The American Repossessor

BUSINESSES of every sort have been sucker-punched by the recession, but at least one enterprise has continued to grow through the downturn: auto repossession.

More than 1.9 million cars were recovered on behalf of lenders in 2009, a jump of 90,000 over the previous year and the latest in a decadelong string of annual increases, according to Tom Webb, chief economist of the consulting arm of Manheim Auctions.

But even in this boom, recovery businesses are trying to do more with less, taking advantage of computers and digital imaging. They are improving efficiency and reducing the need for tedious legwork in tracking skips — those delinquent borrowers who are the hardest to find — using technologies like automatic license plate recognition, which allows them to troll city streets and instantly identify cars whose loans are in arrears.

The electronic plate-reading systems may also help to reverse the unflattering image of repossession agents, as they prefer to be called. Lampooned in the 1984 film “Repo Man” and typically portrayed as shifty strongmen on cable television, they are saddled with a reputation for a willingness to do just about anything to grab a car, including staring down pit bulls, breaking into garages or playing the heavy with angry owners.

No doubt some of this behavior crops up in actual repossessions. But repo men — sure, there are women in the business, but it is still largely a guy’s game — can, at the cutting edge, be smooth-talking computer-savvy entrepreneurs who scour databases and digital maps to track down wanted vehicles.