Popovich's first rule of firearms is pretty simple: The man who tells you he's going to shoot you will not shoot you.
Definitely not a job for the faint of heart.
The Learjet repo man
21–30 of 50 posts
Re: The Learjet repo man
#22It seems like a failure of the legal system that something like this is necessary. I guess there is no law-enforcement agency that can move fast enough to prevent a jet from leaving its jurisdiction.
Since you can get a warrant in mere hours in some cases, and it takes hours for this guy to even arrive, I don't think that's true. There is some reason that they can't or won't just ask the police to secure the plane, though, and my guess is that the reason is more that it's legally unclear whose plane it is. That is, in some cases, this is legally just theft that's papered over later.
There are legal frameworks in place for repossession. It's not just and ad hoc grab and run situation. As I understand it, it's indeed true police usually can't get involved beyond keeping the peace since it's a civil issue and they open themselves up to civil liability, but it's very different from theft.
Re: The Learjet repo man
#23It seems like a failure of the legal system that something like this is necessary. I guess there is no law-enforcement agency that can move fast enough to prevent a jet from leaving its jurisdiction.
Since you can get a warrant in mere hours in some cases, and it takes hours for this guy to even arrive, I don't think that's true. There is some reason that they can't or won't just ask the police to secure the plane, though, and my guess is that the reason is more that it's legally unclear whose plane it is. That is, in some cases, this is legally just theft that's papered over later.
>> Since you can get a warrant in mere hours in some cases
I can't speak to property seizure warrants, so you may be right there. However, if it is anything like arrest warrants, this is rarely true.
Fun fact: Typically, it takes a mountain of evidence to convince a judge to issue a warrant, and then those serving the warrant have a small window of time to execute. If they are late, or the individual isn't present, then it expires and a new set of evidence has to be presented to issue another warrant.
(I often think it's amazing anyone is arrested at all).
My lack of knowledge notwithstanding, I doubt that issuing a warrant to seize a plane would be a quick, Law and Order-like process, simply due to the size and dollars involved.
Re: The Learjet repo man
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
someone who owned a $100 million toy No, someone who missed several payments on a leased $100 million toy. The ultra rich-and-powerful don't miss the payments. Also, if the repo man dies shortly after repossessing your property, you are probably going to be at the top of the list of suspects... so killing the guy's whole family is probably not a good idea.
Anyone who can buy a jet plane, can buy a judge.
Like Martin 'Baby Branson' Halstead: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hampshire/4413370...
He's got the mob name already!
Re: The Learjet repo man
#25It seems like a failure of the legal system that something like this is necessary. I guess there is no law-enforcement agency that can move fast enough to prevent a jet from leaving its jurisdiction.
Since you can get a warrant in mere hours in some cases, and it takes hours for this guy to even arrive, I don't think that's true. There is some reason that they can't or won't just ask the police to secure the plane, though, and my guess is that the reason is more that it's legally unclear whose plane it is. That is, in some cases, this is legally just theft that's papered over later.
Repossession occurs when a person hasn't made payments. In other words, a bank or other institution is actually the organization that legally owns the property. They authorize a repo agency to recover the property that they legally own, which means that the repo agency is allowed to do all sorts of things because for all intents and purposes they are recovering stolen property.
It is a sticky spot legally, and there are rules they have to follow. But this man has experience doing high-risk repos that public law enforcement doesn't have. It's the difference between regular infantry and mercenaries.
Re: The Learjet repo man
#26An interesting point not emphasized in the article: each plane can require a significant amount of training time to be able to fly safely.
Getting behind the controls of a $10 Million plane that you've never flown before and having to take it somewhere has got to have a higher pucker factor than the guys with guns, if you ask me.
Re: The Learjet repo man
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Since you can get a warrant in mere hours in some cases, and it takes hours for this guy to even arrive, I don't think that's true. There is some reason that they can't or won't just ask the police to secure the plane, though, and my guess is that the reason is more that it's legally unclear whose plane it is. That is, in some cases, this is legally just theft that's papered over later.
Repossession occurs when a person hasn't made payments. In other words, a bank or other institution is actually the organization that legally owns the property. They authorize a repo agency to recover the property that they legally own, which means that the repo agency is allowed to do all sorts of things because for all intents and purposes they are recovering stolen property. It is a sticky spot legally, and there…
Depending on the local law the bank might not own it anymore. If the plane owes landing/storage fees the local law might give the airport a lien on the plane. If it has been used in a crime it might now belong to the local police.
So legally the repo man might be stealing the plane form the local government.
Re: The Learjet repo man
#28As a pilot, I know that many of the airplanes are not locked when they are sitting on the tarmac. The keys are usually generic, so you can probably use a key to a similar aircraft to start the engines.
I never really thought about it before, but stealing a jet would probably be easier than stealing a car (minus, of course, the crazy militia who might kill you for repossessing the airplane).
Re: The Learjet repo man
#29His firm earns in the "low-to-mid seven figures".
Call me crazy, but I think starting a tech consulting firm might be a happier way to get at that kind of money than facing down shotgun-wielding militiamen and flying off in a strange jet.
The numbers in this post kind of don't add up:
* His first repo gig got him $145k.
* Recovering a string of badly-maintained helicopters got him a "tidy six figures".
* A good year is 10 planes.
* He employs 65 "super repos" --- if these people, who actually fly dangerous aircraft out of dangerous situations --- take a desk worker's salary and have so much as high-deductable health insurance, the company's payroll overhead alone is high 7 figures.
Re: The Learjet repo man
#30I want the the movie rights.