High Tech Repo Man......

The starter interrupt device, a small piece of technology that can disable a car if a borrower is just one day late in making a payment.

The rise in the devices comes amid a surge in auto loans given to subprime borrowers, or people with credit scores below 640. About one-third of all auto loans are now given to subprime borrowers, up from slightly more than one-quarter in 2010, according to Equifax.

"payment assurance devices," the technology allows the repo man to shut down a car if a subprime borrower is even one day late in making a payment.

Many starter interrupt devices require a borrower to enter a code provided by the dealer each month, after they've made an on-time payment. If the payments are missed, the lender can remotely shut off the car's starter, and then use the device's GPS to track down the vehicle and repossess.

about 2 million vehicles now equipped with the devices,

complaints are arising, with some borrowers saying their cars have been shut off while idling and even while driving on the freeway, 

The ability for lenders to shut off cars remotely may strike some consumers as unethical, and some examples cited in The Times raise questions about the safety of the devices.

"No middle-class person would ever be hounded for being a day late," Robert Swearingen, a lawyer with Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, told the publication. "But for poor people, there is a debt collector right there in the car with them."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-the-repo-man-can-remotely-shut-off-your-car-engine/