Times Are Tough, Except in the Repo Business

[RedEarth]

HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — So many people have so many things they can no longer afford. This is an excellent time to be a repo man.

......

Boating was traditionally the pastime of the well-off, but the long housing boom and its gusher of easy credit changed that. People refinanced their homes and used the cash for down payments on a cruiser, miniyacht or sailboat. From 2000 to 2006, retail sales for the recreational boating industry rose by more than 40 percent, to $39.5 billion, while the average loan amount more than tripled to $141,000.

Last year, as real estate faltered, the gears went into reverse. The number of boats sold fell 8 percent. Many boats are fuel hogs, and rising gasoline and diesel prices meant a weekend jaunt could cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Owners found they could not sell a boat for what they owed and could not refinance either.

The solution for some is simply to stop paying on Jersey Dreamin’ or Just Do It or Bally Hoo. Then one day they come home and it is gone.

.........

Not this year. Mr. Henderson, 48, is repossessing nearly a boat a day, most from the Great Lakes area but a few farther afield. He is looking for a man from the Bronx named Rocko, who told the bank his 34-foot cruiser was at a marina that does not exist. He is trying to get a Michigan woman to tell him where to find her husband’s pontoon boat.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/business/20repo.html?hp

[elocs]

1. Well, as Miller said in the move "Repo Man":

"The life of a repo man is always intense".

Also: "The more you drive, the less intelligent you are".

Great movie.

[Skittles]

2. I don't like Communists

Christians either :rofl:

[Blue_Tires]

3. pawn shops have also been raking it ALL in

as people hock jewelry and electronics at a fraction of the real value