Keep Bailing

Brian Malone touted himself as being a licensed bail bondsman with “20 years of experience.”  But he was not. He then so boldly created a big ad with a photo of himself and posted it directly inside of the Sacramento County Jail to lure unknowing customers… the inmates themselves.  And at least 5 of them took his bait and paid him for bail that did not get posted.

Besides the fact that he’s been operating as a bondsman without a license, this “bogus bail bondsman” is allegedly a criminal himself; having previously been charged with numerous felonies which include, altering or falsifying government documents.  (A bail bondsman in California must be licensed by the California Department of Insurance. Additionally, convicted felons are not eligible to be bail bondsmen.)

Malone perpetrated this right in the jail, directly under the watch of Read more »

In order to get released from jail, one would customarily use the services of a traditional bail bondsman or post the full cash bail with the jail.  At the Ventura County jail, which is just a few miles from my office, they have a new way to post bail.  It’s called credit card bail.

How Credit Card Bail Works

The Ventura jail phone has a toll free 800 phone number posted near the phone.  An inmate or family member can call this phone number to bail out of jail.   Here is how it works:  Let’s say you have a bail for $20,000.    This credit card bail system allows the inmate to have the full bail charged (plus a 7% processing fee for Ventura County) to a credit card.  For example, on a $20,000 bail bond, an inmate would be charged a total of $21,400 for release from jail.  Once the defendant has appeared in court, they would be refunded $20,000.  The net effect of this transaction is that the inmate would be charged 7% to be bailed out of jail.   Who gets to keep the 7%?  It seems that the county takes a cut and the “third party” unlicensed processing entity makes a nice profit.

Ventura County is not the only county in California that enables inmates to bail out using a credit card.  In fact, several states now utilize some form of this process.  Over the past several years, credit card bail seems to be spreading like wildfire.

Why is this bad for California?

1. No accountability.  What happens when the defendant Read more »

Yesterday I wrote about what to expect if you become a California bail bondsman. If you got through that and you’re back for more, you’re ready for the steps in obtaining your bail license. Now that I completed my pre-licensing class, I’m the expert here (ha ha)!

So, without further fan fare, here are the necessary steps to becoming a licenced bail bondsman in California:

1. You must have lived in California for least 2 years and be prepared to provide proof.
2. You must be 18 years old or older.
3. You need a clean record. Kind of an obvious one since you are working within the legal system, but many people don’t realize that to be a bail bondsman, you must have no felony convictions on your record. (Unlike the NFL which employs many people without clean records.) Read more »

If you are having ideas for a new career like many people these days, maybe you’d like to know how to become a bail bondsman. It probably seems like easy money: answer the phone, collect 10% of the total bail amount, post the bond… “next!” Before you take any of the steps necessary in getting licensed by the Department of Insurance (yes, you will have to pass a test), you might want to take a look at the life of a bail bondsman.

(Assumedly, you already know how bail bonds work, so I’ll skip those details.) In order to survive as a bail bondsman, be prepared to be on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Any good bail bondsman or company will tell you, the entire livelihood of the company is generated from the 10% premium of the bail that is written. If you are not willing to take calls on Saturday morning at 3:00am, you probably won’t be in business for very long.

Additionally, doing all the necessary technical steps to becoming a bail bondsman are very straight forward, but Read more »

Some Orange County jail inmates are convincing others to contact certain bondsmen and receiving financial benefit in return… That’s the claim being made by Orange County three bail bondsmen who have filed a claim against the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Richard P. Herman, attorney for the bail agents indicates that former Sheriff Michael S. Carona allowed former Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo to initiate a scheme whereby inmates steer arrestees to certain bail bond companies in returen for a kick-back.

Such allegations are not new in the bail industry. Read more »

Three bail bond companies in Mobile, Alabama are under investigation for illegally accessing the County Sheriff’s Department website, according to a reporter at the Mobile Press-Register. The article by staff reporter Robert McClendon indicated that the Sheriff’s Department ran a sting after complaints were made by other bondsmen in the area. Read more »

Bail Bonds Are Surety Bonds: A Type of Insurance

When people hear that you’re a bail bondsman, they are always curious about the business. Last month, I blogged about what exactly is a bail bond. Once people understand that a bail bond is an insurance product, the next most obvious question is, “How is the underwriting of a bail bond different than the underwriting for typical insurance?” Comparing to an insurance you may have shopped for is probably the best way to understand the differences.

Let’s say, for example, you need fire insurance for your home, Read more »

After 12 plus years as an organization, the Orange County Bail Agents Association this week voted unanimously to dissolve.  More specifically, the OCBAA agreed to dissolve and Read more »

Tom Rice, Field Investigator, and Kimberly Morgan, Supervising Investigator, with the California Department of Insurance (DOI), Investigations Division, addressed the September monthly meeting of the Orange County Bail Agent’s Association (OCBAA). The Department of Insurance is the state regulatory agency for the California bail industry.

Mr. Rice reviewed the division’s main objectives to protect consumers and to promote a healthy bail industry. He noted that the agency is complaint driven and complaints can be originated via an online complaint form or a call to the local office. He recommended that Orange County bail agents assist in policing their industry by filing such complaints because the DOI has no other way of knowing that there are problems. “We don’t know what’s going on in the bail industry without you guys,” said Rice.

As a whole, the bail industry is concerned with bondsman who are perpetrating bail scams and breaking the law. Not only is this a nuisance to our business, it is fraudulent to the consumer. At the Orange County Central Jail Complex, soliciting outside the jail by unlicensed agents and by agents offering illegally low rates is a real problem. Read more »