When a vehicle is to be repo'ed due to non-payment, what happens if the delinquent driver parks it in his home garage?
Posted by IDislikeHomonyms@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 96 comments
Do the repo guys pick the lock to the garage door while the driver is fast asleep and tow it quietly out of the garage?
Or do they wait for them to leave for work or shopping or other errands, then follow the vehicle and snatch it with their tow truck after the delinquent driver leaves their vehicle and goes inside whatever building?
I had to ask at r/askcarguys because r/repo and r/repoman aren't popular and active subreddits.
Driveaway1969@reddit
Just pay your fucking bills
BudgetAd4881@reddit
Dick I'm working on it! Not going to help if I can't use the damn thing to find a new job or door dash first
Throw-me-away2627@reddit
people run into hard times numb nut
Mountain_Cucumber_88@reddit
Or give it up if you can't afford it. I did some IT work for a company that services car loans. They will get it. Companies sell data from those cameras that scan plates that are pretty much everywhere. The coverage is much better than you think. Short of destroying it, it will never be driven again.
GhostCanary@reddit
The problem is, and I'm speaking for my sister here, she's found herself in a very bad situation, totally not her fault. She was driving her MIL's car and got hit by another driver. Other driver was at fault. My sister had to be extracted using the jaws of life. She was off work because of it, HR screwed up her sick pay for the last 4 weeks before her doctor finally cleared her to return, and then after she finally got back to work they got laid off. She only worked 2 weeks at that point. She's supposed to be getting money from the settlement for the car crash, but no word on when that's coming. And still waiting on the sick pay that's owed her. What she needs is time. She's not a deadbeat, just extremely unlucky right now.
FlugonNine@reddit
If a car isn't or can't be driven, can't insurance be reduced while something like an injury has happened? Spitballin.
Driveaway1969@reddit
Indeed. I had a neighbor who just left his car in the supermarket parking lot and shut his phone off. They came and got the car a week later and he never heard from them again.
CetiAlpha4@reddit
Or in the vernacular: Pay your bills, deadbeat.
Due_Excitement_9258@reddit
Most of them would get their local ( city, county) police involved. I've heard of it actually happening.
WillowShadow26@reddit
They aren’t allowed to by law in most states
puskunk@reddit
They have to tow from a publicly accessible area, they cannot open a locked gate or garage.
Smprider112@reddit
Kind of. If it escalates high enough, so much so the repo company is unable to get access to the asset, the bank will take the debtor to court, get a Writ of Execution and the Sheriffs Office will be ordered, and authorized, by the court to retrieve the piece of property. They can execute it similar to a search warrant if you refuse to cooperate and release the property voluntarily, meaning forcefully gaining entry to where the property is kept and obtaining it with any means necessary, or as is laid out in the Writ by the judge.
lunaravenmoonchild@reddit
How long does that last? Like if you hide it well enough, what's the max allowable repo time?
puskunk@reddit
If they actually know where it is.
Smprider112@reddit
This is true! A Writ of Execution is pretty well laid out where the property is to be taken and there would be some testimony/swearing to exactly where it is located.
puskunk@reddit
A friend got pissed at the lender and hid his crappy Chevy SUV in a storage unit for 10 years. He was telling me about and I was wondering how it would even work after all this time off the road.
Wilted-Soul@reddit
How would it not work? It's just been sitting.. Besides potentially having bad fuel in it it's been parked out of the elements and stored in a dry place. Thing should be in great condition for being stored for that long
puskunk@reddit
Yeah sitting for 10 years in the desert is just great for fuel and rubber. But actually I meant title wise. Who owns the car now? How would you even go about getting the title? Me never non opped it so even if he did get the title, back taxes.
Theycallmesupa@reddit
He probably gonna have to find a totalled equivalent and hot swap the numbers.
Also illegal tho, so take it how you'd like.
KBExit@reddit
Don't have to hot swap numbers. He can just salvage and use the good parts from the hidden one. Would obtain a "rebuilt" title. Or Find one for dirt cheap and the guy has a parts car.
proscriptus@reddit
They can however get the sheriff involved if they want to.
Squire-Rabbit@reddit
Yes, that would surely constitute breaking and entering.
HearingNo4103@reddit
You've been watching too much reality TV about tow trucks. It isn't always like the movies. They'll first drive by your home, work, school etc. and look for easy opportunities to tow it. They might even just call and talk you into parking it around the corner to save you the embarrassment. Not everyone want's to deal with a repoman stalking them.
If none of that works they'll just wait till you take the car any where else: Liquor store, grocery store, nail saloon, gym.
Eventually the courts get involved and it's added to your debt.
Tricktrick_@reddit
Can they hook up to the car while someone is in it? What happens if the owner is in the vehicle?
Consistent-Mouse-612@reddit
This. My sister's vehicle was repossessed while she was at work. The repo guy walked in and asked for her. He told her discreetly what he was there for, and asked for the keys. Then he gave her the opportunity to get all of her stuff out of the car, and told her where the car would be if she was able to work things out with the bank to bring the loan current and get the car back before it went to auction.
HearingNo4103@reddit
I've known two people that were able to come up with the money in time. These things happen in life, being shady to the repo guy or the bank is never going work in your favor. You sister sounds smart here.
Consistent-Mouse-612@reddit
She was not smart. She just kept insisting "I made those payments!" and the bank gave her plenty of opportunities to show proof that she made the payments. But she was lying. All she would have had to do was mention to our older sister that she was behind on the payments, and she would have given her the money to get the car back. But she couldn't admit that she was lying, and the bank eventually had no other choice but to send it to auction.
She did the same thing when her house (that she only had a $300 mortgage payment on) was foreclosed on five years earlier.
Even now, 21 years after she lost the house, and 16 years after she lost the car, she continues to maintain the lie that she was making the payments, and the banks were just picking on her. She had one of her kids terrified to ever apply for a loan, because he was convinced that the bank can just take it whenever they want, regardless of whether you're paying for it or not. This was really embarrassing for him when he got a job as a bank teller. At one point, he asked his manager why banks sometimes repo things that people are paying for. You can imagine how that conversation went, and how he felt after finding out that his mom has been lying for years about this.
SandstoneCastle@reddit
With houses, there was a big foreclosure fraud problem in the 00s, where the bank would foreclose on people who weren't delinquent.
Banks Accused of Massive Scheme of Foreclosure Fraud & Perjury (gbclawgroup.com)
Consistent-Mouse-612@reddit
What you're talking about happened in 2008. My sister's foreclosure happened in 2004, and it was legitimate. She wasn't making the payments.
celinaolivia@reddit
Hi I know I’m 7 months late here, but your sister sounds like a narcissist because she sounds just like my sister. The lengths they go to, to believe their own lies is insanity. And the way they are able to let it affect their children? I’m glad her son found out when he was older though. Sad but needed.
Automatic_Cook8120@reddit
Yeah my comment is different than this guy’s about his sister, But the reason I made my comment is because it reminded me of my mom. I’m not sure if she had NPD or BPD but she definitely had a cluster B of some type
Automatic_Cook8120@reddit
I remember being in my early 20s and my mom taking out some Fingerhut pay overtime credit card in my brother’s name, then she paid the amount of the product she purchased but decided the bank was scamming her when she was told that she hadn’t finished paying it off so she just stopped paying them.
She didn’t understand interest especially not revolving high interest. And whatever she could’ve just screwed Fingerhut over if it was in her own name but it wasn’t and that’s how we found out she didn’t understand how any of this worked.
I feel bad now that I didn’t have patience with her back then. I didn’t realize that the year I was born women were still being denied bank accounts in their name if they didn’t have a male cosigner. She didn’t grow up with this stuff like I did, she grew up expecting men to take care of her because that’s what the law required for our survival.
But also she had a touch of NPD that made her decide that her sons Social Security number could be used by her because she has ownership over her children they are actual people
Automatic_Cook8120@reddit
Oh that was really cool he let her go get her stuff.
stitchup55@reddit
Why do people think that these banks will just one day say well dang we can’t find the car or get to it so we will just forget it and they can keep it? Or that one day you’ll hit the lotto and be able to pay it off? The fees and charges one will owe by the time the car is into the repo stage are horrendous!
I had an ex wife that got her car repoed and they were still hounding her to pay the amount of the loan of the car 10 years later! I know because I had people contacting me by phone and coming to my house looking for her.
Beginning-Emu-4647@reddit
It falls off after 7 years. I've had one before. At seven years it all came off. As a matter of fact I was getting ready to pay a bill and happened to call Equifax and the agent told me she wouldn't pay it as it was about to fall off. So I didn't.
Beginning-Emu-4647@reddit
You people think the repo men are God's. There are chop shops in Memphis etc that can find any GPS and remove it too. and swap vins etc. now I don't say do that. But repo men aren't Gods. Why do we worship them and the finance company? Neither cares anything about us. I tell people to secure the vehicle and try to work with the finance company and if they refuse do what they do... Exhaust all legal options. Meaning let them go through the courts to get it. Buy yourself time to send them a payment. If you need 5 months to get the money to them.. try to stall for 5 months corporations are ruthless. Trust me. Even when their wrong they slip and slide and never fully admit fault. We should do the same.
Beginning-Emu-4647@reddit
Repo men cannot enter a home garage without a writ of replevin from a court. 90% of repos do not have this writ. it's costly I've heard. The finance companies simply send out the car details in a nationwide system accessible by repomen and if they get a ping on the tag they can pull it.
If they know where you live they can get a writ using that specific address.
And I don't understand the people who always seem so angry when someone falls behind on a bill. Most people pay their bills when they can. But falling behind doesn't mean you give up everything and roll over. Do what corporations do. Even when their wrong their lawyers fully exhaust ALL legal remedies and simply putting the car out for repo doesn't mean the finance company hasn't made violations that technically voided the contract or they have the payment wrong or they missapplied payments or lost payments. Or the payment is sitting on their desk not yet applied.
This is why it's a civil matter and cops don't really get involved without a court process. So no. Don't just give it up like that if you need it. Go toe to toe with them. You are under no obligation to give up anything until the court has ruled. And the vehicle being under your closed locked garage is the safest place for it.
FathomReaper@reddit
Repo guys same level human as a chomo especially in this economy
Ok_Tomatillo_4494@reddit
I agree, I thought more people would have this sentiment about repo guys nowadays but reading through some of these comments on this and other subreddits the glaze for repo men is shocking and gross 🤢
oboshoe@reddit
The repo guys will keep coming by and stalking you looking for an opportunity when you either run an errand or leave the garage door open.
If you evade them long enough, the lender will file for a "replevin". This basically forces you by court order to hand it over.
https://www.justia.com/debt-management/car-repossessions/replevin-of-vehicles/
IhateBiden_now@reddit
Had this happen to my girlfriend's car, the repoman showed up with the local county Sheriff. The car was taken apart and hadn't yet been repaired because she had an accident with no insurance. Somehow they traced the replacement parts back to the shop it was being repaired at. They towed it anyway and she ended up paying thru the nose, because she still owed quite a bit to the bank for it.
Automatic_Cook8120@reddit
Yikes, you’re supposed to keep insurance on your car when it’s not your car yet. She’s lucky the bank didn’t just go insure it for her for $500 a month or something.
IDislikeHomonyms@reddit (OP)
Why does a delinquent driver who has since had their car repossessed still owe on the auto loan to the bank? When it's resold at a repo auction, is there going to be two payments by two people for the same car?
What's the point of continuing payments toward a car once it's repossessed? What good will it do, give the car back?
Galopigos@reddit
You still owe the money to the lender even if the car has been repossessed. No different than any other loan.
IDislikeHomonyms@reddit (OP)
So a lender can issue two loans out on one car at the same time then - one for the first customer who has since gone delinquent, and the other for the next customer the repossessed car is resold to?
Kinda unfair for the delinquent and greedy for the lender, you think?
spekt50@reddit
The lender will not be made whole by getting a depreciated car back, so they have to auction it off for less. The borrower will be on the hook for the difference.
milbug_jrm@reddit
Plus the costs for initiating a repossession, paying other parties involved (auctioneer, sometimes a lawyer), etc.... The total amount that has to be "paid off" will be greater than the amount owed.
Consistent-Mouse-612@reddit
I've known two people who have had vehicles repossessed who have expressed relief that "it's finally over," and they can stop worrying and move on. I told both of them that the craziness had just begun, and it was far from over.
All three of the people I've known who have had vehicles repossessed actually had no problem affording their vehicle payments. They just weren't interested in paying their bills first, and instead blew their money on stupid shit.
limellama1@reddit
It's not two loans for the same car.
The bank loaned you $20,000. Which you used to purchase a vehicle. You failed to pay and they took possession of the vehicle as collateral. .
Because vehicles are a depreciating asset if the car sells at auction for $10,000. The bank puts that toward the balance of the account. You now owe the bank the remaining $10,000 they gave you when you purchased the car
Consistent-Mouse-612@reddit
It's not greedy for the lender to recover all of the money that they're out. If auctioning the car off doesn't recover all of the money they've lost, then they're within their rights to hold the customer accountable for the difference figure. It's no different than if you sell the car for less than you owe on it. You're still on the hook for the difference to pay off the loan. You also have to pay the cost of the repo. That means that the harder the repo guy has to work to recover the car, the more they bill the bank for the repo. And the customer has to pay that too. A repo is a terrible way to get out of paying for a car, because you'll likely be paying for the car long after you've lost it.
Galopigos@reddit
Nope, you borrowed the money you pay it back. You are responsible for your debt. That is how it works. Has nothing to do with greed, it's how loans work.
DashOfSalt84@reddit
The lender sells the car at auction and reduces the money owed with the money they get from the auction(roughly). So they don't lend on the same car twice.
IhateBiden_now@reddit
So here is the whole story. My ex forgot to pay her auto insurance, and then got into an accident with a tree. Essentially she couldn't afford to pay out of pocket for repairs while paying her car payment. So, I had a friend with a side business working without a license, doing body work. He offered to replace the entire front clip of her 1995 cavalier, and he would keep it at his shop while he ordered the parts for it. Mind you, the car was stored indoors, in an old gas station that had 3 bays. Girlfriend gives the body guy 1500 for repairs and he tears off all of the damaged panels and orders the parts. After 3 months of no payments the repo man comes looking for the car. They went to her parents, grandparents, friends etc looking. And nobody knows where the car is. Just as the body guy gets all of the panels and starts rebuilding the car, we think we are golden, and maybe this will work out. Mind you, the girlfriend has a PO box and nothing is coming in her name to my house or to the body shop address. Somehow, the repoman finds the car and takes a county sheriff with him to get the car from the body shop, before the car was finished. The body guy has no clue how they found his shop or the car, but he was forced to let them take it when the VIN number matched on the car. They load up the car and away they go. The girlfriend is out the car, the 1500 for repairs and now has to declare bankruptcy because the bank sold the car at auction for far less than she owed the bank for it, and garnished her wages to pay it off. I still have no idea, other than an investigator got involved and they tracked the parts down somehow. But this was well before GPS was installed on vehicles, so it would have been nearly impossible to figure out which car parts were being ordered for her car. She and I split up not long after that, and I was glad not to be involved in anything like that ever again.
SuperHair69@reddit
Why would you need a loan for a 1995 cavalier? I could probably pick up 2 of them, running for 1k
Zealousideal_Sir_264@reddit
Buy here, pay here type of place. Or it was in 96 or so.
IhateBiden_now@reddit
In 1995, it wasn't much different than today. The car cost 13k new. She financed the balance and had a monthly payment of 250.00 per month. She couldn't afford to pay the 250 per month, while digging into her pocket for the 1500 to fix it. This is in the mid 90's not in today's dollars. No insurance was a big deal, and I have no idea why she let the coverage lapse. As a side note, she was the typical blonde haired big chested epitome of "airhead" at the time. Hence why I decided to leave for better options.
pussylover772@reddit
but the b00bs
KeepBanningKeepJoin@reddit
Pay insurance
stevrock@reddit
It depends on where you live. Where I am, the lender can either seize the car, or sue you for the balance, not both.
LeBongJaames@reddit
Car loans are debt. You agreed to pay x amount for them to lend you the money for the car. You are still on the hook for that money they lent you.
fcknspdbumps@reddit
If you owe $20,000 on the loan and the car is repoed and sold at auction for say $12,000 you still owe the balance of your original loan or in this case $8,000. The difference is now you owe the collection agency and not the original lender. Now, if you cannot afford to pay the collection agency, they will file for garnishment, and the borrower could’ve been forced to pay more than their payment was to begin with. if you can’t afford to pay your car, do you need to do anything you can to sell it and break even or as close to as possible. Once that repossession hits your credit you’re fucked in top of that. You’re also gonna have a collection from the purchase of the loan, and possibly a judgment, if you are unable to pay the collection company back.
Jack_Bogul@reddit
Damnn she got bopped
dyslexicAlphabet@reddit
thats not a repo...
KeepBanningKeepJoin@reddit
Yes it is
okiedokieaccount@reddit
When going through a divorce I went 6 months playing this game of cat and mouse until I was able to work something out with the bank. I kept it in the garage when home and panicked every time i went for groceries and didn’t see it right away. They never got it, and I eventually paid it off.
lavalamp3333@reddit
Was this a newer car or older? People talk about cars having GPS they tap into, so wouldn’t they be able to track?
okiedokieaccount@reddit
IDK The car didn’t have a GPS system. But I don’t think the car having GPS can be tapped into by the finance company. There are some lower end finance companies that place specific trackers in the car for repossession purposes .
djarkitek29@reddit
Paralegal Here. obviously pay your car note, but legally speaking, if they picked a lock to gain entry to your home (garage counts too), that would be Breaking & Entering. they usually just wait until you go somewhere.
Valuable_Smoke166@reddit
Rent or turo one the same model and color, leave it in your driveway. Have your house door open so the repo guy is in a hurry and doesn't check the VIN. Then report the rented vehicle stolen
30yrs2l8@reddit
You may think you are getting over on them but believe me you will pay for it. The harder they have to work to get the car the more it will cost you in fees and penalties.
If you can’t afford it just give it up. Working with them is better for you than fighting them.
kick6@reddit
Kind of humorous place to post this question, as in my estimation, actual car guys are the last people that’s get their shit repo’ed. They’d’ starve first.
That being said, they can’t break into your garage, but people behind on their payments have tried every trick in the book to abois the repo man, and the repo man is aware of every trick too. If you ever drive it out of the garage, it’s going to get yanked.
drsemaj@reddit
They'll wait until you're at the gas station or something. I've seen it where someone pumped gas, went in to get change just to come back out to no more car. They're quick and will drag it down the road if they feel the person may catch up and retaliate.
FrogInYerPocket@reddit
I've seen a tow truck chase a car down the middle of the main drag through town.
The tow truck was surprisingly nimble, but they did run the rear wheels over the center median while pulling a quick U-turn.
IceSpicePantySniffa@reddit
You’re no longer a car guy anymore, now, in this case you’re an r/fuckcars guy.
Kalelopaka-@reddit
They can’t legally break into your garage. But they can have people follow you and if you ever park it anywhere or even go to a car wash they can sneak right in there and takeoff with it.
Servile-PastaLover@reddit
During early covid, I saw a repo tow truck "XYZ recovery NOT FOR HIRE" driving through a grocery store parking lot late at night.
I didn't stay long enough to see if they caught their prey, but it was pretty obvious what they were doing.
version13@reddit
You think they give a damn about their bills in Russia?
They don't pay bills in Russia. It's all free.
Zealousideal_Sir_264@reddit
They can't open your garage. They also have to verify the vin. Note that quite a few of them have "lpr cameras" that can scan plates for potential repos, and will pick it up at Walmart. They can also gps it if it's new enough.
gringo--star@reddit
Leave it out and let it go.
PitifulSpecialist887@reddit
Automobile recovery specialists cannot break the law to repossess a car (although they often do).
Breaking and entering a locked residence in the nighttime is a VERY serious offense.
They would just tail you next time you go to the 7-11 for a pint of Ben and Jerry's.
the_Bryan_dude@reddit
A repossession agent cannot pass a locked barrier. That's how you lose your license. Don't take it to work. Don't go get gas. Never leave your garage. Yeah, we'll grab your car when you walk in the store.
Pay your bills or we'll get the car one way or another.
peekaboooobakeep@reddit
Some will impersonate a police officer to get information on the vehicles location
IDislikeHomonyms@reddit (OP)
It's a crime to impersonate the police.
peekaboooobakeep@reddit
Of course it's a crime. Doesn't mean the repo guy won't do it. I was young dumb and the dude showed up at my job with a badge on his neck. Claimed my car was reported in a hit and run and they needed to inspect the damages. I knew I was behind and risking repo. But I told them where to find my car and I'm sure he laughed all the way to the car. I was trying to come up with the lump sum they wanted.
crinkleberry_25@reddit
They can’t do that. Now if it’s sitting in your driveway they can repo it but they can’t pick locks.
They’ll get it eventually so you may want to consider ripping the bandaid off.
Shit happens, learn from this and move on.
OdinsChosin@reddit
They rip the garage door off like the swat team serving a warrant. That’s what the winches are for.
That-Resort2078@reddit
They wait
TraditionalBidN2O4@reddit
The vehicle needs to be visible and easily accessible. They can't cut a locked fence or a door. They probably won't need to follow you around either, most places will put a GPS tracker so they can find the car when it's time to come get it. Sometimes these have ignition defeat / kill switches on them also. Meaning that they can turn the car off or not allow it to start so the repo driver can just come scoop it up.
beaushaw@reddit
I a pretty sure they can not open your garage door. They wait for it to be in public.
Majestic-Pen7878@reddit
Asking for a friend?
IDislikeHomonyms@reddit (OP)
I'm just asking hypothetically. I paid my Lexus off last year. I own the title now.
towman32526@reddit
When the repo man can't get it, if they know where it is hidden the bank can get a writ of replevlin (not sure if I spelled that right) and the repo man and local sheriff will show up and take the car.
amazinghl@reddit
Tow your vehicle while you're at work is probably easier than getting it out of your home garage.
H2ON4CR@reddit
99.9% of people are daily driving their delinquent cars. It'll be in a public parking space eventually and that's when it will get taken. Keep in mind that most tow operators have plate reading cameras/software, and full access to the state DMV's database (for a large fee, of course). They'll find it eventually unless you lock it away in a barn somewhere for several years.
Efficient_Theme4040@reddit
They can’t take it from your garage! Pay your bills!
Talentless_Cooking@reddit
If you're getting your car repoed, it's best to surrender the vehicle before you get towed. If you're looking to keep it, a garage that is never opened is your best bet, they can't break in and have to wait until you drive somewhere or open the garage.