Boom Times in Silicon Valley

One person's loss may be another's gain. While many technical workers have been losing their jobs, prosperity has struck any one who is a repo-man. An article by Suein Hwang in the Wall Street Journal begins with a colorful scenario. "At 4:40 a.m. James Kevern is on the hunt, charging down dark suburban streets in an unmarked white truck." When he cannot find a debtor's car in front of the house, he cruises down a side street and finds his quarry. "Without leaving his cab, Mr. Kevern pushes a few buttons. The metal jaws of a contraption called the Dynamic 601-b self-loading boom emerges from the truck, passes under a new Mercury Cougar and turns outward to lift its front wheels. Barely a minute later, Mr. Kevern's truck hurries from the scene." He has just "popped" the car.

With the decline in the technology business and the fall or disappearance of value of stock options in the high-tech companies, many in the valley have found that their means are not supporting their life style. According to one of the repo firms, the number of poppings has tripled in the past year. Just within the past year, Mr. Kevern has recovered about 50 cars from Cisco's parking lot, one from in front of the main office building. New loans that have gone sour have increased rapidly, and one lender has seen defaults on the first payment jump by 50 percent in the past year.

Many of the delinquent debtors live in gated communities, into which the typical repo truck is not usually admitted. California law permits a repo-man to seize a vehicle from a parking lot or even private property, because he represents the legal owner of the car. But they cannot enter gated communities without permission because the community is private property. A new ploy is a truck that looks like a large delivery truck, but has the equipment to pick up a car hidden inside. Thus, the repo-man can drive through the gate easily: "Just delivering some new golf clubs!"