Agricultural Equipment Repossession Service

According to the US Farm Bureau: Farm bankruptcies were up by 46% last year. This has been a trend for the last decade. They cite the cause as high debt, rising operational costs and falling commodity prices. The trend is nationwide with the highest number of filings taking place in Arkansas and Georgia. Overall Speedy Repo has seen a large increase of repossession assignments throughout the Southeast and Midwest over the last decade. It is a sad situation and the trend has been increasing every year for the last decade. Farmers we have spoke with during the repossession process have told us the corporate farms are the driving force behind all of these trends as they are eliminating competition from the market.

As a result of these statistics, Speedy Repo has become experts in the repossession of agricultural equipment. We have sharpened our skills and increased our recovery percentages as the demand for agricultural repossessions has increased. Here is what we have learned: Attempting to repossess any farm equipment by stealth of night is a non starter. The farmer will be awakened by his animals and numerous ring doorbells. There will be a confrontation, the farmer will be very hostile (and usually carrying a shotgun) when they find you on their farm. Experience has taught us that this is no way to begin negotiations with the farmer. Our refined approach is simple, We prefer to roll onto the farm just as the farmer is completing their evening chores, usually about 7:00 PM. We send in one agent, wearing their Speedy Repo branded work shirt. They identify themselves, identify what lien holder we are working for and respectfully explain what equipment we are there to repossess.

When the farmer agrees to surrender, our agent calls for the semi truck(s) to roll in with low boy trailers to haul out the repossessed equipment. We know we were successful when the farmer offers to help load the equipment and makes sure he gives us all of the attachments and implements associated with the repossessed equipment.

It's not just about negotiating surrender of the farm equipment, the repo agency you hire needs to have the proper equipment to handle repossessions of equipment this large. Speedy Repo has semi trucks with low boy trailers that have the capacity to haul any equipment you need us to recover for you. We show up with the right equipment the first time. Once the farmer agrees to surrender the equipment you need to have the equipment staged nearby to haul every piece of equipment in the repo assignment. The last thing you want to do is haul the farm equipment away one or two items at a time. The farmer may get cold feet, they may call their attorney and be convinced to file a chapter 12 bankruptcy. Their neighbor may see what is going on and convince the farmer to change their mind on surrendering the AG equipment. With a little preparation, we can stage enough equipment to haul everything at once. We are also experts at pulling wide load and oversize load permits and can have them in hand while our competition is still trying to figure out the process. We own pilot cars and chase cars and are fully prepared to move any agricultural equipment you need us to repossess.

At first glance it may seem that sending out a flat rate repossessor is the more cost effective way to repossess agricultural equipment. In reality it never works out that way. Sending out Joe Tow to repossess something their company has never repossessed before is in itself not a good idea. They don't have the proper equipment, they will usually try to sneak onto the farm in the middle of the night and end up in a serious confrontation with an armed farmer, clearly breaching the peace. That's the worst case scenario, best case scenario, they get the tractor and get out of there without being caught. Problem is that Joe Tow has no incentive to get any of the implements which cumulatively can add up to as much as or more than the tractor itself.

How much is it costing you to pay closeout bills and hiring attorneys to defend your company from breach of peace complaints?

Speedy Repo offers special pricing on Ag equipment repossessions. We charge ten percent of the collateral value on any equipment we recover for you. Call us upfront and we will agree to a very reasonable cap on the collateral value. It's a cap because we will lower the value if we recover the equipment in a condition less than what was anticipated.

Most agricultural equipment is not titled, therefore the only way to put a valid lien on it is by filing a UCC1 form. In recent years we have seen a large number of UCC1 filings that do not have serial numbers in the description. Instead phrases like "All farm equipment owned by the farm", or "All implements associated with the John Deere Tractor". Any UCC1 that does not specifically itemize every item you intend to lien with its proper nomenclature and serial number is basically a worthless document. We can go out and make a demand for the equipment, but more often than not the debtor will just claim that the implements we are looking at are owned by his brother, not the ones we are after.

To prevent your debtor from waving their hand like Obi Wan and telling us, "These are not the implements we are looking for", and having to walk away, please completely describe any item you intend to place a lien on with a UCC1 filing. No Serial Number = No Recovery. Blanket UCC1s as they are referred to in the industry are ineffective and unreliable in a repossession or replevin action.