An Excellent Time To Be A Repo Man
The bigger the boat, the harder to hide.
So many people have so many things they can no longer afford. Some people lose their house or their boat to abrupt setbacks: illness, job loss, divorce. This is an excellent time to be a repo man. After nearly 20 years in the repossession business, Jeff Henderson has never been busier.
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. 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.
Boat loans, like car loans, give the bank permission to recover its collateral in the case of default, which explains why a repo man can go into a yard without technically trespassing. Nevertheless, the custom is to get in and get out before the owners, neighbors or authorities notice anything amiss.
No one grows up aspiring to be a repo man. When he meets strangers and they ask what he does, he merely says he is in the marine industry. He has repossessed the boats of friends and one relative, a cousin. “Somebody’s got to do it,” he said. “Might as well be me.”
