Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Repo stories, boats taken back

Source: NY Times

Business
Economic Tide Is Rising for Repo Man
By DAVID STREITFELD
Published: May 20, 2008
The recreational boating industry has faltered amid the housing slump, leading to a boom in repossessions.


Here's a quote from the article:

...Finally he remembered: “I’ve taken this boat before.” Owners of repossessed boats have a few weeks to redeem them, and this fellow had availed himself of the opportunity. Now, a few years later, he was in trouble again. Mr. Henderson shrugged. “I took it before, I’ll take it again. After I take it a few more times, he’ll be eligible for a Christmas card. One guy, I took his boat four times.”


And one more telling quote:

Some people lose their house or their boat to abrupt setbacks: illness, job loss, divorce. Mr. Dahmen, who works as a technology manager for a car manufacturer, belongs to a second, probably larger group: he simply spent beyond his means. He is one of the millions of reasons the consumer-powered American economy did so well for most of this decade, and one of the reasons its prospects look so bleak now.


The article has an almost literary quality. It reads more like a well-told tale than a news article.

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