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Repo man has a heart, but also a job to do

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  • Repo man has a heart, but also a job to do

    http://repoindustry.com/forum/newthr...newthread&f=18

    Repo man has a heart, but also a job to do

    WEST PALM BEACH — It is hard to break Alex Allen.

    He is a 260-pound, Marlboro chain-smoking, tell 'em like it is kind of guy, which is why he is so good at his job helping to take belongings from people who do not want to let them go.

    It used to be Allen dealt mostly with low-income families surviving on small paychecks. But lately his clientele has changed. They are people in nice houses with pets and lawns, young families and parents with children in college all living beyond their means.

    As the economy takes a nose dive, the recovery business soars. Nationwide, 1.6 million cars were repossessed last year, and that number is expected to increase by at least 15 percent this year.

    The business is so popular that Florida officials have granted 95 recovery licenses in nine months, giving Florida 777 licensed recovery agents. Palm Beach County has 103.

    To become an agent, you first must become an intern, an obviously attractive job to the 143 interns in Palm Beach County and the 375 throughout Florida.

    Crews for Palm Beach Recovery, based in West Palm Beach where Allen works, have seized construction equipment from unemployed men, taken cars from struggling single mothers and listened to children cry because a stranger is in their yard with a tow truck.

    Some days, he admits, it is enough to break this burly 6-foot-2 Irishman: "It makes my heart sick. It's affecting everybody. There's no light at the end of this tunnel."

    Old rock tunes spill from car speakers as Allen drives through Riviera Beach searching for the owners of a black Saturn who could be at one of three addresses. After that, he will move on, hunting the owners of a black Nissan Altima and then a white Chevy Impala.

    The day before, Palm Beach Recovery crews picked up two Rolls-Royces. And the week before that, they squeezed a 40-foot motorhome onto their property off Okeechobee Boulevard where Rottweilers roam at night.

    Allen, 41, drives a decommissioned police car. White with tinted windows, dark enough so people outside can see only the shadow of the person behind the wheel.

    Before the economy went sour, Palm Beach Recovery crews searched for five or 10 cars a day. Now they may look for as many as 40. The crews typically earn between $300 and $400 per vehicle.

    And normally they would pick up maybe one boat a month, but now they are pulling in one or two boats or personal watercraft almost every week.

    "We're getting overloaded," says owner Kyle Smith, who has been in the recovery business 23 years.

    Allen is not the one who takes the cars. He is the one who tries to persuade the stubborn ones to surrender.

    "A lot of people are moving around and trying to hide," Allen says as he takes a drag from his cigarette. "I love catching people."

    He talks about the pit bull that tried to attack him and the time a man pulled out a gun. Smith, his boss, has had his nose broken, and he has been shot in the leg while hooking a car.

    Though their jobs are dangerous, they say those hairy moments are rare Repossession crews are not allowed to carry guns, says Buddy Bevis, the director of the state division of licensing.

    "I hear every excuse possible. Lost job, family's sick, can't pay for the house -- all legitimate excuses," Allen says. "I tell them, 'It may not be your fault, but it is your problem.' " Some yell. Some threaten, and others warn that God will punish him.

    "When I look at little kids crying ... that's heart-tugging," he says. It "becomes harder and harder not to care."
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