By Ray Birch
MILFORD, Conn.—As Halloween arrives, collections staff from credit unions across the country simply had too many bone-chilling experiences for one story.
In part two of CUToday.info’s Tales From The Collections Crypt, credit union employees described shocking accounts of goat-inhabited homes, shrinking cars and—worst of all—gruesomely growing student debt.
Thomas Madden, who works in collections at the $457-million Nutmeg State Financial CU here, can never erase one collections story from his mind—the tale of the “incredible shrinking Firebird.”
“This story has stuck with me for more than 25 years, and it happened well before I joined Nutmeg State,” Madden said.
Right after college Madden went to work for a captive auto finance company.
“Not long into my time there, I was given a field assignment to try and locate a brand new Pontiac Firebird from a customer who was severely delinquent, more than six months past due,” Madden said.
Thomas Madden
Not surprisingly, as the new guy he got the case after several others in his company failed to retrieve the car. Madden said he worked the case hard with no luck—couldn’t locate the customer or the car—and had basically given up.
Beeper Alert
“I felt I was at a dead end with this one, but then one day when I was in the field working on other assignments I received a message on my beeper to close this file,” recalled Madden. “My curiosity got the best of me, so I called into our home office to find out why the assignment was being closed.”
Madden learned the customer called the company’s main office and said he dropped off the car at the company’s parking garage.
“I rushed back only to find the parking garage security guard with a big smile on his face,” said Madden. “I asked him where the car was, and he reached into his pocket and pulled out a Firebird Matchbox car. Needless to say, the real Pontiac Firebird was never found.”
Out of the Shadows
Those on the front lines—the repo men—often face the most ghastly experiences, asserts one credit union CEO.
“One of our repo men was in the process of repossessing an auto and as he was hooking the car to the tow truck the owner stepped out eerily from the shadows,” said the CEO of a credit union who asked for anonymity. “The owner was pointing a bow and arrow at him, so the repo man decided to drop the car and leave.”
And if that tale is not chilling enough, try this: When the same repo man went after another car tucked under a carport at night, he first squirted dishwashing liquid under the tires to reduce noise when the car was being dragged onto the flatbed.
“However, the homeowner woke up when he heard the truck, ran out of the house, slipped on the dishwashing liquid, fell and hit his head,” said the CEO, who noted his shop was not liable for the repo company’s actions. “I was informed that he was awarded over $1 million for his injury.”
Behind the Door
That same CEO reminded that every foreclosure should be approached with trepidation, as it’s never known what lurks behind the front door.
“Even on what appears to be the best-kept homes,” it’s may not be the “easy one” that was expected, he said, citing a recent foreclosure by his foreclosure team.
When his team entered what looked like a nice, well-maintained home, they found nearly a dozen dogs living in the house, as well as goats.
“Yes, I said goats,” the CEO stated.
While the home on the inside initially looked unsalvageable, after some heavy cleaning it was restored and the CU eventually got its money.
Ghoulish Debt
In Lathrup Village, Mich., Jennifer Glenfield, chief marketing officer at the $996-million Michigan First CU, said forget ghouls and goblins, nothing can be scarier that student loan debt.
“Student loan debt can be terrifying for lenders and borrowers alike. With the rising cost of college tuition, it’s easy for recent college grads to find themselves in complicated financial situations that are hard to come back from,” said Glenfield.
She told the terrifying tale of a long-time Michigan First member who walked into his local branch, visibly overwhelmed.
“His daughter, who had graduated from a public Michigan university just a year prior, was having a difficult time finding steady employment and was struggling financially,” Glenfield recalled. “She was unable to afford the monthly payments attached to her $70,000 in student loan debt, so they quickly became the father’s responsibility.”
Committed to repaying the loans and avoiding bankruptcy, he tapped into his 401(k) in order to reduce the debt. The Michigan First payment solutions team then began working to make the debt more manageable and get a realistic payment plan in place.
“Thankfully, a loyal Michigan First member was committed to taking care of his family’s loans instead of just walking away. And Michigan First was equally committed to helping the member find a way to get his finances back under control,” she said.
The Only Choice
Thomas J O'Shea, CEO at the $132-million Aspire CU in Clark, N.J., insists there is only one sure way to avoid collections horror stories.
“Outsource your collections, that’s what we do,” O’Shea said.