The Detroit News has this story today: Bad times are good for the repo man.

A snippet:

WEST BLOOMFIELD — A repo man will rarely catch you with your pants down. He will, more likely, strike when your pants are off and your teeth are in the soaking glass.

He is a night stalker, a bad dream, a confirmation that your financial well-being has hit rock bottom….

Undoubtedly, it hurts a person more to lose a home than a car. Still, the unassailable rule of American life holds: You are what you drive. And people are unwilling to give up their automobiles, even when they cannot afford them.

Nowhere is this more true, Ramfos says, than in the tonier sections of the (248) area code in Oakland County, with their rolling hills and placid lakes. After a dozen years in the business, he is still amazed by the lengths people there will go to hide their third, fourth, even fifth car.

There’s also a video clip to go with the story.

By the way, kudos to DN reporter Charlie LeDuff for a very well-written piece.