Today the Wall Street Journal featured an article about the bail bond business and how it has been affected by the decline of the real estate market since 2008. The articles author, Dawn Wotapka, contacted Bail Bond Professionals owner Jason Meyerson to discuss how it has changed the way he approaches his business and if more inmates now remain in custody due to the lack of collateral.
In the article Ms. Wotapka tries to make a direct connection between lower home values, which equates to less equity in homes to guarantee bail bonds, and an increased jail population. Mr. Meyerson’s response was that the bail industry has adjusted to this change and now takes on much more risk (less collateral) and puts more emphasis on a defendant’s profile to determine if they are a flight risk. Also, the bail industry now commonly offers extended payment plans to make posting bail more affordable. “Our business model has changed since the real estate collapse.
We can no longer expect or require full collateral for every bail bond we write”, says Meyerson.By way of example, the case of defendant Daniel Romero is used in the article. Romero was bailed from the San Diego County Jail in June 2009, by Jason Meyerson of Bail Bond Professionals - Orange County Office (www.orangecounty-bailbonds.com), on a $300,000 bond.
Although a family member of Mr. Romero owned a home in San Diego there was little or no equity, so securing it as collateral did little in the way of security if Mr. Romero failed to appear in court and fled the case. Knowing this, Mr. Meyerson instead turned to the multiple friends and family members that were willing to sign personal guarantees and relied on his years of experience profiling defendant’s. Ties to the community and length of time there, criminal history, education and employment, marital status and whether a defendant has children or not, are all factors that are used to determine if a defendant poses a flight risk or not. In Mr. Romero’s case it was abundantly clear that he was indeed not a flight risk and was given an extended payment plan, which he as stuck to diligently ever since. To read the article in its entirety click here Wall Street Journal Bail Bond Article. Click on the Local Community Outreach Program to learn more about how Mr. Meyerson has been helping his local community. Wall Street Journal Article Local Community Outreach Program
