Detroit, MI – July 2, 2012 – When GPS led Mike Monicatti to the stolen Chevy Venture van he had been assigned to search for by a dealer who had just had it stolen the night before, he didn’t expect to find what is suspected as being a chop shop run out of a residential neighborhood.
“We have one of our clients, RightWay, who is a client that has about nine dealers here in the metro Detroit area, and they called us and let us know one of their vehicles [was] reported stolen last night off their lot.”
GPS in a Chevy Venture van led Monicatti right to a driveway on the 13000 block of Mansfield, where Monicatti found the Chevy Venture as well as three other cars with no plates and a flatbed tow truck filled with what he believes are stolen purses, radios and other personal property.
According to Monicatti, “In my opinion, this is a big chop shop for insurance theft. These customers or whoever they are make a deal with these people, who are willing to take their vehicles, and then they go ahead and make sure these vehicles are not found and then they’re either, again, chopped up or they’re disposed of, then the insurance companies are left holding the bill for all these,”
Police ran the ID numbers on the other vehicles and found that none of them had been reported stolen including one that was blocking in the Chevy Venture, which would indicate that it had been stolen after the Chevy.
The flatbed tow truck found at the scene had several contact numbers to an unnamed tow company, none of which were in service.
The gentleman in the photo wearing the badge is Mike Monicatti. He conducted an interview from the recovery location with Fox 2 News.
I found the article and the news footage interesting but it left me with questions.
1. Why is he displaying a badge?
2. How did he conclude this incident to be part of a larger operation (chop shop), the other vehicles present did not come back as being on a hot sheet?
3. Who called Fox 2 News, I find it unusual for a news station to just appear on something a boring as a repossession?
Michigan is a state that only requires a Collection Agency License to perform Repossessions. You must have 6 months experience in collections to get a license, not specific experience in repossessions is required. I could not find a requirement for displaying a badge while conducting a repo. I personally find badges like the one Monicatti is wearing to be Rambo-ish, or Cop Wana-Be. I for one would not wear or allow my agents to wear one. It could lead to FDCPA violation claims or offend Police Officers who have a bad taste for our business to begin with.
Wow! 75 years…he has been in the biz so long he has become senile from the stress of chasing “stolen cars” instead of repos? I gues he forgot to remove the fake badge for pictures! I thought 911 is who you call to report a van stolen not the local “repo” agent?
Well he must be use to wearing the badge and it is a part of his uniform or repo attire!
Experience and Professionalism doesn’t count today , I am afraid, only sucess in recovering the collateral, under any circumstances. Is his way to sucess ” wearing a fake badge” and adding years to his resume!
That is a wronful repo under most Laws BUT this iwas not a “Repo” anyways …it was a “stolen” Van? Is he a police officer?
I visited Monicattis web site site it says he has been in business for 75 years, leading one to believe the he has been in the repo business for decades when he’s been only been Incorporated since 2010. I’m all for the new guy doing his best to make a living, but don’t be misleading in the process.
Yeah, I’ve got some issues with the badge myself. I’m not sure I’ve seen it so blatantly displayed before. I guess folks like that figure if “Dog the Bounty Hunter” could get away with it for years, anyone can.
Completely off the subject of stolen cars and Repossessions; what’s with the badge? This is really a photo of a cop interviewed after executing a raid on the suspected “chop shop” and not the owner of a large Michigan based Recovery Agency, right? The same owner of that Agency who is also the “Investigator lead skip tracer” for the company as displayed on their website. Now I’m not going to sit here and claim to know everything about Michigan law and licensed investigators but I do know displaying a badge while conducting the business of repossession, be it skip tracing or the physical execution of the repossession, can be received as a conveyance of legitimate law enforcement. “Color of Law” anybody?
This is another excellent example of the repossession business saying one thing and then doing the complete opposite. With all of the “training and certification” available to repossessors this is the single most common violation I still see to this day.
Sorry about the double posting, typing on an iPad and fat fingered the “submit” button before I got done.
Completely off the subject of stolen cars and Repossessions; what’s with the badge? This is really a photo of a cop interviewed after executing a raid on the suspected “chop shop” and not the owner of a large Michigan based Recovery Agency, right? The same owner of that Agency who is also the “Investigator lead skip tracer” for the company as displayed on their website. Now I’m not going to sit here and claim to know everything about Michigan law and licensed investigators but I do know displaying a badge while conducting the business of repossession, be it skip tracing or the physical execution of the repossession, can be received as a conveyance of legitimate law enforcement. “Color of Law” anybody?
This is another excellent example of the repossession business saying one thing and then doing the complete opposite. With all of the “training and certification” available to repossessors