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Repo Man Tows Elderly Couple’s Car, Then Pays It Off And Returns It [Video]

Published on: November 23, 2016 at 9:24 AM
By Patricia Ramirez

Jim Ford is the co-owner of a towing company, and the “repo man” frequently tows vehicles in the possession of people who don’t pay their bills. In fact, repo man Ford, a two-decade vet of the repo business, makes no bones about the nature of his job at Illini Asset Recovery.

“I go out and take cars. From people who don’t pay.”

Even so, the repo man doesn’t have a heart of stone, reports Fox 13 Now. Despite the fact that his is a thankless job, at least from the point of view of the folks who cars he tows, repo man Ford lives in the real world. The people the repo man tows from are real people, and despite the fact that he’s sometimes the target of violence for doing his job, the repo man can’t help but being touched by their situations from time to time.

“I’ve been shot at, ran over, just about everything you can imagine. I haven’t been stabbed yet.”

Even so, the repo man has a job to do, and it’s a job he does well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1Tw89fgA7w

According to Jim Ford, his career as a repo man has taken him across the map, and he frequently deals with unbelievable circumstances as he tows cars from people delinquent on their payments and returns the vehicles to their respective banks. Despite his years of experience, however, nothing could have prepared his heartstrings for the tugging they got when he showed up to repossess a car belonging to elderly Illinois couple Pat and Stan Kipping.

With the holidays fast approaching, the repo man says he saw something extra special in the Kippings, something that reminded him of his own late grandparents. Something that made the repo man think twice as he drove away with the down on their luck couple’s only means of transportation.

“You know, it was just one of those repo’s. My grandparents are gone, but you know – I could see them in the Kippings. I knew what was going on. The cost of their medications have doubled or tripled, and I know that’s happening to everybody. I knew why they were behind.”

In fact, after he took off with their car, leaving the aging pair in a real bind, the repo man did something extraordinary.

Ford says he made it only a block from the Kippings’ home when he did something completely out of character for your average repo man. He pulled over, and he made a call to the bank on behalf of the elderly couple.

As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, the phone call to the bank wasn’t the first step that the repo man took to be extra courteous to the Kippings after arriving at their place last week. Reportedly, repo man Ford first heard about the Kippings’ delinquency last Wednesday. When he showed up at their place in the middle of the night, he quickly realized that the couple (who he knew were elderly due to his dealings with the bank) were fast asleep. So rather than take the car, the repo man left and called the couple in the light of day.

“I knew they were elderly, and there wasn’t a light on. I didn’t want to disturb them.”

He called Pat the next day and explained the situation, advising her to try to work something out with the bank. Unfortunately for the Kippings, they were already reportedly overextended, owing money to both the local pharmacy and grocery store. With only $30 left in the bank until their next Social Security payment, the couple couldn’t afford to pay the $350 they were behind (three month’s payments) on their 1998 Buick Century.

“We had to go to the doctor, drug store, and grocery. That’s about all we ever got to do.”

The repo man showed up the next day to repossess the car. Even though his is a job that has resulted in violent attacks in the past, and even though Jim Ford was there to take their only means of transportation, the Kippings invited him inside their home to take refuge from the cold.

“I pulled over about a block away from their house and called the bank and said…we got to do something. How about I just pay it current right now?”

Fast forward to the phone call to the bank, made by the repo man on behalf of Pat and Stan Kipping. Repo man Ford initially wanted to simply make the payments on the couple’s car current, so they wouldn’t be left without a vehicle. He set up a GoFundMe campaign to make it happen.

The original goal of the campaign started by the repo man was $2,000 to pay off the remaining loan on the car. He quickly met and exceeded that goal, and returned the repossessed car to the elderly couple last Friday, much to the pair’s shock and amazement. The repo man even raised enough money to have the Buick detailed before he took it back to the Kippings.

“It’s just like hitting the lottery. I’m just so happy, I can’t believe it…It just looks so pretty.”

According to the repo man, his GoFundMe campaign hit its goal in about eight hours, but people still wanted to help out. So, the repo man began setting new fundraising goals, promising that all of the money he raises will go to help the elderly couple get ahead of their bills.

“Thank you everyone for helping out!! Pat and stanford still need our support! they were behind on several things including including prescription bills ect! the money we raised got them even but id like to get them ahead! please help if you can and thanks in advance-Jim”

Currently, the campaign has raised $6,750 for the Kippings and it’s still going strong. All because repo man Jim Ford decided to bring about a bit of a holiday miracle for one elderly couple.

[Featured Image by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images]

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