![]() “You don’t have to write nearly as many bonds to make as much money,” Repetti said. ![]() In the last eight or 10 years, the number of bail agents in the state has doubled to 2,200, and the average bond in Los Angeles County has jumped from $5,000 to $20,000, according to Frank Repetti, an officer in the Los Angeles and California bail agents associations. The low risk of forfeitures, plus the steep profit that a single bond can bring, has broadened the field of vendors, including those on Bail Row. Only a small percentage of defendants vanish, and most who do are eventually caught. That pledge is backed by the agents’ insurance companies. Sometimes the fee is spread out in installments.Īgents file a written promise with the court to pay the entire bail if the defendant “skips” - fails to show up for a hearing. But the vast majority of defendants use a bond firm, which normally charges a state-set, nonrefundable 10% fee. “Everybody’s got a different gimmick,” McCray said as he looked bleakly down the street for his wheels.īail can be posted without an agent, providing the court gets the full amount in cash or collateral such as the deed to a house. He clutched a couple of brochures and a promotional keychain from Bad Boys. The Lancaster resident had been trying to bail out his wife, who was charged with real estate fraud. “They towed my truck!” he exclaimed, standing at an empty spot in the mall lot. Vince Ebarb, owner of the mall’s Anyway Bail Bonds, said the tow trucks “probably make more money than anybody. The latter have no mall parking privileges. Then there are the ever-present tow trucks that quickly hook the cars of patrons who park at the mall but meander to bail offices elsewhere on Vignes or Bauchet Street, Bad Boys among them.
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