Keep Bailing

This week, we read about the effects of a downturned economy on bail bondsmen in Imperial Valley and in San Bernardino. There’s no doubt this tough economy has played some part in our bail bond industry. Like any other business, bail bond customers now have less money and their homes are worth less as collateral than a couple of years ago. The jails are becoming overcrowded and I hear clients say: “With the economy the way it is, we’re going to let him stay in jail.”

As bondsmen, we’ve already been fighting a singular economic battle for some time, because we can’t compete based on price — we’re regulated by the Department of Insurance and are rates are set with them. In addition, our customers may not be very particular:  They often just want to deal with whoever can help them the fastest.

It used to be that good, honest service was the benchmark of a successful bail bond business.  Call me old fashioned, but I still believe this to be true and I really get steamed when I find myself up against bondsmen who break the law to earn a buck – and who then use bad economic times as their excuse.  So I’d like to dispel the belief that their practices have anything to do with a lousy economy.  I want to do this because I am extremely concerned about a growing trend that threatens to tear apart our industry…

Let’s take the example of a defendant who has been arrested. While his information is being entered into various jail computer databases during booking, unscrupulous bail bondsmen actually “hack” into these databases to get his name.  Sometimes, this happens within minutes of a booking.  Once these hackers have illegally got the defendant’s name, jail location and DOB, they start to gather information about friends and family – anyone whose emotions this bail bond blood sucker can potentially manipulate to his advantage.  Then they cold call these people for the purposes of negotiating bail. It’s bad enough that the defendant committed a crime; it’s even worse when he is being exploited by another who will get away, Scott free, with breaking the law.

Never before have we faced a period in our society, where our right to privacy has been invaded and compromised with such alarming frequency.  Now even those loosely connected to the defendant like current or former bosses, ex-spouses or estranged family members can get wind about an arrest in this callous manner.  Besides the obvious embarrassment, work and personal relationships could be irrevocably damaged.  I continue to ask myself:  In what way, shape, or form could a bad economy possibly have influenced this?

In some cases, corrupt bail bondsmen even had the stones to illegally visit a defendant in jail (usually within 1-2 hours of the arrest). They are masters of knowing just what buttons they can push when negotiating bail with a stressed, frightened or angry defendant.  They will mine him for all his important contact phone numbers and make it seem like it was his idea to give them out.  They also sweeten the deal by offering illegal, low bail premium rates. This practice not only undercuts the normal market forces, it puts both the defendant, who is already in trouble, and his innocent connections, in danger of breaking the law.

In California, where more bail bond business is conducted than any other state in the nation, the scenes I’ve described to you are happening on a massive scale.  I often end up scratching my head in bewilderment:  Who is actually letting these thieves inside the jails? Are certain officers being bribed?  Are there inmates who get a cut from the scammer bail agent’s take if they intimidate other arrestees into signing with a particular bail bond service?  And just how are they gaining computer access to booking information, mere minutes after the defendant has been booked, anyway?

I have been told by many clients that they were called by a bondsman who wasn’t contacted by anyone in their family, nor by friends or the defendant. When the client asked the caller where he got their contact information, they were almost always told: online.

Here is the only economic-related news for you:  These unscrupulous bondsmen must be engaged in an operation that involves, at minimum, hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance premiums per day.  In my opinion, it won’t be long until legitimate retail bail companies, undercut and hurt by these illegal tactics, go the way of the dinosaur. Taking their place will be a large network of criminal computer hackers and illegal solicitors that can ultimately crack every database in California.  Our reputation will be utterly ruined, and the negative Bail Agent stereotype of a shady parasite that is perceived to be one step below the criminal he claims to help, will be reinforced.

One of my readers reminded me of another scam going on that also deserves some attention:  lawyer referrals and kickbacks – a practice that violates both state and federal law. This practice is also known as capping.  It’s when bail bond agents who have been illegally referred to defendants by their attorneys make “cold calls” on inmates. The agents deposit money in the lawyer’s accounts in return for these referrals – or they give money to the inmates’ families or act as a conduit for free long-distance telephone calls.

A popular myth says when the economy goes down, crime goes up.  And when crime rises, bail bond bondsmen grow rich.  But this is not true.  Remember, we too, are sellers of what some might deem to be a luxury item. Families experience a lot of stress when a loved one is in jail. It’s a trying, emotional time; and this leaves them vulnerable to a number of bail bond scams. If a bail agent doesn’t follow the law, whether economic times are good or bad, how can you trust them to treat clients fairly in the end?