I suppose this permission happens when the borrower enters into the original loan contract. Seems fair to me. Repo situations are not the same as theft situations, to me. But then Ive had lots of occasions of people owing me money back in the day.
You are correct about the contract to secure property for a loan and the repossession thereof if in default.
However, here in Texas you cannot physically remove property under lien (on the lien holder’s private property) without a writ of sequestration and law enforcement present.
The loan contract only states that the customer agrees to repossession if it gets in default and does not grant the loan company the right to enter “at will” to take possession of it.
The contract only gives the loan company the RIGHT to repossess......if done through the legal process.
There’s a reason that this case makes me uncomfortable. First, these were cars in a lot, covered by insurance, I’m sure. It was nothing like a carjacking, where peoples’ lives or safety is threatened.
Second, I have been in a fair number of situations, housesitting, for example, where I have been using other peoples’ cars. It’s a little farfetched, but what if a well-meaning neighbor or somebody misunderstood and shot me?
Sometimes people use less than perfect judgement when they have to make split second decisions. But this guy actually had about 24 hours to prepare for this scenario. As soon as the keys disappeared, he had a pretty good idea that something like this would be happening soon. Others on the thread have suggested ways he could have stopped them without hurting or killing them.