By Ray Birch
CHARLESTON, W.Va.—It isn’t just during Halloween when collecting collateral can be a horrifying experience, according several credit unions that have shared a caldron full of frightful repossession stories—including one about a “wild-eyed” man and “roach hotel.”
With Halloween looming a day away, the terrifying tales from Pioneer West Virginia FCU here are just some of the spine-chilling stories shared by credit union collections experts who shiver at the thought of what can happen in the collections world.
Keith Stinson, collections manager at the $190-million PWVFCU, told CUToday.info that much of what he has experienced “you just can’t make up.”
Stinson’s first tale begins in the “hollows” of West Virginia’s mountains, where he had to inspect a foreclosure.
“I headed to look at a home without a care in the world, only to find the house occupied by a wild-eyed man with an unusual collection of things—like whole chicken carcass skeletons and mummified mice all over the home,” he said.
Stinson likened what he saw to people who have butterfly collections, with each butterfly pinned in place for display.
“This was like that, except that dozens and dozens of used pizza boxes were scattered all over the house with various small animals pinned in place,” recalled Stinson in horror. “The guy in the house told us he saw ‘faces’ in them.”
As he is required to do, Stinson said he took photos, but made sure to only show them to the credit union’s board after lunch.
“And, not surprisingly, the house—our collateral—was even less preserved than the pizza box collection,” said Stinson.
You Can Check Out, But…
During another repossession, Stinson ran into even more grizzly sights.
“Have you ever wondered why an open bottle of apple butter appears to be swirling around on its own, only to come close enough to see it’s really filled with roaches?” said Stinson. “I have.”
PWFCU shot this photo during a home repossession.
That happened when Stinson had to visit a foreclosure now referred to as “Roach Hotel California.”
“Every roach in the area had clearly checked in, but apparently could never leave,” he said. “That is, until we opened the door and were immediately swarmed by millions of them.”
As if that was not enough, Stinson looked down and his plain white shirt looked like it had polka dots.
“But those dots were moving around. With all those roaches, how did this home have room for fleas?” he said.
And to top off this chilling tale…
“Have you ever seen a man coat himself in used motor oil so he can enter a roach- and flea-infested house to retrieve his valuables, believing the motor oil will repel the fleas and other vermin? Well, I have,” said Stinson.
Better to Walk
And sometimes, if the house is just too terrifying, the credit union simply has to walk away, as was the case this year with the “lawnmower man.”
“It wasn’t like the movie with the same name, but the owner had at one time run a small engine repair service,” said Stinson. “We lost count of the lawnmower engines and parts scattered throughout, and hidden, by a lawn which hadn’t seen a sharp blade in a long, long time.”
Stinson said the clutter made it dangerous to even attempt to walk around the property, which included other unintentional traps such as the spokes of bicycle wheels and a garage collapsed on top of a car, making the place look “straight out of an Evil Dead movie,” he said.
“As you might suspect, the upkeep inside of the house was on par with the outside, so this was a case where the property value relative to the loan b
alance warranted a decision to just walk away,” he said.
The Haunted In House
Sometimes the collection team does not have to travel at all to face a ghastly experience—as was the case in Santa Rosa, Calif., at the $58-million North Bay Credit Union.
“We made a car loan to one of our branch managers who was subsequently terminated,” recalled CEO Chris Call. “She stopped paying on her loan shortly after leaving the credit union.”
Because she knew the collection procedures she was able to “game the system,” Call explained, by making different promises to pay to different collections personnel.
“Ultimately, we repossessed her car, which is when things really got interesting,” he said.
The former employee started an email campaign to many of the credit union’s employees outlining her grievances, including sending text messages to Call on his personal phone, the CEO said.
“Our response was to be professional and consistent in our message: ‘Just pay your debt,’” said Call. “After the remediation period passed we sold the car at an auction. She has since launched a social media campaign to try to discredit us. Lesson learned: Be careful who you hire and extra careful in making loans to employees.”
A Treat for a Change
And sometimes the trying times collections teams face turn out to be more treat than trick, as was the case with one credit union in southern U.S.
“A couple of years ago we had assigned out a vehicle for repossession on a young lady and we had a really tough time getting her on the phone and getting her to pay,” recalled a collections expert from a credit union that asked not to be named. “I gave the repo agent all the pertinent information on her case including references. Looking at the references, I spotted the name of another member whose car we were trying to repossess—and this person’s name was a bit unusual.”
That made the collections employee wonder if the person on the reference list, who showed her address, might also be one of the people he was looking for.
“Coincidence? Turns out it wasn’t,” the staffer said. “When our repossession agent couldn’t find the first person we were looking for, we sent him to the address of the person on the reference list. It was a long shot, but both members we were looking for were living at the same address, and both vehicles were there.”