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Repo business is steady

Armando Real Jr. talks about car repossessions Friday at his office, Asset 24/7 Recovery, in Calexico. Real said most repossession are done in the evening. (JOSELITO VILLERO)



Share 0diggsdiggBy SILVIO J. PANTA

Imperial Valley Press

12:55 a.m. PST, February 22, 2011
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One area of the economy that appears to have weathered the effects of high unemployment and other economic ills in the Imperial Valley has been the vehicle recovery business.

Some might even say, given the circumstances, business is thriving.

To hear James Tucker tell it, the repossession business continues unabated by the sluggish economic recovery.

In fact, the Imperial Valley’s lackluster economy has had little effect on Tucker’s Imperial-based Piranha Collections business, he said.

“It just stays pretty much steady,” said Tucker, who has been in the vehicle recovery field for about 10 years.

“The economy has affected us little,” he said.

The types of vehicles that get repossessed when an owner can no longer afford to keep them vary, Tucker said.

Those who’ve been turning in their prized cars or other vehicles include people who received loans they weren’t qualified for and lost their homes through foreclosure, Tucker said.

Armando Real, operator of Asset 24/7 Recovery in Calexico, would add state employees to the mix of people who’ve fallen on hard times, especially since their wages have been cut through unpaid work furloughs and layoffs.

Not even those who work in law enforcement are immune from having their vehicles recovered, Real said, suggesting that the financial shortfall others are experiencing is giving his business a boost at a time of economic uncertainty.

“We’re just repo-ing people now who wouldn’t be in financial stress,” Real said.

The number of repossessed vehicles has undoubtedly soared in the almost three years with many of the people voluntarily turning in their vehicles that they can no longer afford, Real said.

“Ever since the recession hit, it has definitely gone up significantly,” Real said.

Boats, large sport utility vehicles, race motorcycles and jet skis make up the bulk of the vehicular “toys” some residents reluctantly have been forced to part with, Real said, following 2008’s national downturn.

“We get a little bit of everything,” Real said. “Mostly toys are what people are giving up these days.”

But Michael Heyd, president of the California Association of Licensed Repossessors, said that in general high recovery rates at this time would be unusual considering how many banks and lending institutions have clamped down on who qualifies for the loans to buy expensive vehicles.

As lending institutions are lending a lot less there is not “an influx” of people who are giving up their vehicles out of the necessity to go to their jobs, Heyd said.

“They’re trying their best to keep what they have,” Heyd said. “I have seen a lower spate of repossessions in the last couple of years. We’re just working harder to get more repos for the banks.”

Yet despite the difficulties the repossession business faces elsewhere, people here in the Imperial Valley are finding it tough to keep what they have regardless of what they do for a living, Real said.

“Now, no one is immune,” he said. “It’s just bad all around.”