September 2021 Repo News

A quick look at recent news in the repossession industry:

Car and Driver has a story about a car being “repo’ed” by a car rental company. While not a repo in the classic sense, it provides an interesting look into what can happen. Most importantly is the reason it happened:

In the face of public pressure, Avis changed its tune and told Campbell they will refund the charges, including late fees. An Avis Budget Group representative sent Car and Driver this statement: “Following a review, we fully refunded and apologized to Mr. Campbell and offered a coupon for future use. Our internal findings indicate there was an incorrect tow triggered by an administrative error on a previous rental. Mistaken tows occur infrequently but we are taking steps to prevent situations like this from occurring at all in the future.”

Errors on previous accounts that improperly roll over are big problems in the car financing industry. As in this case, most people have no idea what happened when they walk out and see their car is gone even though they have made their payments.

Midland Daily News describes a story of an inherent danger in repos:

9:52 a.m. – Deputies were dispatched to an Ingersoll Township address. A repossession company called after a subject jumped into a vehicle the company was repossessing and refused to get out. Prior to the deputies’ arrival, the subject exited the vehicle and the deputies were told by the repossession company that help was no longer needed.