sure.
Philbrick returned to the car first and dared Henigan out and taking the (driver’s seat, drew a pistol from the car pocket, put it in his belt and started to drive away.
Madqueaux stepped on the running board and as he did was a shot was fired by Philbrick. Seeing Madqueaux fall to the ground and Philbrick alight from the car, revolver in hand, the two companions abandoned their car and ran for safety and gave the alarm, notifying the authorities.
Philbrick was placed under arrest and placed in jail at Bridgeport. Madqueaux was rushed to lone Pine Hospital in critical condition and died only a short time after his arrival, the bullet having entered his left side passed through the body, lodging slightly under the skin on his right side.
Madqueaux’s relatives residing at Detroit, Michigan, were notified. – Big Pine Citizen (Inyo County, California) -September 26, 1932
After two trials resulting in hung juries, Philbrick, who had claimed self-defense, walked and karma got her way.
Back to Where it All Began
Over a century has passed since the rough and sketchy origins of the repossession industry. And over this time, there have been many more colorful and often tragic stories that have occurred here which can be found in “Repo Blood – A Century of Auto Repossession History.”
Detroit has since earned the appropriate name of “The Motor City” which makes it ever more relevant that the repossession industries oldest association, the Allied Finance Adjusters (AFA), founded in 1936, would join the Recovery Specialist Insurance Group (RSIG) for a return to the industries birthplace at REPO2023 at the Motor City Casino & Hotel on June 20-23, 2023.
On tap for discussion are the lurking dangers posed by Electric Vehicles, the Storm Brewing in Repossession Insurance, Auto Finance Trends. CFPB training, driver training, federal and case law reviews provided by our professional speaker line up and much more!
Onsite conference registration will be open Tues 6/20 with the Allied New Member and Pre-Conference Board meetings held that day. Since you’ll be there, why not plan on taking the Ford Factory Tour where you can see an F150 go through the assembly line, built from the ground up!
For those of you who have seen Michele Stuart of JAG Investigations present before on skiptracing and internet profiling but have wanted more time, there is an optional 4 hour training on 6/20/23 available (pre-registration and payment required).
Nowhere else can you get this type of in-depth training with industry experts AND experience huge networking opportunities, entertainment and more bang for your registration buck!
Opportunities to support the RABF are abundant through on-going raffle ticket sales, the $500 club and a live auction! If you’d like to support the RABF live auction and have items you’d like to donate, reach out to the RABF via email donations@recoveryagentsbenefitfund.org!
We invite you to join us – membership in RSIG or Allied not required! But if you’re not a current member of both groups, REPO23 is a great opportunity to learn more about why you should be! Registration can be completed at www.repo23.com.
Motor City – The Cradle of the Repossession Industry – Repossess – Repossession – Repossession Agency
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