Repo-man

Repo-man

A repo-man in The Sims 2

The repo-man is an NPC that visits a Sim's residential lot when their bills have been unpaid for too long. Over time, after bills have been delivered to a house, they change color, going from white, to yellow, to orange to red. As they progress through the colors the need to pay them becomes more urgent. It's (approximately) two days between color changes. Once bills stay red for more than two days, they will warn the player at 7:00am that they must be paid immediately. The player has until 6:00pm the next night to pay, otherwise the red bills will explode and summon the repo-man.

The repo-man usually takes one or two items, but if the Sim is in a large amount of debt he may take several. The item(s) he takes approximately add up to the amount the Sim owes. The Sims of the household get a negative memory for each of the items taken, and may periodically cry about the lost item(s).

In most of The Sims games, he wears dark attire. He will come onto the lot and use a gun-like device on whatever he is going to repossess. The gun's special effects may vary from game to game, but the result is that the item vanishes.

The Sims

Bud the Repo-man in The Sims repossessing a stove

In The Sims, due to the ability to create a family that only contains children, the repo-man will take objects due to not paying the bills (since only adults can pay bills). This can be prevented by using the move_objects on cheat and deleting the mail woman before she puts the bills into the mailbox. The Sims 2 and The Sims Stories fixed this by requiring at least one adult in the playing household.

If the player removes the doors leading into the house, the repo-man will simply use his gun outside, and the object will still be repossessed.

The Urbz: Sims in the City

The repo-man in The Urbz: Sims in the City is Harry Snivel, who is also the landlord and one of the three main villains in the game.

The Sims 2

In The Sims 2, the repo-man has an incomplete character file, and should therefore not be interacted with outside his designated in-game purpose. Doing so will corrupt the neighborhood that is being played, which can only be fixed by deleting the neighborhood. If he is made playable, he will have no voice and his PlumbBob will be inside his body, rather than above his head.

He can be stopped from taking items with testingcheatsenabled by shift clicking on him, selecting force error, and then Delete. This will not cause any corruption or issues, other than kicking the repo-man off the lot. However, the truck will need to be deleted manually. Removing doors does not work, as the repo-man can teleport into the house.

If the household does not have any objects that can be taken, the repo-man will criticize the family for wasting his time, then leave. If Nightlife or later is installed, the player can simply place all items in the inventory before he arrives, and then replace them when he's gone.

Premade Repo Men

Pleasantview Repo Men

Strangetown Repo Men

Veronaville Repo Men

Riverblossom Hills Repo Men

Desiderata Valley Repo Men

Warning

In The Sims 2, do not attempt to add the repo-man to a household, or interact with him outside his designated in-game purpose (E.g. Turning him into a supernatural creature, such as a werewolf or vampire). Doing so will corrupt the neighborhood he is in.

The Sims 3

The repo-man repossessing a chair in The Sims 3

In The Sims 3, slightly scary music will indicate the repo-man's presence. If he is present in and players try to save the game, the game will ask if you want to save in the current situation.

Like in The Sims 2, the repo-man can be removed from the lot with testingcheatsenabled by shift clicking on him, selecting force error, and then Delete, and does not cause any corruption. However, the truck, or, if in Isla Paradiso, the repo-man's boat, will need to be deleted manually. If the player removes the doors leading into the house, the repo-man will use his teleporter to gain entrance. Moreover, locking the doors or using the alwaysallowbuildbuy cheat and building walls around the repo-man will not stop him.

If the household does not have any objects that can be taken, the repo-man will subtract household funds that are approximately of the same value as the amount owed. Additionally, if forced to come to the lot with testingcheatsenabled, the repo-man will take a large amount of items (sometimes at least twenty items) regardless of whether any debt is owed.

If the player's Sims live in a house built on an ancient burial ground, the repo-man will suck up the graves with his gun. He will then warn the Sim to pay their bills or he will be back.

One commonly experienced problem in The Sims 3 is that when a player changes their active household but then returns to the original lot after a few days, a repo-man may appear after a few Sim-hours as the Sims did not pay the bills in the player's absence.

Trivia

• If you delete the repo-man using cheats, he will come out of the truck a few seconds later. It will usually be a different repo-man.
• The repo-man has a way to foil almost every trap or cheat imaginable. Nothing stops him except paying the bills, using cheats and deleting the mail woman before the bills are placed in the mailbox, or by deleting the repo-man's truck.
• The repo-man does not appear in The Sims 4. Instead, delinquency in paying bills results in utilities being shut off.