Business is brisk for auto repossession companies

With soaring oil and gas prices, record home foreclosures and the cost of just about everything else rising, it seems times are tough for everyone. Except maybe the repo man.

Business is brisk for repossession companies throughout the Inland area and nationwide that recover vehicles for lienholders after buyers default on their loans, industry officials say.

“Right now, I think it’s booming for everyone,” said Ray Radford, chief financial officer for Cal Recoveries Co., which has offices in the city of Riverside and in Orange and San Diego counties.

Radford would not say how many cars, trucks and other vehicles his company recovers daily. But he estimates that business is up as much as 400 percent, compared with the past few years.

And most of the rides his repossessors are bringing in are sport-utility vehicles and big, gas-guzzling trucks.

“These are the vehicles that are being picked up, because people can’t afford to drive them. They can’t afford to put gas in them,” Radford said.

Estimates vary on how great the increase in repossessions is, although industry experts nationwide agree the numbers have grown.