Heavy Haulers

Vehicles: One 2007 Kenworth Dump Truck, and Two 2006 Kenworth Dump Trucks

Debtor: “Mike’s Hauling Inc.”

Location: Ohio

Time of year: Spring

It was going to be a long ride but the pay for this account was well worth it.  We were looking for 3 Kenworth Semi-Trucks.  We had information that all 3 trucks would be parked at the same yard outdoors and the keys should be  inside of them.  We left at 7pm on a Friday evening.  It was a 3 1/2 hour ride to where they were supposed to be so we wanted to make sure we were there waiting when the companies drivers pulled the trucks into the lot for the weekend.  When we got to the address on the paperwork we discovered the building was empty and was up for sale.  We also noticed the building next door had a “For Sale By Owner” sign in front of it.  Dave called the number on the sign and spoke to the owner of the neighboring building.  He said he wasn’t sure where “Mike’s Hauling Inc.” had moved to but he heard they were still in business and that they were not far away.  He also told us that the guy that owned the Ice Cream shop across the street was friends with Mike and he might know more.  I went across the street and spoke to the ice cream guy’s wife.  She said that “Mike’s Hauling” moved one city over into a new building about 3 1/2 months ago.  While I was talking to this lady my phone beeped….it was Dave.  He was snooping around the lot at the vacant building and found something he wanted me to see.  Behind the building, way in the back of the lot was a smashed Kenworth covered up with 3 or 4 large tarps.  This thing was destroyed !!!  It took us 5 or 6 minutes just to find the VIN. When we did find it we discovered it was one of the trucks we were looking for.  It had been stripped of any and all useful parts including most of it’s interior.  Dave jumped inside the mangled messed up cab and started fumbling through the storage compartments.  It wasn’t long before he was shouting my name.  He found an address on some paperwork that was in the passenger side pocket.  It was for their new building.  It was a copy of their new lease agreement.  LOL…off we go.

After quickly taking a bunch of photos of our smashed unit, we hopped back into the truck  and set the GPS to the new address.  It said our ETA was only 8 minutes away.  We were a little worried about the Ice Cream shop lady calling her husband who would probably call our debtor and tip him off. But, we knew even if he did tip off our debtor he wouldn’t have enough time to move the other two trucks before we got there.  We pulled up to the new addy and it couldn’t have been more beautiful.  As we pulled into the drive we could see 3 Kenworths trucks in the back lot.  We immediately VIN’d all 3 trucks and determined which two were ours.  The doors were unlocked and the keys were in the ignitions.  Just like we were told, NICE!!!  We fired up both trucks and while they warmed up for a bit we called a friend to come drive our wrecker back to Michigan and the local authorities to inform them of the repossession in progress.  We drove the Semi trucks around the corner where they could not be seen and I walked back to get the wrecker while Dave stayed with the collateral.  About an hour later our driver showed up and we headed back to Michigan.  We only got 2 out of the 3 but the photo’s of the smashed truck got us paid 1/2 the repo fee.  We got back to Michigan about 4 hours later and notified the bank of it’s repossessed vehicles.  Three weeks later the debtor paid current on all three loans and was able to redeem the trucks.  We found out then that he was inside the 3rd truck that was at the lot sleeping the whole time.  He never even heard us start the trucks and drive away.  That was that…..we got paid and so did the bank. The debtor got his trucks back and we will be able to get them again another day….that is, unless he keeps up on his payments this time.  We’ll see…….

The Pitt Bull!

Vehicle: 2008 Jeep Commander (Black)

Debtor: “Mr. Green” &  His Daughter “Ms. Green”

Location: Michigan

Time of year: Late Summer

It was just starting to get dark on a Friday evening. It was about 8 o’clock and this was my last account to check for the day.  I approached

my addy being careful not to be seen.  This was a new account so I didn’t want the debtor to see me looking if the vehicle was not here.  As I approached the addres

s I noticed there were two men on the porch.  They definitely saw me as I drove by so I decided to stop and talk to them,  I parked my truck and started to walk towards them.  The overwhelming smell of marijuana was potent in the air.  They were smoking it on the porch.  I didn’t want to ask them about the Commander because I could tell they did not want to help me and most likely would not give me the correct info anyway.  I asked them an off the wall question about the neighbor and got out of there as quick as I could.  I decided to come back later that evening.

It was 1:00 a.m. and I was pulling down Mr. Green’s street.  I could see from a few houses away that there were no cars in the driveway but the porch light was on.  As I got closer I could see the tail lights of an SUV peering out from around the corner of the house in the back yard.  I parked my truck and walked up the driveway to check the vehicle.  The VIN matched, it was definitely my Commander.  As I turned away to walk back to my truck I heard a twig break. It sounded like a foot step out of a horror movie.  I turned around to see a huge pissed off Pitt bull.  I walked backwards slowly and it charged at me.  Just before it could bite me it ran out of chain.  The dog was chained to the garage and could not reach me, however, it could reach my Commander and it  was going to make it really hard to get this car.  I ran back to my truck and started to back into the drive.  I got 3/4 of the way up the driveway and the side door opened.  It was the debtor and his wife.  He claimed the vehicle was protected under bankruptcy and he was not going to let me take it.  Even though he did not have the proper court paperwork, he did have a large Pitt bull and a small chrome hand gun that said he was not giving up this truck.  I decided to leave before anyone got hurt.  I notified the bank of the incident in the morning and they decided to go legal on the debtor. Several weeks later we received a writ of replevin to secure the vehicle. That’s kind of like a warrant for a car.  When you have a writ of replevin you can take the vehicle no matter where it is, and with police assistance if needed. It took three visits by the local police and myself to catch “Mr. Green” at home, but when we did, we left with a 2008 Jeep Commander.  Eventually we’ll get it!

Total Break Down!

Vehicle: 2007 Chevy Tahoe (Black) and a 2007 Chevy Corvette (Red)
Debtor: “Mr. Thomas” &  “Mrs. Thomas”
Location: Michigan
Time of year: Summer

It was about 5 o’clock on a nice sunny day.  I received an order over the fax for a 2007 Corvette in a neighborhood that I happened to be extremely familiar with.  I was making a phone call to a friend of mine that lives in the same neighborhood when the fax went off again. It was another order for the same Debtor. It was a double pop, 2 cars one address. We would be looking for a 2007 Vette and a 2007 Tahoe.  the friend of mine that I was calling didn’t answer so I just decided to jump in the truck and head right to the given address.  It was about a 35 minute ride from the office so I got to the addy at about 5:45pm. 

As soon as I turned the corner I could see the Corvette sitting in the driveway. There was a Tahoe in the garage as well but it was blue and too old.  I passed up the addy at first just to get a better look into the garage and to be able to see the Tahoe license plate.  I confirmed that this was not our Tahoe but the license plate on the Vette did match our records.  I turned around a couple of driveways down and started to lower my lift.  I pulled into the drive directly across the street from my car and backed into it.  I lifted the Corvette just enough to get a chain on the axle, and was careful not to lift it too much that the front bumper would hit the ground.  I was able to get a chain on it and one strap before “Mr. Thomas” even came outside. “What the fuck do you think your doing?” screamed “Mr. Thomas”.  “I just fuckin’ paid the bank earlier today!” he kept yelling. Over and over again. He was pissed……I couldn’t get a word out to save my life. 

It was one excuse after the other and I have heard them all.  Haha…he thought losing his Vette  was bad.  You should have seen him when I told him he had to call his wife and she had to bring me the Tahoe as well.  He flipped out!  He started frantically making phone calls to the bank and his wife’s cell phone.  Luckily for me his wife was not picking up.  The bank however did answer.  He had no intentions on telling the bank that I was there. He immediately started asking to make a payment.  This is bad for me because if he makes a payment or even payment arrangements before the bank knows I am here they might cancel the order.  I called the bank as fast as I could to make them aware of my being in the driveway hooked to the Vette.  I got a hold of the case managers associate, “Mark”, who answered the extension only because the debtor was on the other line with this accounts manager, “Kevin”.  I explained the situation to “Mark” and he placed me on hold so he could go tell “Kevin”. 

Just then “Mrs. Thomas” pulled into the drive in the 07 Tahoe. “Mr. Thomas” was still inside the house. She jumped out of the Tahoe on fire! Screaming at me like I was a piece of shit. In fact, she might have even called me a piece of shit, amongst other rude and vulgar terms.  She asked where her husband was and I told her he was in the house.  She ran inside to talk to him foolishly forgetting her keys on the seat of the Vette when she reached in to grab the garage door opener.  As soon as she shut the door I hopped into the Tahoe and drove it into the street.  I popped the hood and took every fuse out of the fuse box.  As I shut the hood they both came outside. “Mrs, Thomas” saw that I took the Tahoe and it was all over. As she fell to the ground kicking and screaming like a 5 year old I called for a flatbed to come pick up the Vette. Meanwhile back on “Mrs. Thomas’” planet it was time to through a fit. 

This lady kicked, screamed, wined, bitched, and moaned more than anyone I had ever seen.  She went back into the house and proceeded to throw knives into the walls of the kitchen.  Her husband, trying to calm her down, only further enraged her.  She picked up a baseball bat and started beating her stove and her range hood.  This was my cue to call the local police and get out of there.  Now the police were on there way and I still had to wait for the flatbed.  I tried to keep to myself while certain people were having a breakdown but “Mrs. Thomas” had made her way to the driveway where she proceeded to pick up lava rocks from her front landscape and throw them at me and my truck.  Just then my flatbed arrived and two squad cars right behind him.  I helped my guy load the Vette and he helped me load the Tahoe while the police dealt with the Thomas’. 

We left as soon as we were loaded.  About 10 minutes later I received a call from police dispatch asking me if I was assaulted at all.  I told them I was not and no charges were filed against “Mr. or Mrs. Thomas.”  Needless to say they did not get either vehicle back after the events that took place.  Sorry “Mr. & Mrs. Thomas” No hard feelings.  Oh, by the way….the Vette handles great!  Chalk up 2 more for the RepoMan……

The Real Estate Agent…

Vehicle: 2002 Chevy Suburban ( White with 22 inch chrome rims )
Debtor: “Mr. Brown”
Location: Michigan
Time of year: Winter

It was about 3 in the afternoon and it was freezing outside.  We were looking for a 2002 White Suburban in the lower east side of the city.  We had a possible POE and a home address. We started out by driving by the POE. A small privately owned Barber shop about a half a mile from the given address.  It was a small brown brick building in a 4 store strip mall.  The store was definitely still functioning but our unit was not in the lot, street or in the surrounding area.  I called inside and asked for “Mr. Brown” and the man who answered said ” he’s with a customer right now can I take a message?”  I hung up…..this means my debtor is at work but is not driving the vehicle.

We drove to the home address. it was a 1 1/2 story brown brick house with a one car detached garage.  The house was up for sale and had a sign in the front yard and at the end of the street. I knocked the front door as “Dave” checked the garage.  A middle aged black female answered the door and  immediately asked me who I was. I showed I.D. and explained to her that I was looking for “Mr. Brown”  She said he was her brother, he did leave here but just wasn’t home right now.  Right when she finished talking I noticed “Dave” in my peripheral vision.  He was motioning to the garage, telling me that he could see our unit was inside. I told the woman we had an order to take the Suburban and she would have to open the garage door for us. She refused.  We told her we were going to wait there until her brother got home and she said that was fine as she dialed someone on her cell phone.  We got into our truck to warm up for a few and give her a chance to reconsider.  We weren’t in the truck for 10 minutes and a Ford Explorer pulled up behind us. HERE WE GO!

Three large guys got out of the Explorer, one of them 400 lbs easy, they started walking up to the door of the house.  The woman we just spoke to met them at the door and even though we couldn’t hear what she was saying to them…it was something like, Get those mother fuckers out of my driveway!!  They all three turned towards us and started yelling. ” Get the fuck outta here man!”, “If you know what’s good for you you’ll get the fuck out of here” One of them lifted his shirt showing us a shiny chrome revolver in his pants.  We left immediately.  The object of this is to get the vehicle without getting shot. We knew we would get it eventually…..and I had a plan.

I waited a couple of days and I called the Real Estate agent that listed the house.  I told him I was interested and asked if my roommate and I could make an appointment to come see the inside.  We made an appointment for the next day at 3pm. It was perfect. The real estate agent said that the home owner would be gone until 6 pm.  “Dave” and I showed up a little early.  We wanted to make sure the vehicle was still in the garage. It was, so we waited for the real estate agent.  He showed up about 10 minutes after us.  He opened the front door and let us inside.  We walked from room to room acting interested and even talking about what kinds of upgrades we could do to each room.  After seeing the basement “Dave” asked if we could see the garage.  The man said there was a padlock on the door but he knew where the owner kept the key. BONUS!!

He grabbed the key and headed towards the garage forewarning us that it was a mess and there was a vehicle inside it right now.  He opened the door and “Dave” immediately pulled out the key we had made for the unit and proceeded to confirm the VIN number while I kept the sales guy busy. He gave me a thumbs up and I pulled out my I.D. and presented it to the real estate agent. I apologized to him for wasting his time and explained to him why we were really here and that we were going to leave with the Suburban.  He was extremely confused and totally apprehensive to us taking the vehicle.  We warned him not to stand in the way and “Dave” backed the truck out of the garage.  I ran back to the car we drove there, hopped in and followed “Dave” down the street.

Phone call to the Real Estate Agent = $.35

Key cut for our unit = $5.00

The look on his face as we drove away = PRICELESS

The Miss 3 Payments Message Boards

I have created a message board for readers of Miss 3 Payments. It’s a place for other Reposession Agents to talk shop as well as a place where debtors can talk shit. I welcome your words and I’ll see you on the boards!

My Apologies….

To All Who Read This,

As you can see the last few comments posted to my blog were not exactly what I or any blogger would like to see.  At first I deleted a negative comment. Then I thought about it, and decided that I shouldn’t have. From now on I will approve all comments, positive and negative.  I know I have been slacking, but for good reason I assure you. I have been very busy with work as well as coping with a death in my family.  My goal is to post at least 2-3 times a week and I will do my best to keep up with it.  I enjoy telling my stories, and I also enjoy knowing that there are people out there that like reading them.  Again, my apologies….and I hope you keep riding shotgun with the Repo Man.

“Brian”

Introducing the M3P Podcast

Episode 1: The Gun

Miss 3 Payments Podcast

The Unobtainable….

Vehicle: 2008 Range Rover ( Red with 22 inch chrome spinner rims )

Debtor: “Mr. Williams”

Location: Michigan

Time of year: Fall

I received an order for a 2008 Range Rover Sport.  The bank notes stated that when the vehicle was purchased, they put 22 inch spinner rims on at the customers request.  The rims alone were valued at over $14,000. The vehicle, another $87,000.  The monthly payments were $1,380.  There had been no payments made since the vehicle left the dealership.

When I first saw this order I thought what any experienced Agent would think. This is a fraud, or we’re never going to find this car.  Fancy rims, no down payment, no payments made.  Everything lined up to being fraud.  I assumed every address was bogus and every phone number would be disconnected.  That all changed after I dialed the first phone number.

The first thing I did was run the given address.  It was a very nice house in an upper class neighborhood.  The house was vacant and up for sale.  I left that address and went to the debtors POE.  This too was a vacant building.  The signage on the building for the last business that was here did not match what was on the application.  After concluding the only home and employment addy’s that we had, I called the cell number that was listed on the credit application.  I asked for “Mr. Williams” and a deep voice replied ” This is…..who is this?”  As soon as I explained to him who I was and why I was calling I heard a click….he hung up on me.  I tried to call him back several times throughout the course of that day.  He would not answer.

We were out of address’ and out of phone numbers.  The number I did speak to the debtor on was disconnected the next day.  It appeared that we were at a stand still on this one.

A few weeks later I received a call from the bank.  They discovered that the vehicle had gotten several parking tickets in the down town area.  Two tickets on a Tuesday and two more the following Friday.  There was an apartment complex on the same street as the parking violations and there was also a bar just around the corner.  So either the person driving the vehicle worked at the bar or lived in the apartments.  Our thought process was if they lived in the apartments, they would have a card to park in the parking garage provided to its residents.  So he/she must be working at or frequenting the nearby bar.

We searched the area every day for at least a week and at least 3 times a day.  The vehicle never showed.  Finally, a few days later, I got a call from an informant that I had spoken to near the bar one night.  He said that he thought he could see the Range Rover in the complex parking garage.  I asked him to get the plate number and call me back.  He did, and it WAS our vehicle.  I immediately called “Dave”, told him to get his shoes on and I was on my way to pick him up.  “Dave” lived on the way so it worked out perfect.  We knew we were not going to be able to drive into the garage due to security not allowing the “Repoman” in, so we had to derive a plan.  We decided we were going to park around the corner, hiding the truck, and walk right into the garage.  I had a key cut for the vehicle a few days earlier just in case we found it.  We rounded the corner inside the garage and there it was.  It looked like it was just washed.  The rims were shining and the paint was bright red. Now all we had to do was get into the vehicle and program the key.  Unfortunately the programming process takes 30 minutes, and that means we had to sit in the vehicle the whole time while the key programmed.  We were sitting ducks for an angry debtor.  By the way, when we first got into the vehicle we found the debtors I.D. card for the parking garage….he was huge.  At least 6 ‘9 ” and looked to be about 3 – 400lbs. After 30 minutes of sweating profusely and looking over our shoulders every 15 seconds, the programming was done.  All we had to do now was turn the key.  It worked!  Chalk another one up for the Repoman….she purred like a kitten.  I put it into drive and drove towards the exit.  The guard opened the gate and wished us a good day.  He had no clue what was going on.  This guy was going to be pissed off when he woke up in the morning.  Sorry about your luck buddy……

Miss 3 Payments Now Offers Repo Merchandise

I’m happy to announce Miss 3 Payments new line of merchandise. I will be posting all the new designs available on the merch page of this blog, and the full line of products can be found here.

All available products can be customized, and are available in different varieties. If you have a repo themed design that you would like to see on a T-shirt, bumper sticker, or any of the other products I have available please email me and I’ll get it done. All the proceeds will go to bettering this blog, including getting my own url and adding podcasting and videos. Stay tuned for more stories from behind the fence!

Eventually……We Will Find It!

Vehicle: 2002 Ford Explorer (Green)

Debtor: “Mrs. Jefferson”

Co/Debtor: “Mr. Jefferson”

Location: Michigan

Time of year: Early Winter

The first time I ran this addy there was nobody home.  It was a 1 and a 1/2 story home with a two car detatched garage.  The front of the house faced the main road and the garage faced the sidestreet. I was not able to see inside of the garage due to the windows being boarded up from the inside. I decided to leave and return at another time.

The next day I returned, only a bit later in the day this time.  There was still no sign of the unit but the garage door was wide open.  Plenty of room for two vehicles. There were black tire tracks from the tires twisting on the pavement.  A vehicle was definately parking inside. Right in the middle of the garage.  I knocked on the front door and asked the young man that answered if “Mr. or Mrs. Jefferson” were home.  He replied “No, they went to dinner and then to my Aunt’s house”.  I asked him if he knew when they were going to be home, but he claimed to not know. I left him with a card and asked him to pass it on to the debtor. He agreed to do so.

A couple of days later after not receiving a phone call. I decide to pay another visit.  I had just picked up another 2002 Explorer about a mile away. I didn’t expect to see the vehicle there but I still had to make contact with “Mr. or Mrs. Jefferson”.  When I got there it was snowing pretty good. I could see tire tracks in the snow going right into the garage.  Right up the middle.  I parked my truck just passed the driveway. That put the Explorer I was already pulling right next to the tracks in the driveway.  The two tread patterns were exactly the same.  This made me think our unit was either here or was here recently.  I backed the truck up blocking the driveway and walked to the front door.  As I stepped onto the porch I could hear two people talking about people being here for the truck.  An older man came to the door.  I asked him if he was “Mr. Jefferson”. He said ” I am…..who are you?” with a cranky voice.  I explained to him I was hear for the Explorer and unfortunately we needed to take possession of the vehicle immediately.  “Mr. Jefferson” then stated that the vehicle was not here and was already picked up over a month ago. He said that they always parked it in the driveway and one morning it was gone.  He said they knew they were 4 payments behind and they just assumed it had been repossessed.  I asked him if he made a police report and he said ” No, why should I? We thought ya’ll took it!”     Boy if I had a dollar for every time I heard that one.

Now, I don’t know about you guys, but if my brand new car disappears I call the police department.  Behind on payments or not.

Even though I didn’t believe “Mr. Jefferson” I had to tell the bank what he said.  The next day the bank closed the account.

6 Months Later

Spring

I had just repossessed a Ford Focus and just happened to be driving by “Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson’s” house.  I had my brother in law Ed with me for the first time.  As we drove by I saw a green 2002 Explorer parked on the side of the house with it’s hood up and a man underneath it.  I immediately called to see if the bank was still looking for this vehicle and they were. They re-opened the account and gave it to me.

I pulled into the gas station on the corner and unhooked the Focus.  My brother in law jumped into it and followed behind me.  I drove around the block and approached the Explorer from behind and noticed the man that was under the truck was now gone.  I lowered the lift as I backed up towards the truck. My brother in law drove past me, hopped out and checked the VIN.  It was a MATCH!  He gave me the thumbs up and I hooked and lifted the vehicle.  I hopped out of the truck and we strapped the vehicle down.  I looked into the Explorer as I put the tow lights on and noticed that the vehicles keys were in the ignition.  I quickly opened the door and pulled the keys out.  I was already taking the keys to the truck off of the key ring as the man ran out of the side door of the house.  At first he was extremely confused. Apparently he was just a friend of the family changing out the vehicles fuel filter.  I told him we were taking the vehicle and he immediately jumped on the hood of the truck.  He called “Mrs. Jefferson” and I could clearly hear her say over the phone ” You should have drove away as soon as you saw them pull up!”  She was angry and was blaming him for us finding the vehicle.  She asked him to remain on the hood of the car and to call the police department. He agreed, hung up with her and called 911. (Nice)

We weren’t exactly in a city known for it’s response time to 911 calls. So I knew I had a little time to try to talk this guy off of the vehicle.

After 5 or 10 minutes I was able to convince the man that I had no problem waiting for p.d. and he got off of the hood.  I told him I needed to pull the truck over so that I wasn’t blocking the road.

Several cars had already come down the street and had to turn around due to the positioning of my truck blocking the street.

I hopped into my truck, put it into reverse and waved for the man to step away from the truck.  As he stepped back I switched to drive and punched it.  My brother in law followed behind.  I watched the man smash his cell phone on the concrete in my rear view mirror as he realized that I was not pulling the vehicle over, I was leaving.

This vehicle was over 11 months passed due.  2 months, 3 months, even 2 years past due, Eventually we will find it.