http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1354673.html
As auto repossessions go, the case of the 2004 Dodge Ram looked to be an easy one. The assignment was what industry insiders call a "voluntary repo," meaning the owner had agreed to give up his pickup truck without a fight. No sleuthing, no hide-and-seek. All the repo man had to do was show up at the appointed time, hook the Ram up to a tow truck and haul it away for the lender.
Nobody should have been hurt, let alone killed.
Three years ago, a repo company dispatched Michael Faron Brown, a 27-year-old South Carolina newlywed, on a rare trip across state lines into Georgia to return a few cars to debtors who were back in their lenders' good graces. Brown worked on contract for a subsidiary of a national repossession company called Renovo Services LLC, and his boss asked him to also handle a few repossessions for a colleague who had bailed on his assignments. That's how Brown picked up the account for Lidie "Joe" Clements.
Clements, a paint contractor near Augusta, Ga., was having a hard time finding jobs due to the sour economy, so he'd fallen behind on the payments for his Ram. He tried to work out a payment plan with his lender, Nuvell National Auto Finance, then a subsidiary of the massive home and auto lender GMAC. According to trial court records, once it became clear that Clements couldn't make good on his bills, he told Nuvell that he would voluntarily surrender his truck, which, as is custom, would likely be sold or auctioned off to cut Nuvell's losses.
Brown apparently showed up at Clements' home a day early for the scheduled repo -- with his pregnant wife, Victoria, in the passenger seat of the tow truck. According to court records, once they were outside Clements' house, the newlyweds called him on their cellphone. The conversation quickly turned combative. Clements said he wasn't home and demanded they not take his truck until the following day, once he'd had a chance to clear out his belongings. But Brown didn't leave.
Under the aggressive incentives that many financial institutions and their repo contractors now force on agents, industry veterans say a repo man like Brown would have been eager to get the truck right then and there. In a system that’s fast becoming industry standard, Brown was working on a flat-rate contingency basis: If he didn't repossess the vehicle, then nobody owed him a dime for his efforts. If he waited until the following day, he'd be sinking more time and gas money into the assignment.
In the topsy-turvy repo world, it was also in Brown's financial interests to have a reluctant target. According to his payment plan, Brown was earning $70 for each involuntary repo he completed and a mere $30 for each voluntary one. If Clements was no longer surrendering his truck by choice, then Brown stood to earn more money.
As auto repossessions go, the case of the 2004 Dodge Ram looked to be an easy one. The assignment was what industry insiders call a "voluntary repo," meaning the owner had agreed to give up his pickup truck without a fight. No sleuthing, no hide-and-seek. All the repo man had to do was show up at the appointed time, hook the Ram up to a tow truck and haul it away for the lender.
Nobody should have been hurt, let alone killed.
Three years ago, a repo company dispatched Michael Faron Brown, a 27-year-old South Carolina newlywed, on a rare trip across state lines into Georgia to return a few cars to debtors who were back in their lenders' good graces. Brown worked on contract for a subsidiary of a national repossession company called Renovo Services LLC, and his boss asked him to also handle a few repossessions for a colleague who had bailed on his assignments. That's how Brown picked up the account for Lidie "Joe" Clements.
Clements, a paint contractor near Augusta, Ga., was having a hard time finding jobs due to the sour economy, so he'd fallen behind on the payments for his Ram. He tried to work out a payment plan with his lender, Nuvell National Auto Finance, then a subsidiary of the massive home and auto lender GMAC. According to trial court records, once it became clear that Clements couldn't make good on his bills, he told Nuvell that he would voluntarily surrender his truck, which, as is custom, would likely be sold or auctioned off to cut Nuvell's losses.
Brown apparently showed up at Clements' home a day early for the scheduled repo -- with his pregnant wife, Victoria, in the passenger seat of the tow truck. According to court records, once they were outside Clements' house, the newlyweds called him on their cellphone. The conversation quickly turned combative. Clements said he wasn't home and demanded they not take his truck until the following day, once he'd had a chance to clear out his belongings. But Brown didn't leave.
Under the aggressive incentives that many financial institutions and their repo contractors now force on agents, industry veterans say a repo man like Brown would have been eager to get the truck right then and there. In a system that’s fast becoming industry standard, Brown was working on a flat-rate contingency basis: If he didn't repossess the vehicle, then nobody owed him a dime for his efforts. If he waited until the following day, he'd be sinking more time and gas money into the assignment.
In the topsy-turvy repo world, it was also in Brown's financial interests to have a reluctant target. According to his payment plan, Brown was earning $70 for each involuntary repo he completed and a mere $30 for each voluntary one. If Clements was no longer surrendering his truck by choice, then Brown stood to earn more money.
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