Larry Baker

Larry Baker appears in Riding with the repo man (update) as the Ohio repo man whose work gives the episode its ground-level view of Auto Repossession. In the 2019 reporting he searches for delinquent cars at night, balancing lender instructions against the risk of confrontation and his own judgment about when taking a vehicle is too harsh.

The 2026 update says Baker had retired from the business, but his later account still anchors the changing repossession environment. He describes more desperate borrowers, more attempts to block or hide cars, and a family member being shot while trying to repossess a car. That makes him the source’s practical witness for how Car Affordability Stress, delinquency, and recovery technology show up as physical risk.

Connections

• Riding with the repo man (update) - source episode where Baker appears.
• Planet Money - show carrying the reporting.
• Auto Repossession - Baker’s work role.
• GPS-Enabled Repossession - technology that made locating cars easier in the source.
• Subprime Auto Lending - lending market that supplies many of the repossession cases.
• Stephanie Waldrop - borrower-side case paired with Baker’s repo-side perspective.