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The repo man: It takes a certain breed

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  • The repo man: It takes a certain breed

    http://www.newspressnow.com/life/art...fcb30ac65.html



    The repossession business is hard on the body. Ask Ken Jeanneret. The 46-year-old has 24 years of broken bones, stab wounds, scars, braces and bandages to prove it. His knuckles are a permanent red from fighting off people who want to hold on to the stuff they haven’t paid the bills on.

    “I’ve been run over twice repossessing a car, a funeral director believe it or not, out in Kansas City. He ran over my foot and broke my shoulder.” Mr. Jeanneret says.

    The business is hard on marriages, too. Mr. Jeanneret has been married twice. It didn’t help matters when he repossessed his first wife’s car. However, he did give her a ride back home.

    “I’ve done friends, done my neighbors, I’ve done relatives ... it’s not fun, but it’s just a job just like everybody else. You wake up and we got to pay our bills somehow, and that’s how I chose to do mine,” Mr. Jeanneret says.

    Applause and praise escapes those in the repossession business. It’s one of those thankless jobs that has to be done.

    If a person falls behind on a car or other property loan, lenders usually make every effort to resolve the issue. If the lender realizes the borrower can’t pay for whatever reason, that’s when the repo man comes in. Lenders hire people like Mr. Jeanneret to go after the property.

    The business isn’t as lucrative as one might think. A recent CNN.com article reported that repossession specialists are seeing a

    decline in business due to the economic recovery. In 2012, there were approximately 1.3 million auto repossessions nationally. At the height of the recession in 2009, the number was about 1.9 million, according to data from Experian automotive.

    Scott Lennon, owner of Payback Repo Inc., a New York-based car repossession company, says the business is struggling during the recovery.

    “People say, ‘Oh you guys must be doing amazing.’ It’s the total opposite,” Mr. Lennon says in the article.

    Mr. Jeanneret owns and operates SYR (Store Your Ride) Association, a North Kansas City repossession business. His business covers a 100-mile radius from the center of Kansas City. He employs an office manager and a few spotters — people he hires to help locate cars. For Mr. Jeanneret, business is steady. He repossesses about 600 cars a year, getting paid an average of about $350 a car, mostly, if not always, by himself. And it isn’t just cars he repossesses, he says.

    “We do them in the city, we do them in the country — campers, motorcycles, four-wheelers, lawn mowers. I’ve done hot tubs, farm equipment, copy machines,” Mr. Jeanneret says.

    It takes a certain breed to be in the repossession business. For lack of a better word, a person has to have a passion for it.

    Mr. Jeanneret discovered that passion in the early 1990s while working in the wrecker business in Kansas City. He got introduced to the repo business while working a wrecker in Kansas City.

    “There was a wreck at 31st and Main, the repo guy was involved in a wreck and I was there and I helped him out when his truck was down, so we just kind of started repo-ing. I was helping him while his truck was being worked on,” Mr. Jeanneret says. “I loved it too much. I just went out on my own.”

    Mr. Jeanneret’s day usually starts at 3 a.m and ends around 9 p.m. It isn’t a nine-to-five job but one with hours dictated by people’s habits.

    People usually come out in the morning to put trash baskets on the curb for collection. Sundays are good days because most people are at church or home. If the Kansas City Chiefs are in town, it can be a challenge.

    Saturday nights are better after the bars close. Fridays are bad because many people don’t work a full day.

    Mr. Jeanneret says he often gets help from neighbors.

    “I don’t care what neighborhood you live in, what city you live in, one of your neighbors is not very happy with you. All I have to do is find that person,” he says.

    Social media also helps. People often post on Facebook where they are, which makes his job easier.

    “People don’t realize what they put out there, like, ‘I’m going to my great-grandmother’s funeral.’ I caught one lady as she pulled out of a drive-thru. I got her right there,” Mr. Jeanneret says.

    Still, you have to have a heart in this job, he says. It troubles him to pick up vehicles belonging to the disabled, he says. Sometimes he can surmise a person’s troubles. Sometimes he looks the other way.

    “I remember one case out in Lee’s Summit. A lady got divorced (and) the husband left her with the house and she got evicted out of the house and she had three daughters. They were living in the car,” Mr. Jeanneret says. “I could see the situation and I said, ‘Ma’am, I didn’t see you. I’ll give you two or three days to figure something out.’ I just lost money, but she was able to get help.”

    It doesn’t matter a person’s financial situation or what neighborhood they live in, either. Mr. Jeanneret says he’s repossessed items from rich and poor alike. Maybe one out of 100 cases there’s a physical confrontation.

    “If you want to be a knucklehead, I can be a knucklehead. I won’t say that I haven’t,” Mr. Jeanneret says. “I’m getting older. It takes longer to heal, so I don’t like to fight anymore, so I’ll try to talk you out of your car.”

    Mr. Jeanneret says the best advice he can give a person who is about to have a vehicle repossessed is to call the lender. People get scared and don’t answer mail or phone calls, which leaves little choice but repossession. Most lenders are willing to work out a problem. They don’t want the vehicle back, he says.

    “The best thing I can tell anybody out here is to talk to the finance and it makes me go away,” he says.


  • #2
    Couldn't even finish the article after reading the first couple of paragraphs. Just screams professionalism.

    Comment


    • #3
      This would be a great article if you removed the first sentence, it makes us look like the TV shows. It does not make us look professional at all. I've spent 30 years in this business trying to better the image of possessors. Again it would be a great article except for the first sentence.

      Comment


      • #4
        Hey, Are these guys brothers ???

        LOL...




        Comment


        • #5
          You can tell by the paperwork on the clip board he uses RDN. Ha.

          Comment

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