Keep Bailing

As a bail bondsman, I think that the questions I’m asked the most revolve around “Who do you bail out? What’s it like working with criminals all the time? Is it dangerous? You must meet some interesting people?”

I’m not sure people believe me when I tell them that a day in the life of a bail bondsman is not much different than most small business jobs — except perhaps answering the phone at all hours. I’m quite certain that people are disappointed to hear that bail bonding just isn’t particularly exciting. The people we bail out tend to be regular joe’s (or jane’s) who just happened to use bad judgement or be in the wrong situation.

I read a blog post by Adelita this weekend where she interviewed a female bail bondsman. I thought that she summed up bail bond clients well:

“… I asked about the type of clients she has and how she can remain neutral or not be judgmental. Read more »

Last week, I did a dumb thing… which turned into something unexpectedly fun for me. Some people get excited about rare coins and books or other antiques. What would you suppose thrills bail bondmen?

I was meeting friends in San Clemente for an annual get together. Every year, I make the long drive on a Friday in horrendous Los Angeles and Orange County, traffic through the San Fernando Valley across the 101 and down the 405 South. Quite possibly the worst traffic in the world on a hot August afternoon in my estimation! (If you don’t live in So Cal, the traffic is every bit as nasty as the movie Falling Down where Michael Douglas gets out and leaves his car on the freeway out of frustration.)

This year, I realized I could take the Amtrak Surfliner to San Clemente Pier and sit back and relax. Yes, what a lovely way to go! All fine and good until I got off one stop too soon. I had been listening to the stops and heard the next one to be San Juan Capistrano. The train stopped for about three minutes and I knew San Clemente was after San Juan, so I got off when the train stopped again. Apparently, we had stopped to let another train pass. I was feeling incredibly stupid! I may be blonde, but no one ever accused me of being air-headed. The next train being an hour later, I called for a ride. Hey, live in L.A. We don’t wait around; we drive. Pathetic, I realize… Then I discovered this lovely little neighborhood surrounding the train station. Read more »

From Pencils to Pagers to Blogs

If you have kids, you’ve heard them giggle, “You didn’t even have cell phones when you were a kid! Did you have electricity?” As I prepared to launch the Keep Bailing blog, I realized how lucky Greg and I are to have modern tools that Greg’s dad, Cal Rynerson, never even dreamed of when he started his bail bond business almost 40 years ago.

Cal Rynerson, became a licensed California bail agent in 1969 and started Rynerson Bail Bonds in 1971 (the same year Roy Tomlinson sent the first email). That was before personal computers, before fax machines, before cell phones, before websites. Cal did business the old fashioned way, with pens, paper, and face-to-face personal interaction. (Imagine that?)

With an office located directly across the street from the Santa Ana jail, he regularly had walk-in customers. He wrote 95% of his bonds for the local jail, often handling 10 or more bonds each day. Ten bonds may not sound like a lot, but each one requires a bail bond interview, paperwork, and a trip to the jail. At the time, the average Southern California bail bond was around $500.

Now, the average bail in So Cal is around $20,000. We’d be lucky to write ten bonds in a week! With the proliferation of internet and the glut of competition, Greg and I need to write bonds all over California. There’s no way we could do business the way Cal did 30 years ago. Read more »