Here Comes the Repo Man

It sounds like lots of folks bought cars they couldn’t afford during the years of Covid Relief payments. Sadly, because of supply chain issues, the cost of used cars went through the roof so those folks paid top dollar for those cars.  Now that the economy is cooling and the “free” Covid money is drying up, we are seeing record numbers of people not making their car payments.  This is, in turn, leading to record numbers of repossessions.  The owner of the repo company can’t find enough men to do the job.  Funny, maybe he should hire some women willing to go out in the night, locate a car, back a truck up to it and tow it away while risking the owner shows up to try and prevent you from stealing his car.  #WhereAreTheRepoWomen

America will one day implode because of our collective financial stupidity.  We don’t know if this is the start of the final implosion or if more free money will be printed to rescue us all...until we implode from inflation, caused by too much money printing.

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Finally, while the existing loan pipeline is bracing for soaring delinquencies and default and catastrophic writedowns, new loan originations have collapsed not only because of higher loan standards but because most Americans suddenly realize they can't afford monthly payments at these rates. “I dare think what happens to people who are signing up for new loans today,” said Ivan Drury, director of insights at car buying website Edmunds. “It’s not going to be better when we see these payments so high.”

As for the repo men, now that is one industry that will be booming all throughout the coming recession. “These repossessions are occurring on people who could afford that $500 or $600 a month payment two years ago, but now everything else in their life is more expensive,” said Drury, “That’s where we’re starting to see the repossessions happen because it’s just everything else starting to pin you down."

Indeed, for those in the repossession business, it’s been almost impossible to keep up with the surge in, well, "new business." Jeremy Cross, the president of International Recovery Systems in Pennsylvania, said he can’t find enough repo men to meet the demand or space to hold all the cars his company has been tasked with repossessing. With the holidays approaching, he’s been particularly busy as people prioritize spending elsewhere, and he’s expecting business to keep up throughout next year and 2024.

 “Right now, it’s really the perfect storm,” said Cross. “Over the last two years, vehicle prices were inflated because there was no new car supply, people were still buying like crazy because they had a lot of stay-at-home cash, they had inflated credit scores, so it was like a recipe for disaster.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/its-perfect-storm-more-americans-cant-afford-their-car-payments-during-peak-financial