Meet the Disabler: Device Replaces Bill Collectors, Maybe Even Some Attorneys

It doesn't break kneecaps. But a bill-collection device employed by a growing number of used-car dealers could point the way to the future for companies interested in collecting past-due debt without the expense and delay of litigation.

Known as the disabler, the remote-control device is implanted under a car's dashboard and hard-wired to the ignition, reports the Wall Street Journal. When a customer is late on a bill, it flashes a yellow light that soon turns to red. But it's the beeping noise that really brings home the bacon.

At that point, if the customer doesn't ante up the same day, he or she knows the car won't start again, once it is turned off, until the past-due payment is made, the newspaper writes.

Although some say the disabler poses a privacy issue and even a security risk, if it leave drivers stranded in a dangerous location, consumers who drive vehicles equipped with the device see a benefit—by forcing them to make car payments on time, it improves their credit.

Such "electronic reposession," unfortunately, may be a growing trend, says attorney John Van Alst of the National Consumer Law Center. "Maybe they'll put one on my refrigerator," he says, only partly in jest.