Written by Charleston Bankruptcy Lawyer, Russell A. DeMott
Bankruptcy can help you stop repossession and even allow you to get your vehicle back after it’s been repossessed. Shooting the repo man is not only a serious crime, it’s also unnecessary.
Do some searches about repo men and shootings, and you’ll find that this is a real problem. You may come across “In Killing Repo Man, Law Shields Killer,” “Another Texas Repo Man Shot!” or even “Repo Man Killed, One More Shot in St. Augustine.”
In fact, it turns out that this is a problem for repo men everywhere–especially in Texas where it’s pretty much legal to shoot anyone who gets on your nerves. (You’ve heard of the “wild west,” right?)
Who is the repo man?
Let’s get some perspective here–and those of you in Texas, pay special attention. The repo man is just a guy trying to earn a living. He might have a a wife and ten-year-old son he wants to come home to. As he does his job, maybe he looks forward to throwing a baseball with his son. He’s a real person. And he’s been sent out to repossess your car because–surprise, surprise–you haven’t made the payments on it.
Some things you need to understand
There are some important things to keep in mind about the repo man:
- While this may seem self-evident, it’s not his fault you haven’t made your payments. Sure, it might not be your fault, either. Maybe your employer downsized you out of a job. Maybe you got divorced and your ex husband’s a bum and won’t pay his child support on time. There are lots of maybees. Still, the repo man has nothing to do with any of these things.
- The repo man can’t “breach the peace” to repossess the vehicle. He can’t threaten you with a gun or break into your garage. (Hint: keep your car locked up if you don’t want it taken. This will buy you some time to explore other options–like Chapter 13 bankruptcy or perhaps getting caught up on the loan.)
- You can’t breach the peace, either! Shooting the repo man is a crime in most places–certainly in South Carolina. Don’t even think about it. It’s a car, not your child. It’s just not worth it. The world is awash in cars. You can get another no matter how bad your credit might be. And again, remember the repo man is just a guy doing his job. Let him take it, then call a bankruptcy lawyer.
And then there’s a beautiful thing called Chapter 13
With a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you stop the repossession and do some things to make the car much more affordable:
- You may be able to “cram down” the vehicle, paying off the value of the vehicle in your Chapter 13 plan, rather than the balance on the car loan. For example, if you owe $20,000 on the vehicle, and it’s only worth $10,000, you can pay the auto lender $10,000.
- You can pay off the vehicle at a much lower interest rate, currently set by our bankruptcy court at 5.25% here in South Carolina.
- You can pay off the vehicle over a five-year Chapter 13 plan, which effectively lowers your monthly payments by allowing you more time to pay off the vehicle.
Give me an example!
Let’s say your car payments are $518.96 per month. Your interest rate is 9%, and you owe $20,126.43. Let’s further assume the vehicle is only worth $15,000.
In a Chapter 13, you could cram down the amount paid back to the value–$15,000, lower the interest rate to 5.25%, and repay the vehicle over five years. Your new payments is now $284.79! In addition, you might have a large amount of other debts–say credit cards or medial bills. You can pay back a much lower amount on those unsecured debts, too–as low as 1%.
Know your rights. Instead of “shooting the messenger,” do something constructive and explore your Chapter 13 bankruptcy options.
Post script: If you obtained a loan to purchase the vehicle for your use within 910 days (about 2.5 years) prior to your bankruptcy filing, you can’t cram down (or “value”) the vehicle. You can, however, lower the interest rate as discussed above. Make sure you tell your bankruptcy lawyer when you financed the vehicle and who uses the vehicle. For more on this, check out “South Carolina Bankruptcy Lawyer Unleashes Vulcan Intellect on the Hanging Paragraph.”
I would love t say to America to STOP watching REPO MAN , that show on the (kill my husband channel) Let me begin by saying “IT IS FAKE” Sorry but putting this shit on TV puts my husband and his employees in grave DANGER. Stop the nonsense They work for the banks, that these people agreed to make monthly pmts to. They dont make their pmts. so the investers (banks) want their back NOT THE REPO MANS We dont care what they oweI know what u owe nor do we care . JUST STOP TRYING TO KILL MY HUSBAND AND HIS WORKERS!!! THIS HAS TO STOP WE DO NOT WEAR PIG TAILS NOR ARE WE OVERWEIGHT AND WE DO NOT LIKE ANY AT ALL STOP MAKING US LOOK LIKE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! P.S. I AM 105LBS NO RAT TAILS !
Whatever, i do not care if it is their job, they are scum bags praying on those in a bad situation, one comes to my house he may not get shot but he will get dogs on his ass and basball bat to the head.
Fuck a repo man.
Ty,
Bad idea. Re-read the post and follow instructions carefully. If you do, the repo man will never come to your house in the first place. You have no God-given right to a free car, and if you think you do, you have some serious entitlement issues. I wish you the best.
@ TY you have a valid point
@ DIANN BORKOWSKI you have valid point too. But its the nature of the job. If they come unannounced or expected on someones property trying to take a car they can legally in my opinion be shot. If a repo man is trying to be stealthy to take collateral how does a shooter know he is not killing a crimminal instead of a repo man?
You can argue that to the jury in your criminal trial. Overall, I think it’s a bad strategy. Better to just make the car payment or deal with the underlying problem in bankruptcy.
So, if I have payed $35000 to the bank over the course of six years for a car valued at $29000, the bank has been paid already for their entire outlay with a size-able profit. They should not have the right to repossess property where the owner has paid off more than the value of the property IMO – that’s theft. If you try to steal my property from me in the middle of the night, you will likely get shot no questions asked. You’re right, it’s not a child, it’s just a car. But you know what, it’s the lesson that we teach our children that is important. When you prevent people from stealing from you, you are teaching your children to not let people take advantage of you and to stand up for themselves. If someone gets rightfully killed when taking someones property then THEIR children will learn that taking the property of others – regardless of whether or not you think it’s acceptable – is something that can get you killed and hopefully will prevent them from going down the same path of taking from others for a living.
I hate to say it, but if more people would just shoot repo men who are trying to take their property in the middle of the night, they might consider regulating an industry that desperately needs it.
If it’s just a business / job as they claim, they can do it up front in daylight with the consent of the debtor just like ALL other businesses. If that route doesn’t work then they can call the police just like ALL other businesses. If it’s 2am and no police are present, they are stealing from you plain and simple and they deserve what they get IMO.
1. Re-read post. You are not smellin’ what I’m cookin’.
2. Don’t shoot someone for taking a car YOU failed to make the payments on. You will go to prison for a long time.
3. Listen to this song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztVaqZajq-I
First off, any man who needs a gun to settle their affairs is nothing more than a punk. And deadbeats who pull guns deserve what they get and usually cry like little girls when they get it. Talk is cheap. Talkers rarely do anything other then talk trash on the internet and around the bar room. They are the ones that hide under their beds when their mouth or behavior gets them into trouble. Whether that be the repo man, the law or whatever trouble they find themselves in, they usually will send their women out to beg on their behalf. If these pseudo tough guys come out at all, even though they are grown adults, they are usually accompanied by their mom. Their moms are usually just as disgusted with them as the rest of us are, especially since she will be the one most likely making the payments in order to stop the repossession..
The majority of people who have their cars repossessed have lived their entire lives irresponsibly and usually have a paper trail 10 miles long to back up this assertion. The people who run into legitimate financial problems usually will give the car up if they know they can no longer make the payments or literally beg, borrow or steal to catch up with the payments.
Most people who have their cars repossessed are simply deadbeats and nothing more. That’s been my experience.
Hell yes they should be shot, they chose to do this job and should accept the consequences more so if they have a wife or 10 year old son at home.
I love what Ronnie and Russ have to say here! As long as the repossession people are operating within the guidelines of the law, there should be absolutely NO reason to get an attitude with them! They are there because the individual would rather breach the contract they made with the lender and drive the vehicle with absolutely no financial responsibility at all.. Grand theft if you ask me! These ridiculously entitled people are acting like fifth graders and need to grow up. These ignorant people would rather kill someone in cold blood than pay their bills. Hello!?!? Anyway, here is some related info I found useful: http://creditletters.eu.pn/help-my-car-was-repoed/
The Real Problem is there is no code of conduct or overwatch in south carolina for example it’s a law in south carolina that all business trucks must have stickers and tags except for repo men that’s the south carolinian way just rewrite law So these repo men show up with no paperwork no uniforms no identifications and when you open the door to surrender your vehicle your met with a southern white racist male using the n word doesn’t ever one time say I am repo man here for car just racist slurs got it on video tape and pictures but the police in south carolina say that repo men are above the law and can bully and assault people like 21 year old black female 5’6 120 lbs serious good ol boy corruption down here and somethings gonna change cause slapping people soon as they open the door is bound to end with bad results. Also there’s no stipulations like felons can be repo men what sense does that make they are sending gang enforcers to bully and extort people. With video and all the proof South Carolina good ol boy system stuck it to me worse makes sense though with such cases as officers commit cdv and it takes 4 years for a woman to get him arrested. If repo men could have to meet certain requirments it would be easier to identify them for one thing
Now, I totally agree with the original poster and the point he is trying to make.
You should be careful of your debts and make sure that you do not fall behind to the point of facing a repo.
Of course, if you have fallen behind on your finances, and killing the repo man seems like a viable solution, I would suggest that you really think it out before you act.
Consider this, if you kill a repo man outright, it would limit the plot potential for any episode using recurring characters. However, if you simply wound or maim the repo man it will make for better reality tv when they re-enact it. It would seem that there is a benefit to wounding repo men over outright killing them.
Despite the heinous nature of such an act which I would never endorse, I do love my reality tv.
Reality TV actors are just good honest people trying to make a living.
The reality TV actors that work on shows like Operation Repo and Lizard Lick towing aren’t taking advantage of the misfortunes of real repo men. They are providing a necessary service to a television industry that employs many many people. They are also fathers and mothers and are trying to support families.
It could be argued that if everyone involved with repo men stopped shooting, spitting on, fighting, stabbing, bludgeoning, stalking, hunting, harassing, shunning, vandalizing, beating, ridiculing, screaming obscenities at them and their children, or burning crosses in their yards for being horrible Christians, they are depriving reality TV of material with which they can base their episodes.
This could hurt the economy and cause rising interest rates and more difficulty getting approved for auto loans.
So despite my steadfast opposition to any sort of violent or illegal action being taken against repo men, I can see how it is in everyone’s best interest that not all people agree.
Remember, like fish, repo men have a simplified nervous system. They don’t really feel it when you stick a hook in them. *source needed*
Ronnie,
Your a real tough guy aren’t you ? Tell you what I live here in the state of Pennsylvania and I can promise you this… If I don’t know your a repo person and if you come to my house trespassing and being a tough guy We will be in a fight and I have 0 problem with mutual combat so bring it on I swear I will break every single bone in your face when were on the ground. I am 6ft 220 lbs and served and I have seen the toughest mothers on the planet and you ain’t one. Think I’ll hide I don’t think so. Actually I love to fight. Your just another inbreed line of scumbag repo guys thats all ! If I ever had that problem like some of these people I would just simply put the car in my fenced yard locked fence and when I see someone enter on my camera system I would just turn out my 2 Rotties by the way 5K + dollars each so if something happens to the dogs you would be in court like yesterday…..What a tough Scumbag !!! LMFAO>>>>>
Thanks for the comment. It’s the most unusual by far.
I have been on both sides of this issue. I live in South Carolina and did have a car repossessed. If they would have called or knocked on the door I would have handed them the keys. I live out in the country and have a long driveway and it is dark at night. I do have guns and not knowing g who it was may fire if I my husband was not home and it was the middle of the night. Our thoughts are that anybody that is on our rural property at night is not there to do good and due to the isolation of where we live we have to be prepared to defend ourselves because it can take a Sheriff much longer to arrive to a location that it would in a city or in town. I personally fully believe in our right to defend ourselves BUT if I shot the repo man not knowing he was here for a reason I would feel terrible. It is not his fault I could not make the payments and what the hell gives me the right or entitlement to think I should get to keep property that I have not paid for. The bank doesn’t owe me anything if you can’t pay you can’t keep it. You are aware of that if you finance a car and if you are not aware of that you are ignorant. I no longer finance my cars I can spend $4000 and drive a nice car. It is not brand new but so what let some other chump pay all that interest and take the hit on depretition. Do you want money that is owed to you repaid? Bet you do. My husband has also repo’d cars and still does on occasions he is not a jerk he is respectful and sympathetic because we have been on the other side but at the end of the day if it is financed it is not your car and it is not your car until it is paid off so quick crying and making threats and don’t buy what you can’t pay for and admit it if you fall behind and give it up no biggie buy a cheap car and move on.
No repo man carry’s a gun we just let you shoot at us and send your dogs lol. Dumbass dead dogs for supper?