"Repo man" is a slang term for a repossession agent - a person hired to repossess property from someone who either directly borrowed, leased, or rented it but failed to live up to contractual obligations, or else from someone who posted that property as collateral for a loan. Repossession of private property is a "self-help" action without recourse to government, courts, or the state, and is of dubious legality in many jurisdictions. The repo man is often feared, but may be operating in a grey area of the law, so borrowers about to be repossessed may have more legal rights than the repo man wants them to know about.