Can a repo man go in your backyard has been asked by so many people whose car has been repossessed by repo agents. The quest to know your rights even in the face of repossession is important to avoid being violated by repo agents.
When a repo man comes to repossess a car, there are rules and of course, a process he has to follow. The question is, what are those rules? Does the rule permit a repo man to go in your backyard to repossess a car?
Yes, a repo man can go into your backyard to repossess a car if nothing is blocking his access to the backyard and if you give him permission to do so. However, a repo agent does not have the right to enter your backyard if he has no access and your permission to do so.
Can a Repo Man Go in Your Backyard?
The answer to this question is yes and no. There are certain situations when a repo man can go in your backyard and when he cannot.
A repo man can go in your backyard if:
You Give Him the Permission
A repo man can go in your backyard to repossess a car if you give him permission to do so. If you did not give your consent for him to enter your backyard, he will dare not do so to avoid breaching the peace.
He Can Easily Access the Backyard
A repo man can go in your backyard to repo a car if your backyard is easily accessible. By accessible I mean, not having any locked gate or fence.
Before a repo man comes to repossess a car in your house, he must have monitored your movements day and night. For him to go to your backyard to repo a car without keys means that he can easily access the backyard with nothing blocking his access. He of course knows your rights and would never do anything to jeopardise them.
There’s no Locked Fence or Gate
In the spirit of accessibility, if there’s no locked fence/gate to the backyard, a repo man can easily go there without your permission.
If a repo man can come into your private property where your car is parked in your driveway to repossess a car without your consent, he can also go into your backyard if he can easily access it without breaking any locks.
When Can a Repo Man Not Go in Your Backyard?
A repo man cannot go into your backyard to repossess a car if:
When There’s a Locked Fence in the Backyard
A repo man cannot go into your backyard to repo a car if there’s a locked fence that prevents his access into the backyard. He has to wait until he gets your consent to go to the backyard to tow the car or wait until you drive the car out to have it towed.
Going into your backyard when the fence is locked will be a breach of the peace, you can call the police on him.
If He Has to Break a Lock
A repo man cannot enter your backyard to repo a car if he has to break a lock to gain access to the backyard. By doing so, he will be breaching the peace which is against the law.
As long as the entrance of your backyard is locked, there’s no repo agent from any repo company that will dare break the lock to gain access to tow the car. He cannot do that and he cannot force you or threaten you to open the gate. If he does that, the police are your friend, you can call them immediately.
You Did Not Give your Consent
A repo man cannot go in your backyard to repossess a car if you did not give him the permission to do so especially when he cannot easily access the backyard without having to break locks.
As long as you do not consent to that idea, he will not do so, he will not force or threaten you to consent. He has to find another legal way to repossess the car. If he can’t, he will have to report back to your loan company about how unsuccessful he was and the loan company will take it from there.
If He Has to Breach the Peace
A repo man cannot do so to avoid breaching the peace. The law requires a repo man never to do so. So if he feels that going into your backyard will result in a breach of peace, he will not do so to avoid going against the law of the State.
As reiterated earlier, most repo agents do go to people’s houses to repo cars except when they know they can easily tow the car from your driveway. They monitor your movement and wait until you park in a grocery store parking lot, etc., then they will strike.
I’ve heard a repo man say that he has repossessed a car in a church parking lot where the debtor was a maid of honor in a wedding. The brutality of the action is second to none. It will definitely spoil the day of the maid of honor. So, they come when they believe it’s best time to have the car towed without breaching the peace.
Conclusion
Repo agents know their job. They know the rules and don’t go against them. If a repo man goes into your backyard to repo a car, it is because he feels he has the access to do so. He can’t just do that without considering your rights. If you feel that he acted otherwise, you can call the police.