THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 23, 1995 TAG: 9504190045
SECTION: REAL LIFE PAGE: K1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: MY JOB
SOURCE: BY KERRY DOUGHERTY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
WHEN JAMES BOND is your childhood hero, there are only a couple of occupations that will ever make you happy.
International spy.
Repo man.
Joe Callis, a 41-year-old Portsmouth resident, settled on the latter.
``I've always been good at the sneaky stuff,'' Callis says. ``Sometimes I feel like James Bond.''
The tools of his trade are simple: a red Ford tow truck he calls ``Baby'' and a handful of legal papers.
With them, Callis sets out to find Hampton Roads' deadbeats - those people who have fallen so far behind on their car payments that the lender has hired a repossession man to find the car and bring it back.
``Usually the people have missed at least three car payments,'' he says. ``And the lender has told them the car is going to be repossessed.''
People know he's coming. They just don't know when.
Some try to hide their cars. Others threaten or beg him to leave it. But Callis remains unfailingly polite, then leaves with their car firmly attached to his tow truck.
``I feel kind of bad for the people,'' he confesses. ``You know, your house and your car are the two things you never want to lose.''
When their car is about to go, some people turn violent.
``A lot of my friends tried to talk me out of doing repossessions when I opened my towing service almost two years ago,'' Callis says, laughing. ``They've heard of repo men getting shot and beat up. But I've got to earn a living.''
When Callis senses danger he tries to defuse it by talking gently to the car owner.
``I try to tell the people, `Hey, don't get mad at me, I'm just doing my job,' '' he says. ``I tell them they've got a beef with the lender, not me.''
For Callis, the ideal repo is one where he never even sees the deadbeat.
``You scope it out ahead of time,'' he explains. ``Sometimes I stroll through the neighborhood, other times I park my car and just watch.
``I make sure I have the right car, then go for it as quickly as possible.''
Some repo men like to work under the cover of night.
Not Callis.
``I prefer to take the cars during the day or very early in the morning,'' he says. ``In broad daylight people are less likely to try to harm you.''
Sometimes, when he's very lucky, Callis is given an extra set of keys to the car. That makes his job much easier.
``If I have keys I just jump into the car, start it, and drive it to my tow truck a block or two away,'' he says. ``But I have to tow it in; I can't drive it.''
As the owner of Joe Callis Towing, Callis got into the repo business after quitting his job as a nuclear mechanical systems inspector for the Navy in 1993. It takes time to build up a clientele of people who will call on you to tow their disabled cars. But Callis found that someone willing to do repo work is in demand.
For a standard repossession Callis makes about $150.
Callis says some repossessions are frustrating. If the person has moved - and deadbeats tend to move often to lose creditors - he first has to find their present address.
``I call a relative or a friend and tell them I'm trying to find the person for a class reunion or something,'' Callis confesses. ``I always think of something to say so I can get the person's current address.''
Once he finds them, Callis cruises by in his car and looks for the vehicle.
``They know the car is about to be repossessed - they don't park it in their driveway,'' he says, laughing. ``A lot of times it's a few blocks away or they leave it where they work.
Don't worry, says Callis, he'll find it.
``In two years of doing this, I've found every car I've been asked to repossess,'' he says proudly.
Once he locates the car, Callis discreetly checks the VIN - or the vehicle identification number in the bottom of the windshield.
He's heard of repo men grabbing the wrong car, having identified it only by model, make and color.
``That's just plain stupid,'' he says. ``People have a perfect right to shoot at you if you're taking their car and it's the wrong one.''
Callis says he always heaves a sigh of relief when the car is secured on his tow truck and he's on his way home.
``It's dangerous, I know that,'' he says simply. ``But I'm careful. I know what I'm doing.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN/Staff
``I've always been good at the sneak stuff,'' says Joe Callis, who,
with his truck, ``Baby,'' reposesses cars.
by CNB