Devil in the Details: Bail Bond Contracts in California

Acknowledgements

The UCLA School of Law Criminal Justice Reform Clinic prepared this report in support of money

bail reform in California. As pictured left to right in the photo above, law students Brianne

Holland-Stergar, Carolyn Barden, Alicia Brush, Rachel Clark, Shelby King, and Jessica Cobb drafted

this report under the supervision of Clinic Director Neelum Arya (not pictured). Also pictured is

Senator Robert Hertzberg, sponsor of SB 10 (2017), which along with AB 42 (2017), sponsored by

Assemblymember Rob Bonta, constitutes the California Money Bail Reform Act.

Though the Clinic is responsible for the contents of this report, we are particularly grateful to the

following organizations and individuals for their work, time, and contributions:

ACLU of California

California Department of Insurance

County of Santa Clara Bail and Release Work Group

Criminal Law and Policy Blog

Civil Rights Corps

Kendra Zoller

Margaret Dooley-Sammuli

Kellen Russoniello

Destiny Lopez

Katherine Hubbard

W. David Ball

Mel Gonzalez

Danica Rodarmel

The Devil in the Details:

Bail Bond Contracts in California

May 2017

Key Terms Used in this Report

Accused: A person who is arrested for a criminal act, regardless of whether formal charges have been filed by a

prosecutor. In bail bond contracts, the accused is often referred to as the “defendant” or “bailee.”

Bail bond agent: A bail bond agent is a person licensed to solicit, negotiate, and effect undertakings of bail on

behalf of any surety insurer.

Bond: A secured bond is a promise to pay the full bail amount if the accused does not comply with the release

conditions of the court. The accused contracts with a bail agency who guarantees to the court that the accused will

appear at scheduled court hearings as a condition of release from jail.

Collateral: Money, financial products, or tangible items (e.g., real estate, vehicles, or jewelry) pledged as a promise

to pay the bail bond contract amount.

Forfeiture of bond: When the accused fails to appear for a scheduled court date or violates a condition of the

bond, the court may require the full amount to be paid if the bail bond agent does not return the accused to

custody within the time frame established by the court.

Indemnitor: A person, usually a family member or friend of the accused, who agrees to pay the full amount of the

bond should the accused forfeit the bond. In bail bond contracts, the indemnitor is also referred to as the “co-

signer.”

Jails: Jails are local facilities designed to hold arrestees who are awaiting trial and/or convicted inmates who are

serving relatively short sentences or whose crimes are classified as less severe. Jails are distinct from state or

federally operated prisons, which are designed to hold convicted inmates serving longer sentences for more severe

crimes.

Money Bail: Money or collateral that is provided to the court to ensure that the accused appears at future court

dates. Money bail is usually refundable if the accused does not violate release conditions; however, a premium paid

to a surety is not refundable.

Premium: A nonrefundable amount of money, usually 10% of the bail amount, that the accused or their

indemnitor/co-signer must pay to a surety through a bail bond agent to secure release from jail. Many bail bond

contracts require that the premium be repaid annually to keep the bond in effect.

Pretrial Detention: Pretrial detention refers to holding an accused person in jail before a criminal trial has taken

place, either because of a failure to post bail or because release was denied under a pretrial detention statute.

Promissory Note: A signed document containing a written promise to pay a stated sum to a certain

person/entity; in the case of bail bond contracts, the promise is made to the surety.

Surety: The insurance company approved to pay a bail bond to the court to secure the accused’s release from jail

before their scheduled court date.

Trustee: The person or persons who hold titles to the property offered as collateral to secure the agreement

between the indemnitor and the surety.

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Executive Summary

The California Money Bail Reform Act of 2017 (SB 10 and AB 42) intends to significantly reduce the use of

money bail and to increase the number of people who are able to safely return home after arrest. Under the

current money bail system, many people accused of crimes lack sufficient financial resources to post bail and must

enter into bail bond contracts to avoid unnecessary pretrial detention. This study examines the potential

consequences of bail bond contracts for the accused and their families. Our research shows that problems of

money bail extend well beyond exorbitant bail amounts and into the commercial bail bond industry.

The Devil in the Details: Bail Bond Contracts in California provides an analysis of publicly available bail bond contracts.

We found that even the most industrious and sophisticated consumer would be significantly hampered in making

an educated choice of bail bond company. We examined more than 400 bail bond company websites across the 58

counties to find that fewer than 15% of companies provide copies of their agreements online for review prior to

signing. After analyzing the fine print in more than 100 contract documents online corresponding to 10 sureties,

we identified 20 problems with bail bond contracts that violate common notions of fairness and justice.

CONDITIONS ON THE ACCUSED

1. Bail bond contracts give the bail bond agent broad leeway to return the accused to jail.

2. Many bail bond contracts require the accused to give up substantial privacy rights without any ability

to opt out of bail bond agents’ invasive techniques.

3. Bail bond contracts sacrifice the privacy rights of friends and family of the accused.

COSTS IN BAIL BOND CONTRACTS

4. Sureties and bail bond agents charge non-refundable premiums, regardless of whether the accused

was falsely arrested.

5. Discounts are available—to wealthier people.

6. Bail bond agents charge numerous fees, some of which may not be legal.

7. Bail bond agents may skirt reporting requirements when charging extra fees.

8. Bail bond agents profit off their poor clientele through late fees and interest payments.

9. Broad language requires the accused to indemnify bail bond agents and sureties against all liability.

10. Clauses modify how a court should interpret the bail agreement.

CONDITIONS ON INDEMNITORS

11. Bail bond contracts may force friends and family to surrender their loved one to jail.

12. The indemnitor is held fully responsible for additional expenses from a breach by the accused –

regardless of whether the accused has the resources to pay.

13. If the court increases the bail amount, the surety can demand additional collateral.

14. Sureties may refund overpayments to the defendant rather than the indemnitor.

15. Sureties may exercise total control over indemnitors’ life savings, homes, and vehicles offered as

collateral to secure a bail bond.

16. The indemnitor loses all discretion and control over his or her own property put up as collateral.

17. Sureties can hold indemnitors responsible for any depreciation in the value of collateral.

18. Some contracts require indemnitors to maintain property insurance of whatever type the surety

deems necessary.

19. Bail bond contracts can allow sureties to transfer their rights to collateral – including indemnitors’ life

savings, homes, and vehicles – without consent or notice.

20. Sureties may require the trustor, indemnitor, or accused to give up their legal rights to defend against

onerous debt and unfair foreclosure.

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Pretrial Detention in California

Every year, American taxpayers waste $14 billion on pretrial detention.

Most of these funds

are used to house low-risk individuals who can be safely supervised in the community. Spent

otherwise, $14 billion could provide shelter and services for 50,000 homeless veterans, salaries for

300,000 firefighters, or free or reduced lunch to 31 million children.

California relies heavily on pretrial detention, jailing 59% of people accused of crimes as opposed to

32% nationwide.

For instance, at the main jail in Santa Clara County, pretrial detention costs $204

for each accused person per day compared; by contrast, the cost of release on pretrial supervision is

only $15 per person per day.

See Figure 1 for a visual description of the process of pretrial

detention in California.

Figure 1. Pretrial Detention in California

People incarcerated before trial often lose their housing and employment, and pretrial

detention damages family relationships. People held in pretrial detention often lose their

housing due to inability to pay rent because of lost wages or even the inability to make payments to

their landlord from jail.

Income loss can also push individuals deeper into debt through missed

payments to creditors, leading to a cycle of economic harms as vehicles and items needed for work

are repossessed.

Pretrial detention can also prevent the accused from paying child support and

threaten custody arrangements.

The Santa Clara County Human Relations Commission found that

the inability to raise money for bail and lengthy pretrial detention separates caregivers from

dependent family members, including children, the elderly, and disabled people, leaving them to

suffer.

Source: Human Rights Watch

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Holding poor people in jail results in dire consequences, including harms to mental health,

physical health, and personal safety. Awaiting trial in jail disrupts the normal routines of life that

are critical to maintaining personal health, such as regular doctors’ visits and access to necessary

medication.

While in jail, individuals are exposed to diseases and infections that can cause both

short and long-term medical conditions and that can be transmitted from the jail setting to families

and communities.

The consequences of pretrial incarceration can be deadly. Each year, roughly

one thousand people die while incarcerated in local jails, and 83% of all deaths among jail inmates

nationwide involve people held without a conviction.

Pretrial detention also leads to worse case outcomes for the accused than pretrial release,

especially when the accused is low-income. First, pretrial detention increases the likelihood of

conviction.

Second, accused people detained pretrial are more likely to be sentenced to

incarceration,

receive longer sentences,

and are ordered to pay higher court fees.

Third, pretrial

detention increases the likelihood that the accused will plead guilty to the crime.

Money bail disproportionately harms low-income people and communities of color. People

of color receive harsher bail determinations than those imposed on White people. The likelihood of

having bail denied in California is up to 25% higher for Black and Latino individuals.

Even when a

bail amount is set, Black people are assigned higher bail amounts than White people accused of

similar offenses. Bail amounts assigned to Black men average 35% higher than those for White

men, even when controlling for the seriousness of the offense.

The Money Bail System in California

The United States is one of only two countries in the world where commercial bail bonds dominate

the pretrial system. Numerous problems with money bail and the commercial bail bond industry

have come to light in recent years, leading several states (New Jersey, Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon,

and Wisconsin) to abolish their money bail systems. Several additional states, including California,

are actively considering reforms.

THE COMMERCIAL BAIL BOND INDUSTRY

Desperate to avoid the dire consequences of pretrial detention, people accused of crimes resort to

the commercial bail bond industry for help. The commercial bail bond industry in the United States

– which involves both bail agents and the sureties that finance the bail – writes about $14 billion in

bonds each year (a conservative estimate) and takes profits of $2 billion annually.

The commercial bail bond industry has exerted significant political influence through

organized lobbying, fueling growth in the use of money bail and curtailing the expansion of

non-monetary pretrial release mechanisms such as release on recognizance, unsecured

bond, or conditional release. In 1990, money bail accounted for 23% of pretrial release

nationwide; in 2009, it accounted for 49% of pretrial releases.

Today, those rates could be even

higher.

Since 2010, the commercial bail bond industry has contributed roughly $300,000 to

candidates running for office in California.

A major lobbying priority for the industry is

lobbying directly against publicly funded pretrial services agencies by limiting the amount of funding

for those services.

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While the commercial bail bond industry claims to serve an important role in the operation

of the criminal justice system, the list of violations compiled by the California Department

of Insurance demonstrates the opposite. The commercial bail bond industry is a cash business

susceptible to significant tax evasion and corruption.

Some bail bond companies are fronts for

criminal enterprises. There have been instances of bail bond companies engaging in gang activity

through prearranged agreements between the crime enterprise and bail agent whereby the accused is

bailed out before a police reports is even written.

Companies have also submitted fake bail bonds

to courts or jails. Bail agents’ crimes are only discovered if the accused fails to appear.

Bail bond agents have the power to exploit their clients. Because bail bond agents have

authority to revoke a client’s bond and return the individual to custody at any time, for any reason,

the “threat of returning a client to jail can be used by the for-profit bondsman to coerce clients into

criminal or sexual behavior.”

Consumers frequently taken advantage of because they lack

knowledge of their rights under a bail bond contract. According to the California Department of

Insurance, which regulates the commercial bail bond industry in California, complaints about bail

bond agents have increased substantially in both number and seriousness since 2010 (See Figure 2).

Figure 2. CDI Statewide Bail Cases & Complaints

Two recent examples from 2015 illustrate some of the problems with the commercial bail bond

industry. In one case, 31 bail bond agents in the Bay Area were arrested and charged for a variety of

offenses, including performing bail bond agent duties without a license, violating bounty hunter

rules, and rewarding jail inmates with commissary money to provide information about newly

booked arrestees.

In another example, a San Jose bail bond agent was arrested on suspicion of

attempting to extort money from the accused and her family by charging unwarranted fees and then

attempting to foreclose on the family’s home.

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Bail bond companies frequently use unfair and often illegal practices to solicit business.

The California Department of Insurance reports the following violations:

 Soliciting and negotiating bail without a license;

 Soliciting bail in a prohibited place such as a court, jail, or police station;

 “Spoofing” inmate locator websites to gather information on the accused that the bail bond

agent will use for solicitation;

 Using data mining strategies to collect public information about new admissions to jail

facilities to “bond drop” or conduct illegal solicitations of arrestees;

 Using Attorney-Client jail visiting room scams to illegally solicit other inmates for bail or to

conduct communication with inmates for other criminal activity; and

 Jail inmate “capping”: paying an inmate to refer clients to a bail agent.

Bail bond agents also defraud the courts and prey on vulnerable individuals who agree to

enter into contracts. The California Department of Insurance reports the following violations:

 Lying to the court to extend or vacate a forfeiture of a bond;

 Forging property liens by posing as notaries;

 Obtaining or creating false death certificates for the purpose of discharging a forfeiture;

 Kidnapping and false imprisonment to pressure family and the accused for purposes of

extracting premium payment (extortion);

 Receiving stolen property/contraband in lieu of premium collected such as firearms,

narcotics, jewelry, cash, other personal property;

 Stealing or embezzling collateral or premium from individuals and sureties; and

 Scamming accused individuals subject to an immigration hold by soliciting a bail bond

premium without notifying the accused that they will remain in detention.

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Findings in the Fine Print of Bail Bond Contracts

People held in jail after arrest have very limited access to information to make an informed choice

among bail bond agents (see Figure 3). Loved ones on the outside are hardly in a better position to

identify a suitable company to work with, or to negotiate the terms of bail bond contracts (see

Figure 4). Previous research on the commercial bail bond industry indicates that representatives may

provide rates and terms over the phone and/or in person that differ from the rates and terms in the

contracts that the accused or indemnitors are ultimately asked to sign.

Even when bail agents are

forthright in conversations around bail premiums and terms, bail bond contracts authored by

sureties contain confusing or hard-to-find provisions that are harmful to consumers.

Figure 3. Bail Bond Agency Advertisements at a Jail

Figure 4. Bail Bond Agencies in the Community

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The purpose of this study is to bring bail bond contract provisions to light so consumers

and policymakers are more aware of the exploitative mechanisms employed by the

commercial bail bond industry. We conducted an exhaustive search for online bail bond

contracts based on the theory that this availability would allow consumers to “comparison shop”

before selecting a bail agent. Our research generated two overarching observations.

First, even the most industrious and sophisticated consumer would be significantly

hampered in their ability to make an educated choice among bail bond agents based on the

lack of contract availability. Less than 15% of the 400 websites we reviewed provided online

contracts for a potential client to consider. In fact, only three of the 12 companies which appeared

most frequently in our searches of bail bond companies by county provided copies of their contracts

online. Please see the Appendix for a full description of our research methods.

Second, many bail bond contract provisions appear ripe for future legal challenges.

While many of the contract terms may not be prohibited by any California statute or regulation, we

suspect that many of the terms within bail bond contracts could be deemed invalid for

unconscionability should an action be brought.

Under California law, contracts that are exceedingly unfair are deemed “unconscionable,” and

therefore unenforceable. Courts have held that similar consumer contracts for other products, such

as loans or banking agreements, are unconscionable.

It was beyond the scope of our study to

evaluate the legality of each of the problems we identify, however, we believe many of the contract

terms may be invalid under California law.

Unconscionable contracts have two elements. First, they are procedurally unconscionable, meaning

there is a great inequality of bargaining power between the two parties, such as one party having a

lower education than the other, or the contract being written in a way that obfuscates its terms.

Table 1 lists the names of the national sureties underwriting the bail bond contracts we identified.

We suspect that consumers have virtually no ability to alter the terms of these standardized

contracts.

Second, contract terms must also be substantively unconscionable, meaning there is an overly harsh

allocation of risk or costs not justified by the circumstances.

A review of financial statements from

32 sureties in 2012 found they paid less than 1 percent in bail losses suggesting that contract terms

may be substantively unconscionable.

By comparison, auto and property insurance companies lose

40 to 60 percent of their revenue to claims.

In the sections that follow we have identified our top 20 problems with bail bond contracts

in California. We have categorized our list into three main areas:

1) Conditions imposed on the accused;

2) Fees associated with the bail bond contract; and

3) Conditions imposed on indemnitors.

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Table 1. Insurance Companies Listed on Bail Bond Contracts

Surety

Bail

Bond

Company Name [Document Code(s)]*

Accredited Surety & Casualty

5 Star Bail Bonds (

SK1)

Aardwolf Bail Bonds (JC7)

Access Bail Bonds (RC4)

Bail Bond Express (JC10)

Golden Boy Bail Bonds (RC1)

Leonard Padilla Bail Bonds (BHS3)

Nor Cal Bail Bonds (RC5)

Weaverville Bail Bonds (AB4)

ZZ Smok'n Bail Bonds (JC1)

American Contractors Indemnity

5 Star Bail Bonds (

SK1)

Acme Bail Bonds (CB4/SK4)

Albert T. Ramirez Bail Bonds (BHS8)

Goleta Fast Response Bail Bonds (JC3)

Minuteman Bail Bonds (BHS2/SK2)

Vu Bail Bonds (JC6)

American Surety Company

Bail Man Bail Bonds (SK12)

Diaz Bros Bail Bonds (JC8/SK5)

Toler Bail Bonds (AB9)

Bankers Insurance Company

Apollo Bail Bonds (SK14)

Eight Ball Bail Bonds (RC6)

Famous Bail Bonds (JC4)

Fausto's Bail Bonds (RC2)

Mr. Nice Guy Bail Bonds (SK11)

Riddlers Bail Bonds (SK10)

Romelli Bail Bonds (JC9)

Continental Heritage Insurance Company

Acme Bail Bonds (

AB5/SK9)

Bail Bond Woman (RC3)

Bail Bonds DIRECT (SK13)

Rod Buntjer (JC11)

Solution Bail Bonds (AB6)

International Fidelity

California Bail Bonds (

AB8)

Gold Country Bail Bonds(BHS6)

King Stahlman Bail Bonds (RC7)

South Shore Bail Bonds (BHS7)

Lexington National Insurance

Gotham Bail Bonds (AB1)

Greg Padilla Bail Bonds (AB2)

Patriot Bail Bonds (CB1)

Preston’s Bail Bonds (AB3/BHS5/CB3)

Tapout Bail Bonds (JC5)

Valencia Bail Bonds (AB10/BHS4)

North River Insurance Company

Bad Boys Bail Bonds

Seneca Insurance Company

Mel's Bail Bonds (SK3)

Reese Bail Bonds (BHS1)

United States Fire Insur

ance Company

(Fairmont)

Absolutely Affordable Bail Bonds (JC2)

Bail Bond Girl (JC12)

*Given the fast-paced coextensive nature of our research, we uncovered a few duplicative contract documents after analyzing the

documents. We list all duplicate code names for ease of reference here.

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CONDITIONS ON THE ACCUSED

1. Bail bond contracts give the agent broad leeway to return the accused to jail. Contracts use

vague and undefined terms, allowing the agent to surrender the accused to the custody of the court

at any time the agent deems such action “necessary” or “advisable.” If the accused is returned to the

court, the surety is under no obligation to return any of the premium.

Contract Language, Bail Bond Agent’s Discretion to Return the Accused to Jail:

Should Second Party or the Surety in its sole discretion deem such action necessary or advisable, and even

though such surrender may have been before the bail bond has been forfeited or any liability incurred thereon

by the Second Party or the Surety and no obligation shall exist on the part of the Second Party or the Surety

to return or waive the premium or any portion thereof, except as may be otherwise required by law or the rules

of the Insurance Commissioner.

Contract Language, Bail Bond agent’s Discretion to Return the Accused to Jail: Surety

shall have control and jurisdiction over the Defendant during the term for which the Bond is in effect and shall

have the right to apprehend, arrest and surrender the Defendant to the proper officials at any time as provided

by law.

Some bail bond contracts specify actions that trigger the accused’s surrender to custody.

These

contracts do not allow for refund of any part of the premium if any terms are broken. For example,

the accused can be sent to jail simply because he/she does not call the surety after each and every

court appearance.

Contract Language, Specific Conditions to Return the Accused to Jail: The following

events shall constitute good cause for Surety to forthwith apprehend, arrest and surrender Defendant, and

Defendant shall have no right to any refund of premium whatsoever: (a) Defendant departs the jurisdiction of

the court without the written consent of the court and the Surety; (b) Defendant moves from his/her current

address without prior written notice to Surety or fails to update Surety of any material information; (c)

Defendant commits any act that constitutes reasonable evidence of Defendant’s intention to cause a forfeiture

of the bond(s); (d) Defendant is arrested and incarcerated for any other offense (other than a minor traffic

violation); (e) Defendant makes any materially false statement in this application; (f) Any indemnitor for

Defendant makes any materially false statement in the indemnitor’s application, promissory note, or

indemnity agreement; (g) Defendant’s bail is increased; (h) any indemnitor requests that Defendant be

surrendered; (i) any collateral or security given for the bail bond(s) depreciates in value or becomes impaired or

(j) Other Conditions: Defendant must call in after each and every court appearance.

Many contracts also impose a ban on the use of alcohol and drugs as a term of release.

Contract Language, Ban on Alcohol and Drugs: Defendant agrees not to use alcohol or drugs

(other than prescribed by a physician) at any time.

Not only can bail bond agents surrender the accused back to the custody of the court, but they can

also add on fees if any conditions are broken.

Contract Language, Fees for Return to Jail: THE DEFENDANT MUST RETURN TO

THIS OFFICE IMMEDIATELY UPON RELEASE FROM JAIL. Failure to do so may result

in the defendant being surrendered back to custody and additional fee may be applied.

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2. Many bail bond contracts require the accused to give up substantial privacy rights

without any ability to opt out of bail bond agents’ invasive techniques. For example, sureties

can use location technologies to locate the accused’s wireless device and any vehicle owned or

driven by the accused.

Contract Language, Location Technologies: Defendant further agrees that Surety may use

location technologies to locate Defendant’s wireless device at any time during the period of the Bond is in force

and any applicable Bond remission period. Defendant agrees that Surety may attach a location tracking

device on any vehicle owned or driven by Defendant, at any time, without notice, and monitor the location of

the vehicle through any available technology. YOU WILL NOT HAVE THE OPTION TO OPT-

OUT OF LOCATION USE OR TRACKING DURING THE PERIOD THE BOND IS IN

FORCE AND ANY APPLICABLE BOND REMISSION PERIOD.

People agreeing to a bail bond may also lose all privacy regarding their public and private

information and records.

Contract Language, Waiver of Information Privacy: You hereby authorize Surety to conduct or

obtain any and all private or public information and/or records concerning you from any party or agency,

private or governmental (local, state or federal), including, but not limited to, credit reports, Social Security

Records, criminal records, civil records, driving records, tax records, telephone records, medical records, school

records, worker compensation records, and employment records. You further authorize, without reservation,

any party or agency, private or governmental (local, state, federal), contacted by Surety to furnish in accordance

with applicable law any and all private and public information and records in their possession concerning you

to the Surety and direct that a copy of this document shall serve as evidence of said authorization.

Bail bond contracts often require the accused to waive their privacy in the sanctity of their own

homes. Designees of the surety can enter the accused’s residence or any property they own or

occupy without notice and at any time.

Contract Language, Waiver of Privacy at Home:

You irrevocably grant to Surety and its

designees the right to enter your residence, or any other property that you own or occupy, without notice, at any

time, for the purpose of locating, arresting, and returning Defendant to custody.

Bail bond contracts have provisions that allow bail bond agents to use force to apprehend the

accused without any recourse for the accused if injury results.

Contract Language, Bail bond agents’ Use of Force: Defendant knowingly accepts and

assumes the subsequent risk of harm to Defendant and others arising out of such apprehension and surrender

activities. Defendant agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Surety and/or Bail Producer

(including all agents, representatives and employees thereof) for any injuries, harm, losses, claims, lawsuits,

damages, losses, liability, demands, actions, fees and expenses (including attorney’s fees and costs) arising out

of such activities.

People accused of crimes also waive all rights to extradition proceedings if they leave the state, and

they consent to any force necessary to return them to custody.

Contract Language, Waiver of Extradition: If you leave the State, subject to applicable law, you

waive any right to extradition proceedings and consent to the application of such force as may be necessary to

return you to Surety and the court where the Bond was posted.

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3. Bail bond contracts also sacrifice the privacy rights of friends and family of the accused.

Upon filling out a bail bond application, the accused can be required to provide sensitive

information about their spouses or significant others, including social security numbers, driver’s

license numbers, and vehicle information.

Some contracts require the accused to disclose the

names of their children and the names and contact information of their parents, their spouse’s

parents, their siblings, and 2-6 relatives or personal references.

Patriot Bail Bonds even requires

the indemnitor (and the accused) to disclose the Facebook URL for their references.

Even more shocking are the privacy implications for the accused’s indemnitors. Some contracts

require the indemnitor to keep the bail bond agent apprised of their living and employment

situations.

Others force indemnitors to grant the bail bond agent access to private information

related to every aspect of their lives, including: telephone records, medical records, school records,

worker compensation records, and employment records.

The Indemnity Agreement for

Minuteman Bail Bonds even goes so far as explicitly requiring indemnitors to waive any privacy

rights they have under the law.

Contract Language, Waiving Privacy Rights: I hereby waive any and all rights I may have under

Title 28 Privacy Act – Freedom of Information Act, Title 6, Fair Credit Reporting Act, and any such local

or State law.

But perhaps the most egregious privacy violation for indemnitors is the authorization for the bail

bond agent to physically invade their homes and to track their vehicles. Minuteman Bail Bond’s Bail

Agreement contains a clause that forces indemnitors to “irrevocably consent” to having their homes

and other property entered and searched by the bail bond agent.

Contract Language, Entering Indemnitors’ Homes: Such aid shall specifically include the First

Party’s irrevocable consent and authorization to the Second Party, Surety and their agents to, at any time, enter

upon and search the First Party’s real property and chattel including any permanent or temporary residence,

vehicle, vessel or aircraft.

Gotham, one of the top bail bond agencies in California and across the United States, has a similar

clause in its Indemnity Agreement, which requires indemnitors to waive any legal claims against the

surety and the bail bond agent related to the invasion of the indemnitors’ homes.

Contract Language, Waiving Legal Claims for Entering Indemnitor’s Homes

You

irrevocably grant to surety and its producers, agents and representatives the right to enter your residence or other

property owned or occupied by you or Defendant without notice, at any time, for the purpose of locating,

arresting, and returning to custody the Defendant, and subject to applicable law, you waive any and all causes

of action in connection therewith including, without limitation, torts of trespass and false imprisonment.

Further, Gotham Bail Bonds (along with several other companies) requires indemnitors to consent

to being tracked! The Indemnity Agreement states:

Contract Language, Consent to Tracking Vehicles: You agree that Surety may attach a location

tracking device on any vehicle owned or driven by you, at any time, without notice, and monitor the location of

the vehicle through any available technology. You further agree that Surety may use location technologies to

locate your wireless device at any time during the period of Defendant’s bail and any applicable remission

period, and the Bond is conditioned upon your full compliance with the following terms and conditions: (a)

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Surety, at its discretion, will use network-based location technologies to find you; (b) this is the only notice you

will receive for the collection of your location information; (c) Surety will retain location data only while the

Bond is in force and during any applicable remission period; (d) Surety will disclose location information only to

the courts as required by court order; (e) Surety and its licensed producers, designees and representatives will be

the only persons with access to your location information; (f) YOU WILL NOT HAVE THE OPTION

TO OPT-OUT OF LOCATION USE OR TRACKING DURING THE BAIL PERIOD; and

(g) all questions relating to location capability should be directed to Surety.

This uninhibited ability to track “any vehicle owned or driven” by the indemnitor means that any

family member living in the indemnitors’ household (e.g., a spouse or driving-aged child) could have

a tracking device attached to their vehicle and monitored.

COSTS IN BAIL BOND CONTRACTS

4. Sureties and bail bond agents charge non-refundable premiums, regardless of whether the

accused was falsely arrested. Bail bond agents charge a nonrefundable “premium” – a fee that is

usually about 10% of the total money bail amount. As a general rule, bail bond agents do not refund

premiums in whole or in part for any reason, even if the charges are quickly dismissed.

Contracts

explicitly state “the fact that the Defendant may have been improperly taken into custody or his bail

reduced, or his case is dismissed forthwith shall not obligate the return of any portion of said

premium.”

Individuals arrested on false charges, many of whom pay bail bond agents thousands

of dollars to obtain pretrial release, are also unable to receive a refund.

Contract Language, Non-refundable Premium: The said premium shall be regarded as fully

earned immediately upon the filing of said Bail Bond, and the fact that the Defendant may have been

improperly taken into custody or his Bail reduced, or his cause dismissed forthwith shall not obligate the

Second Party to waive or return said premium or any portion thereof.

5. Discounts are available—to wealthier people. Some bail bond agents give a discount when the

accused hires a private attorney,

is a union member,

or can provide a certain amount of

collateral.

These bail bond recipients typically pay an 8% premium instead of a 10% premium.

This means that individuals who have greater means may pay less than poor clients.

Contract Language, Discounts for Wealthier Clients: Accredited Surety and Casualty

Company, Inc. (“Accredited Surety”) has a variable 8% - 10% premium rate led with the California

Department of Insurance for bail bonds written by Bail bond agents (“Agent”) duly licensed and appointed

with Accredited Surety. Qualifications for receiving the 8% premium rate are as follows:

•

Private Counsel

– A letter from the private attorney retained by the defendant or a copy of the

contract between the private attorney and defendant must be received by the Agent within ten (10)

business days of the bond execution date. The attorney must be retained within five (5) business

days of the bond execution date.



•

Union Member

– Defendant must provide Agent with proof of active membership within five

(5) business days of the bond execution date. A recent pay stub or a union card with a current

expiration date is acceptable proof.

[…]

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•

Collateral

– Collateral must be provided when the bond is written. Acceptable forms of collateral

provided to the Agent are cash, first or second mortgages on improved property or other collateral

approved by Accredited Surety.



o Cash collateral of 50% and above the face amount of the bond qualifies for an 8% premium

rate.

o Mortgages must be executed when the bond is written; mortgages must be recorded within (5)

business days.

Proper evidence must be provided to meet the requirements of California State Law. If proper evidence is

received within the allotted time period defined above, you will be notified by mail that the premium rate has

been reduced to 8%. Any account balance and promissory note will also be adjusted to reflect the new rate.

6. Bail bond agents charge numerous fees, some of which may not be legal. In addition to

the 10% non-refundable premium, bail bond and surety companies saddle the accused and

indemnitors with numerous and often onerous fees and charges that must be paid to exonerate the

bond. The most common fee requires that indemnitors pay for costs associated with an

investigation should the accused default on a bond. These fees typically include reimbursement for

expenses incurred as a result of the default, such as costs incurred by the bail bond agents searching

for or recapturing the accused and returning them to custody.

Contract Language, Fees for Returning to Custody: To reimburse Second Party and Surety for

actual expenses incurred and caused by a breach by the Principal of any of the terms for which the application

and Bail Bond were written not in excess of the penal amount of the Bail Bond including all expenses or

liabilities incurred as a result of searching for, recapturing or returning Principal to custody, incurred by

Second Party or Surety or as necessary in apprehending or endeavoring to apprehend Principal, including legal

fees incurred by Second Party or Surety in making application to a court for an order to vacate or to set aside

the order of forfeiture or Summary Judgment entered thereon.

10 CCR §§ 2082 and 2094 permit the bail bond agent to require reimbursement for any “actual and

necessary expenses incurred.” However, there are no published cases in California that help define

what “actual, reasonable, and necessary” means. The regulatory language that addresses this point is

California Code of Regulations 2083, which requires bail agencies provide an itemized list of all

charges in addition to the bail premium, including receipts.

Instead of explaining up front what expenses an indemnitor or the accused will be liable for, most

agreements are drafted as broadly as possible, in most cases simply stating the indemnitor or the

accused is required to pay “any and all expenses”

related to the search. Under California law, it is

illegal for “any and all expenses” to include expenses that are not “actual, reasonable, and

necessary”; however, it is unclear how indemnitors or people accused of crimes would know about

this limitation, be aware of the bail bond agent’s duty to show them proof of their expenses, or be

able to protect themselves from being overcharged. In an industry notoriously accessible to

inexperienced practitioners and systematically under-regulated by the California Department of

Insurance due to lack of resources, this lack of information creates a ripe environment for

widespread abusive practices to take hold.

Some examples of these abuses include the numerous fees and charges that bail bond agents charge

the accused. Though bail bond agents and sureties couch these fees in ambiguous language that

suggests they are being used to cover the costs of “expenses related to the search,” many of these

- 14 -

charges appear to be loosely related to actual costs of the investigation, such as charging for the

“salaries of employees during the time spent apprehending” the accused.

Contract Language, Fees Associated with Investigation: [The indemnitor agrees…] To

reimburse the Second Party or the Surety, in an amount not to exceed the penal amount of the bail bond, for

any and all expenses or liability incurred in searching for, recapturing or returning the Defendant to the

custody of the Court, including salaries of employees during the time spent apprehending or endeavoring to

apprehend the Defendant, expenses for the private detectives, rewards, traveling expenses, telegrams, telephone

calls, automobile expenses, railroad or air fares, meals and any and all other expenses or liabilities incurred

by the Second Party or the Surety as necessary or incidental in apprehending or in endeavoring to apprehend

the Defendant.

Contract Language, Fees Associated with Investigation: Agrees. . . To indemnify and to at

all times save harmless the Second Party or the Surety from and against any and all liability, demands,

expenses, attorney’s fees, debits, damages, judgments, all expenses or liabilities incurred as a result of

searching for, recapturing or returning Principal to custody, incurred by Second Party or Surety or as necessary

in apprehending or endeavoring to apprehend Principal including but not limited to expenses for private

investigations, or losses of every kind, character or nature that the Second Party or the Surety shall or may at

any time or for any cause sustain, incur or be put to by reason of the execution or the arranging or obtaining

the execution of the bail bond aforementioned or any renewal thereof or any bond issued in continuance thereof

or as a substitute therefore.”

To illustrate the ease with which the accused can violate the contract, consider the terms of the

Bankers Insurance Group’s Bail Bond Agreement. Clause three in the agreement paraphrased below

allows the bail bond agent to return the accused to custody without a refund of the premium if the:

 Bailee leaves the county without prior approval,

 Bailee moves to a different residence without prior written approval of the bail bond agent,

 Bailee neglects to notify the bail bond agent of “any material information,”

 Bailee does anything to suggest that they might forfeit the bond,

 Bailee is arrested and jailed for a new offense,

 Indemnitor makes a false statement,

 Bail amount is increased,

 Indemnitor asks that the accused is returned to custody,

 Risk assumed by the bail bond agent increases,

 Value of the collateral decreases, or

 Bailee violates any other condition in the rest of the contract.

7. Bail bond agents may skirt reporting requirements when charging extra fees. California

Code of Regulations § 2083 requires bail bond agents to provide an itemized list of all additional

charges outside the bail premium—and attach receipts as evidence of the charges. In many of the contracts

examined, however, the accused and their indemnitors are expected to sign away their right to see

documentation of these expenses by agreeing to a substitution of an itemized statement of the

expenses, drafted by the bail bond agent himself, as acceptable evidence of those expenses. See

Contract Language, Bail bond agent’s Proof of Expenses (below). Indeed, under some contracts’

language, bail bond agents and sureties may provide a self-authored “voucher, check or other

- 15 -

evidence of any payment made by Surety or Producer” to demonstrate these expenses.

This is

despite the fact that 10 CCR § 2083 explicitly states that bail bond agents must provide “an

itemization of all actual expenses described in Section 2081 (c) and (d), supported by vouchers and

receipts, or true copies thereof.

Contract Language, Sufficient Proof of Expenses: Agrees. . . That an itemized statement of

such above expenses sworn to by the Second Party or any officer of the Surety shall be acceptable as prima

facie evidence of the fact and extent of such expenses in any and all suits hereunder.

Other fees charged by bail bond agents seem wholly unrelated to the actual costs of the

investigation. For instance, contracts charge a minimum fee (sometimes up to $200) if the accused

misses a single court date, regardless of whether an investigation results from the absence.

Contract Language, Mandatory Fee for Missing Court Date: I UNDERSTAND

THERE IS A MINUMUM (sic) FEE OF $200.00 FOR MISSING A COURT DATE FOR

ANY REASON.

In other contracts, if bail is forfeited, the accused is charged a “minimum fee of 1% of the bond

amount or $250, whichever is greater” regardless of the actual costs of an investigation.

Contract Language, Minimum Fees if Bail is Forfeited: If bail is ordered forfeited by court, I

am responsible to pay court costs and reasonable appearance fees (A minimum of $1% of the bond amount or

$250, whichever is greater.)

Others require a minimum payment of at least $300 if collection actions are taken,

and some

require the accused to pay a “fugitive recovery fee.”

Contract Language, Minimum Fees When Collection Actions are Taken: If any

collection action needs to be taken a minimum of $300.00 fee will be charged.

Contract Language, Fugitive Recovery Fee: You, jointly and severally (together and separately)

with any other Indemnitor, shall indemnify the Surety and keep the Surety indemnified and hold it harmless

from and against any and all losses, demands, liabilities, fees and expenses relating to, or arising out of,

Surety’s issuance or procurement of the Bond, including, but not limited to the following . . . (b) a fugitive

recovery fee if there is a forfeiture of the Bond (which fee is typically ten percent of the amount of the Bond for

an in-state recovery, plus any out of pocket expenses).

These clauses are problematic because they do not put parties on notice about how costly these

searches can be. While California law limits a bail bond agent’s ability to collect some prohibited

charges,

agencies can still be reimbursed for a long list of hefty expenses. Any possible deterrent

effect that could result from liability for these expenses is undermined by the fact that indemnitors

and the accused are unaware of the scope of these fees unless they come due. Given how pervasive

this language is across the contracts we examined, it is unclear that bail agencies want it any other

way.

8. Bail bond agents profit off their poor clientele through late fees and interest payments.

Apart from fees, bail bond agents generate profits by building structural fee increases into their

contracts. Contracts routinely charge late fees for payments received after the due date.

They

- 16 -

often also charge interest rates on the premiums and payments; if a payment is late, some contracts

charge 1.5% a month, while others charge the “maximum rate of interest allowed by law.”

Between the non-refundable premium and fees buried in the fine print of a bail bond contract, bail

bond companies stand to make large profits from their often indigent and vulnerable clientele.

Contract Language, Late Fees: Finance charges are computed on unpaid balances on the 30

day of

each month at a rate of ten percent per annum. There is a 10% late fee on all scheduled payments not received

within 5 days of the due date.

100

Contract Language, Late Fees: The obligations hereunder are joint and several and any amounts due

shall bear interest at the maximum rate of interest allowed by law.

101

9. Broad language requires the accused to indemnify bail bond agents and sureties against

all liability. Many of the reviewed bail bond contracts contain a provision obligating indemnitors

and the accused to indemnify the bail agency or its surety against all liability and expenses. This is

another example of how bail agencies use their bargaining power to shift risk onto indemnitors and

the accused. Clauses like the one below unfairly disincentivize lawsuits against the surety or bail

bond agent because it stipulates that the indemnitor or the accused would be responsible for their

legal fees.

Contract Language, Indemnity Clause: Defendant shall indemnify and hold harmless Surety

and its producers from and against any and all loss, demand, liabilities, and expenses, including but not

limited to, attorney’s fees, that Surety may sustain or incur by reason of having executed the requested

bond(s).

102

10. Clauses modify how a court should interpret the bail agreement. Some bail bond contracts

include a severability clause that states all instruments should be construed as in compliance with

state law, and that if one piece is invalid, it will in no way affect the validity of any other part of the

agreement. This is not problematic on its own, but in California, this language should serve as a red

flag for regulators. California statutes dictate not only limits on enforceable bail bond contract

language but also affirmative disclosures bail agencies must make in their applications and agreements.

103

If a bail agency has, without further research, assumed their bail agreement is compliant with

California law because of this severability clause, they may be in violation of multiple California

statutes.

Contract Language, Severability Clause: In the event any provision herein shall be deemed to

exceed any applicable state or federal law, then such provision shall automatically be deemed to have been

revised to comply with such law so as to provide Surety with the maximum protection from any loss or

liability. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision herein (or portion thereof) shall in no way

affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision (or portion thereof).

104

It is a widely recognized principle of contract law that ambiguities in an agreement should be

construed against the party who drafted it. Still, many of the bail agreements examined included

language stating if a provision the agency or surety drafted is deemed illegal, the provision should be

automatically considered revised to comply with state law in whatever way provides the Surety with

maximum protection from any loss or liability. To put this in context, it is generally common practice for

modification clauses to stipulate that if a provision is deemed illegal, the parties should work to ensure

the term is revised in a way that reflects the parties’ original intent as closely as possible.

105

No modern

- 17 -

insurance agreement we could find includes the punishing language seen below except for bail

agreements.

106

Contract Language, Contract Interpretation: In the event any provision herein shall be

deemed to exceed any applicable state or federal law, then such provision shall automatically be deemed to

have been revised to comply with such law so as to provide Surety with the maximum protection from any

loss or liability. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision herein (or portion thereof) shall in no

way affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision (or portion thereof).

107

CONDITIONS ON INDEMNITORS

11. Bail bond contracts may force friends and family to surrender their loved one to jail.

While the indemnitor, often a friend or family member of the accused, is struggling to help their

loved one navigate the criminal justice system and stay out of jail, the bail bond contract may require

the indemnitor to help surrender the accused back into custody—the same situation from which

they paid to have the accused released.

108

Contract Language, Surrender of Accused by Indemnitor: To aid Second Party or Surety in

securing the release or exoneration of Second Party or Surety from all liability under Bail Bond, including the

surrender of Principal to Court should Second Party or Surety deem such action advisable.

109

In addition to practical assistance, bail bond agents may require indemnitors to pay for all expenses

associated with returning the accused to custody. These could include expenses for transportation

or investigation.

110

Contract language, Fees Incurred from Surrender of Accused: I am responsible for paying

for investigation, location and apprehension time; this is billed at a rate of $250.00 per hour per investigator

plus expenses or 10 percent of [sic] bond whichever is greater.

111

Further, if the accused is not returned to custody within the timeline set by the court, the indemnitor

will be responsible for paying the entire premium and bond.

112

Contract Language, Payment of Entire Premium and Bond if Accused Absconds: I,

____, understand that in signing this contract / bond [sic] for obtaining the release of the defendant, ____,

that I am responsible for him/her appearing in Court each time he/she is so ordered; also, if he/she fails to

follow any and all instructions or orders of the Court or Forfeits this bond, and it becomes necessary to

apprehend and surrender him/her to the Court, I understand that I am responsible for any and all expenses

incurred as a result of such forfeiture and further if such forfeiture occurs and defendant is not surrendered to

the Court within the time prescribed by law, I understand that I am required to pay the FULL

AMOUNT of the bond posted, including any unpaid bail premium.

113

12. The indemnitor is held fully responsible for all additional expenses – regardless of

whether the accused has the resources to pay. Nearly every bail bond contract we reviewed

holds the indemnitor responsible for all expenses associated with the breaches of the bail bond

contract caused by the accused.

114

As discussed earlier, the accused can easily violate the terms of the

contracts. Clause three in the Bankers Insurance Group’s Bail Bond Agreement allows the bail bond

agent to return the accused to custody without a refund of the premium if the:

- 18 -

 Bailee leaves the county without prior approval,

 Bailee moves to a different residence without prior written approval of the bail bond agent,

 Bailee neglects to notify the bail bond agent of “any material information,”

 Bailee does anything to suggest that they might forfeit the bond,

 Bailee is arrested and jailed for a new offense, or

 Bailee violates any other condition in the rest of the contract.

115

In other words, the indemnitor will be held fiscally responsible for the actions of another person.

The bail agency may demand payment from the indemnitor before they seek payment from the

accused.

116

Contract Language, Actions Against Indemnitor Before Accused: Surety shall not be first

obliged to proceed against the Principal on Bail Bond before having recourse against the First Party or to

proceed or enforce its remedies against the Principal before making demand upon or proceeding and/or

enforcing its remedies against any one of more of the First Party.

117

The indemnitor could also be liable for all expenses incurred because of their own breach of

contract terms.

118

The breach of the contract could result in the loss of the collateral.

119

Contract Language, Payment of Actual Expenses for Breach of Contract: To reimburse

Second Party and Surety for actual expenses incurred and caused by a breach by the Principal of any of the

terms for which the application and Bail Bond were written.

120

13. If the court increases the bail amount, the surety can demand additional collateral. Even

after signing the contract to pay a specified premium, the indemnitor could be responsible to pay a

higher premium if the bail amount is changed by the court.

121

Contract Language, Demand for Additional Collateral: Where, as a result of judicial action,

bail has been increased, and no collateral or insufficient collateral [sic], in the sole discretion of Second Party

or Surety, is furnished to indemnify against such increase in the bail, Second Party or Surety may demand

such collateral as will indemnify them against such increased bail.

122

This demand, written into Bad Boys Bail Bonds’ Indemnity Agreement, could be devastating for an

indemnitor who has done nothing wrong.

14. Sureties may refund overpayments to the defendant rather than the indemnitor.

Though the collateral is the property of the indemnitor, some contracts include a provision stating

that if the collateral is sold and the proceeds exceed the debt owed, the excess may be refunded to

the defendant rather than the indemnitor.

123

Contract Language, Refunding Defendant: With or without notice to Trustor, Beneficiary may,

in its sole and absolute discretion, at any time and from time to time, in such manner and on such terms as it

considers best: . . . refund to Defendant any payment received by Beneficiary on any Indebtedness secured by

this Deed of Trust, and payment of the amount refunded shall be fully secured by this Deed of Trust.

124

- 19 -

15. Sureties may exercise total control over indemnitors’ life savings, homes, and vehicles

offered as collateral to secure a bail bond. Indemnitors agreements are written to give sureties

broad discretion and control over collateral while severely limiting the indemnitor’s ability to make

decisions about his or her own property. These agreements include provisions that allow the surety

to demand immediate payment at any point after a default (“all sums shall become immediately due

and payable at the option of the Beneficiary”).

125

Contract Language, Payment on Demand: Upon default by Trustor in the payment of any

indebtedness secured hereby or in the performance of any agreement contained herein, all sums secured hereby

shall immediately become due and payable at the option of the Beneficiary. In such event and upon written

request by Beneficiary, Trustee shall sell the trust property at public auction to the highest bidder.

126

To collect, the surety can take any rents or other income on the property – income that may support

the livelihood of the indemnitor.

127

Contract Language, Taking of Rents: Absolute Assignment of Rents. That as additional

security, Trustor hereby gives to and confers upon Beneficiary the right, power and authority, during the

continuance of this trust, to collect the rents, issues and profits of the property, reserving unto the Trustor the

right, prior to any default by Trustor of any obligations secured hereby or in performance of any agreement

hereunder, to collect and retain such rents…

128

The surety can also foreclose on or sell the collateral “without demand, notice, or advertisement,” if either

the accused or the indemnitor fails to perform any of their many contractual obligations.

129

This

means that the indemnitor could potentially lose their property without ever being given the

opportunity to come back into compliance with a payment scheme or to protect their interest in the

property.

Contract Language, Foreclosure or Sale: (b) if you grant the Surety a lien or a security interest in

any property or collateral to enforce the obligations contained in this Agreement, and if you do not perform

all of your obligations in this Agreement, you authorize the Surety to (i) apply or sell any collateral security

you deposited to reimburse the Surety for any and all Liabilities of any kind

or nature, (ii) hold, apply or

sell the collateral, or any part thereof, to protect or reimburse the Surety by reason of the execution at any

time of any other bond for or on behalf of you or Defendant, and (iii) apply and sell the collateral for the

purpose of placing the Surety in cash funds or protecting the Surety against any claim, demand or loss under

the Bond or any other bond executed on your or Defendant’s behalf. Subject to applicable law (if any) as

stated in an attached addendum, the Surety may make any such sale, at its discretion, at public or private

sales, and without demand, notice or advertisement of the time and place of said sale, and also with the right

to purchase said collateral at such sale or sales, freed and discharged from any equity or redemption.

130

Many agreements reserve the right to other remedies against the indemnitor, even after foreclosure

or sale of the collateral.

131

This allows sureties to extract multiple resources from the friends and

relatives of people accused of crimes.

Contract Language, Other Remedies: You acknowledge and agree that the Surety may foreclose

any or all of the liens and security interests arising out of the transactions relating to the Bond or this

Agreement, or exercise any of its rights or remedies under this Agreement, or take any combination of such

actions, without waiving any other right or remedy. Failure to exercise any rights or remedies of the Surety

at any one time shall not constitute a waiver of the right to exercise them at any other time. Any security or

- 20 -

collateral you give may be substituted, subordinated, or released by the Surety without affecting any other

rights. The Surety shall not be obligated to enforce its rights against any security or collateral prior to

enforcing its rights against you or any other indemnitor.

132

If the sale of the property brings in less than the amount owed – “even if the collateral is worth more than

sale price” – the indemnitor is still liable for the remaining debt.

133

Contract Language, Sale for Under Market Value: Trustor waives all rights and defenses that

Trustor may have because Defendant’s debt is secured by real property. This means, among other things,

that Beneficiary may collect from Trustor without first foreclosing on any real or personal property collateral

pledged by Defendant; and if Beneficiary forecloses on any real property collateral pledged by Defendant, then

(i) the amount of the debt may be reduced only by the price for which that collateral is sold at the foreclosure

sale, even if the collateral is worth more than the sale price, and (ii) Beneficiary may collect from Trustor even

if Beneficiary, by foreclosing on the real property collateral, has destroyed any right Trustor may have to

collect from Defendant.

134

These contract provisions give the bail agency complete control to sell, “substitute[], subordinate[], or

release[]” all collateral.

135

16. The indemnitor loses all discretion and control over his or her own property put up as

collateral. The surety’s broad discretion over collateral stands in stark contrast to the restrictions

placed on the indemnitor who cannot sell, trade, or convey the property until all obligations of the

bail bond contract are met.

136

Contract Language, Restrictions on Indemnitor’s Control of Property: Any sale, trade,

exchange, conveyance or encumbrance of said property, or any interest of part thereof, or change of occupancy

thereof, without the written consent of the Beneficiary herein named, or its successors or assigns, shall give such

Beneficiary, or its successors or assigns, the right to declare the then full unpaid balance of said note due and

payable.

137

If the indemnitor wishes to substitute another form of collateral of equal or greater value – for

example, so that she may sell her home to be able to move – she may only do so if the surety grants

permission under many contracts.

Contract Language, Cannot Substitute Collateral: I understand that substitution of collateral is

done at the discretion of the surety and the bail bonding agency. There are no agreements to substitute collateral

at a future date.

138

Even after all debt obligations to the surety are met, the collateral is not automatically released to the

indemnitor – instead, many contracts require the indemnitor to deliver a written request for a release

of the collateral.

139

Contract Language, Request for Return of Collateral: I understand that it is my responsibility

to request return of any collateral provided. There may be a delay of return of collateral until the bail agency

has researched the exoneration date and verified the bail bond status with the appropriate court.

140

- 21 -

The surety may retain control of the collateral if any other bonds remain on the defendant or the

indemnitor and the surety deems such control “advisable.”

141

Upon return of collateral, some

sureties require the indemnitor to execute and deliver a general release.

142

Contract Language, Retaining Control of Collateral & General Release: Subject to

applicable law (if any) as stated in an attached addendum, the Surety will return the collateral to you when

all of the following are satisfied: (a) the Surety receives competent written legal evidence satisfactory to the

Surety (for example, written notice from the court) of the Surety’s discharge or release from all liability under

the Bond; (b) there are no outstanding Liabilities of any kind arising out of or relating to the Bond; (c) there

are no other outstanding bonds or obligations executed by, for or on behalf of you or Defendant in connection

with which the Surety may deem it advisable to retain such collateral for its protection; and (d) upon the

Surety’s request, you shall have executed and delivered to the Surety a general release upon the Surety’s return

of the collateral to you.

143

17. Sureties can hold indemnitors responsible for any depreciation in the value of collateral.

Some contract provisions force indemnitors to provide additional collateral if the value in their

property decreases.

Contract Language, Depreciation of Collateral: The Surety shall not be liable for the depreciation

of any collateral or for any interest thereon. In the event of depreciation of the collateral, or any part thereof, or

of any collateral which may be hereafter deposited with the Surety for its protection, upon request of the Surety,

you shall provide the Surety with additional and satisfactory collateral so that the total market value of the

collateral shall, at all times, be equal to the market value of the collateral at the time of its initial deposit.

Subject to applicable law (if any) as stated in an attached addendum, if you fail to deposit such additional

collateral, the Surety shall have the full right, power and authority, without further demand or notice, to sell,

assign and deliver the whole or any part of such collateral, substituted collateral, or additional collateral, at

public or private sale, at its option, and without demand, notice or advertisement, and also with the right to

purchase said collateral at any such sale, freed and discharged from any equity or redemption.

144

Failing to provide additional collateral gives the surety the right to sell the indemnitor’s property.

Other contract provisions require indemnitors to undergo and complete repairs to their homes, even

if they must take out a loan to do so.

Contract Language, Collateral Repairs: Property to care for and keep the property in good condition

and repair and to keep all buildings thereon free from visible active termites, fungi or dry rot infestation; not to

remove, alter or demolish any buildings or improvement thereon; to complete or restore promptly and in good and

workmanlike manner any building or improvement which may be constructed, damaged, or destroyed thereon,

and pay when due all costs incurred therefore, and, if the loan secured hereby, or any part thereof, is for the

purpose of financing construction of improvements on said property, to complete the same in accordance with

plans and specifications satisfactory to Beneficiary; to allow Beneficiary to inspect said property at all times

during construction; to replace any work or materials unsatisfactory to beneficiary, within fifteen (15) calendar

days after written notice from Beneficiary of such fact, which notice may be given to Trustor by registered mail

sent to his last known address or by personal service; that work shall not cease on the construction of such

improvements for any reason whatsoever for a period of fifteen (15) calendar days, not to commit or permit

waste of the property; to comply with all laws, covenants, conditions and restrictions affecting the property if said

land be agricultural, property to harvest and care for crops growing thereon and farm the property in a proper

and husband like manner.

145

- 22 -

This particular provision requires indemnitors to repair any damages, securing only loans that are

approved by the surety, and to make all payments on those loans. It allows the surety to inspect the

property any time during construction, and requires the indemnitor to replace anything that the

surety deems unsatisfactory within 15 calendar days. Finally, if the collateral property is farmland, it

requires the indemnitor to properly farm the land. The contract does not specify what this means,

other than to say that the indemnitor must harvest and care for his crops. This vagueness leaves the

door open for sureties to arbitrarily find the indemnitor in violation of this requirement.

18. Some contracts require indemnitors to maintain property insurance of whatever type the

surety deems necessary. Some contracts provide that if the Indemnitor does not provide a

satisfactory insurance policy and proof of payment, the surety can obtain a policy on the property

and change the payments to the indemnitor.

Contract Language, Maintaining Property Insurance: To at all times provide, maintain in force

and deliver to Beneficiary fire and such other insurance as may be required by Beneficiary in an amount

satisfactory to and with loss payable to said Beneficiary; said insurance policies shall be in form and content and

in such companies as may be satisfactory to the Beneficiary, and shall be delivered to and remain in possession

of Beneficiary as further security for the faithful performance of these trusts. If said insurance policies have not

been delivered to the Beneficiary thirty (30) days before the expiration of any of the said insurance, with evidence

of the premium having been paid, the Beneficiary shall have the right, but is not obligated to obtain said

insurance on behalf of the Trustor and pay the premium thereon. The amount collected under any fire or other

insurance policy may be applied by Beneficiary to any indebtedness secured hereby and in such application or

release shall not cure or waive any default or notice of default hereunder or invalidate any act done pursuant to

such notice. Neither the Trustor nor Beneficiary shall be responsible for such insurance or for the collection of

any insurance monies or for any insolvency of any insurer or insurance underwriter. Any and all unexpired

insurance shall inure to the benefit of and pass to the purchaser of the property conveyed hereby at any Trustee’s

sale held hereunder.

146

Other contract provisions require indemnitors to pay money received from insurance claims directly

to the bail agency.

Contract Language, Insurance Claim Payments: That any award of damages in connection with

any condemnation for public use of or injury to Mortgaged Property or any part thereof is hereby assigned and

shall be paid to Beneficiary who may apply or release such moneys received by it in the same manner and with

the same effect as above provided for disposition of proceeds of fire or other insurance. (2) That by accepting

payment of any sum secured hereby after its due date, Beneficiary does not waive its right either to require

prompt payment when due of all other sums so secured or to declare default for failure so to pay.

147

Under this provision, the bail agency retains its right to find the indemnitor in default for failing to

make future monthly payments, even if her home has just burnt to the ground, and she is left

without any insurance money.

Finally, some contracts have provisions requiring indemnitors to defend against any legal actions

that might affect the property rights granted to the bail bond agent or the Trustee.

Contract Language, Defending Against Legal Actions: To appear in and defend any action or

proceeding purporting to affect the security hereof or the rights or powers of Beneficiary or Trustee; and to pay all

costs and expenses, including cost of evidence of title and attorney’s fees in a reasonable sum, in any such action

- 23 -

or proceeding in which Beneficiary or Trustee may appear, and in any suit brought by Beneficiary to foreclose

this deed.

148

This provision requires the indemnitor to pay any costs or expenses related to defending against

these legal actions, including attorney’s fees. In effect, even if these contracts lack provisions that

expressly waive indemnitors’ rights to legal claims,

149

the indemnitors are precluded from asserting

any of their rights because they must defend the bail bond agent’s interest in the property under this

clause.

19. Bail bond contracts can allow sureties to transfer their rights to collateral – including

indemnitors’ life savings, homes, and vehicles – without consent or notice. The surety can

convey its rights to anyone it wishes, including to the bail bond agent (the “Producer” in the

language below).

Contract Language, Transfer of Rights to Collateral: The Surety shall have the right to transfer

and/or assign, in whole or in part, its rights and obligations in this Agreement, and/or in the Bond to the

Producer or any other person or entity (“Assignee”) without notice to or consent from you. Subject to any

limitations imposed upon Assignee by the Surety, Assignee shall have the right to enforce in any action,

proceeding or otherwise any of the Surety’s rights herein or arising out of any of the transactions contemplated

hereby, and you shall not, and expressly waive any right to, assert the claim or defense that Assignee does not

have the right to enforce such rights in any such action, proceeding or otherwise.

150

This clause allows the surety to transfer all rights to the collateral without even informing the

indemnitor. It also requires the indemnitor to waive any possible legal claim asserting that the

transferee’s rights differ from the rights held by the surety prior to transferring the collateral. Other

bail bond contracts allow the surety to appoint a Trustee or change the Trustee at any time without

consent from the indemnitor.

151

20. Sureties may require the trustor, indemnitor, or accused to give up their legal rights to

defend against onerous debt and unfair foreclosure. For example, the Deed of Trust from

Accredited Surety and Casualty Company, Inc. through ZZ’s Smokin’ Bail Bonds includes a

provision requiring the trustor to give up the right to discharge debt based on the accused’s

disability, bankruptcy, or other similar legal provisions.

152

This particular Deed of Trust is 4 pages

long, single spaced, with no paragraph breaks despite including multiple numbered clauses and

provisions (see Figure 5). This contract would be a particularly challenging read for a layperson –

especially one in a hurry to bring a loved one home from jail.

Contract Language, Waiving Rights to Discharge Debt: Trustor waives and agrees not to

assert or take advantage of: … any defense based on any legal disability of Defendant or any other person, or

any discharge or limitation of the liability of Defendant or any other person to Beneficiary, or any restraint or

stay applicable to actions against Defendant or any other person, whether such disability, discharge,

limitation, restraint, or stay is consensual, or by order of a court or other governmental authority, or arising by

operation of law or any liquidation, reorganization, receivership, bankruptcy, insolvency, debtor-relief

proceeding, or from any other use.

153

- 24 -

Figure 5. Hard-to-Read Deed of Trust

This Deed of Trust also requires the trustor to give up rights based on the surety’s negligence and to

give up numerous statutory defenses.

154

Contract Language, Waiving Rights to Defenses: Trustor waives and agrees not to assert or

take advantage of: … v) any defense based on Beneficiary’s negligence, including the failure to record an

interest under the Deed of Trust, the failure to protect any security interest, or the failure to file a claim in any

bankruptcy of Defendant, Trustor, or of any other person; (vi) any defense based on a statute of limitations to

the fullest extent permitted by law and any defense based on Beneficiary’s delay in enforcing the Deed of

Trust; vii) all rights of subrogation, reimbursement, indemnity, contribution, any other rights that may become

available to Trustor under California Civil Code §§2787-2856, inclusive, all rights to enforce any remedy

that Beneficiary may have against Defendant or any other person…

155

This Deed also makes the trustor fully responsible for knowing the accused’s financial situation.

156

Even if the surety has information it knows will affect the trustor adversely, it is not obligated to

share that information with the trustor.

Contract Language, Surety Has No Obligation to Share Adverse Information: Trustor,

by execution of this Deed of Trust, represents to Beneficiary that the relationship between Trustor and

Defendant is such that Trustor has access to all relevant facts and information on the Indebtedness and on

Defendant, and that Beneficiary can rely on Trustor having such access. Trustor waives and agrees not to

assert any duty of Beneficiary to disclose to Trustor any facts that it may now know or later learn about

Defendant, regardless of whether Beneficiary has reason to believe that any such facts materially increase the

risk beyond that which Trustor intends to assume, has reason to believe that such facts are unknown to

Trustor, or has a reasonable opportunity to communicate such facts to Trustor. Trustor is fully responsible for

being and keeping informed of Defendant’s financial condition and all circumstances bearing on the risk of

nonpayment of any Indebtedness secured by this Deed of Trust.

157

- 25 -

Appendix. Methodology

To ensure we were comprehensive in our approach, we developed the following methodology to

identify and examine bail bond companies from across California to compare bail bond contracts

available online.

We started by conducting a comprehensive search for online contracts. We used Yelp, an

online resource for crowd-sourced reviews of businesses, supplemented by Google Maps, to locate

bail bond companies in close proximity to local jails in each county (see Table 2).

For smaller counties, there were fewer companies. If Yelp had fewer than 5 bail bond companies

listed in that county, we conducted an additional search in Google Maps for additional bail bond

companies in the area. For larger counties, we examined up to 10 bail bond companies per jail

address. For example, in Los Angeles, there are a total of 8 jail facilities. Three facilities are located

on Bauchet Street in the City of Los Angeles, three facilities are on The Old Road in Castaic, and

two additional facilities are in Lancaster and Lynwood. For the search in Los Angeles County, we

used Yelp to conduct four separate searches for 10 bail bond companies: 1) Bauchet Street in Los

Angeles; 2) The Old Road in Castaic; 3) Lancaster; and 4) Lynwood.

Gotham, Acme, Bad Boys, Alladin, All Pro, Anytime, Bail Hotline Bonds, Leonard Padilla, Bail

Bonds Direct, Le Bail Bonds, ABBA Bail Bonds, and Absolute Bail Bonds appeared most frequently

in our searches by county. Of these companies, only Gotham, Leonard Padilla, and Acme provided

copies of their forms online. We were also able to obtain copies of contracts from Bad Boys and

Bail Hotline from Prof. W. David Ball at Santa Clara University School of Law.

We then identified the various types of contract documents. Many of the contract documents

were duplicative because they were forms used by a national surety. Even though multiple bail bond

companies may be affiliated with a specific surety, we found that the forms used were not

necessarily consistent. Overall, the names and types of documents we found varied considerably

across bail bond companies but included the following types of documents:

 Bail/Bond Agreement

 Plain Talk/Defendant Agreement

 Deed of Trust

 Disclosure of Lien Against Property

 Indemnitor/Co-signor Application

 Indemnity Agreement

 Indemnitor Checklist

 Promissory Note

 Privacy Agreement

 Conditions of Continued Bail

 Bail Bond Application

 California Addendums

 Credit Card Agreement

 Unpaid Premium Agreement

 Contact Information

 Authorization to Release Letter

 Receipt and Statement of Charges

 Solicitation of Bail Form

 Court Bond

Finally, we analyzed the documents. For your convenience, we have included our research codes

in the text and all of the documents we analyzed can be found in our Google drive available here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B1PfoQAvDO74OHZDbl9TeVhSRU0?usp=sharing.

- 26 -

We examined each of the documents individually and holistically as a bail bond company, for

provisions related to the following research questions.

 Does the contract appear to violate California statutory/regulatory provisions?

 What types of fees (e.g., non-refundable premium, per annum clause, attorney’s fees) are

imposed?

 What types of conditions (e.g., reporting requirements, GPS monitoring) are imposed on the

bailee?

 What types of conditions and/or fees are imposed on indemnitors/cosigners?

 What does the contract state about how collateral can be lost or returned?

Table 2. Bail Bond Companies by County

County Company Name Other Locations Website Document Code

1 Alameda American Eagle Bail Bonds Alameda, Calvareras, Contra Costa,

San Joaquin, STanislaus, Tuolumne

http://www.americaneaglebailbonds.com/bail-

info--other-links.html

2 Bad Boys Bail Bonds San Jose, Oakland, L.A., Santa Ana,

San Diego, Modesto

https://www.badboysbailbonds.com/

3 Bail Hotline Bail Bonds Not sure

http://mybailhotline.com/ca/office/oakland-bail-

bonds/

4 JM Bail Bonds San Leandro, Hayward, San Jose,

Santa Rita, Milpitas, Fremont,

Kerkelel, Oakland, Pleasanton,

Dublin, San Lorenzo, Union City,

Newark, Castro Valley, Stockton,

Sacramento, Auburn

http://www.jmbailbonds.com/

5 Leon Savoy Bail Bond None listed on website No website available available

6 Luna Bail Bonds Oakland None listed on website No website available available

7 Minuteman Bail Bonds Locations throughout U.S. http://minutemanbail.com/BailHistory.aspx BHS2

8 Reese Bail Bonds None listed on website http://reesebailbonds.com/ BHS1

9 Slaughter Mitch Bail Bonds None listed on website No website available available

10 The Clubs' Bail Bonds None listed on website No website available available

11 You Walk Bail Bond Agency None listed on website No website available available

12 Alpine All Pro Bail Bonds Not sure No website available available

13 Gold Country Bail Bonds Not sure No website available available

14 Lil Zekes Bail Bonds All around California and

Surrounding Area

http://lilzekesbailbonds.com/alpine-county-

bailbonds.php

15 ABBA Bail Bonds Throughout California http://www.abbabailbonds.com/

16 Amador Aaronic Bail Bonds No website available available

17 Aback Bail Bonds No website available available

18 Buck Lewis Bail Bonds No website available available

19 Burnsworth Bail Bonds No website available available

20 Charles Holland Bail Bonds No website available available

21 Foothill No website available available

22 Mother Lode Bail Bonds, From Jackson No website available available

23 Payne Byron Bail Bonds No website available available

24 Ramirez Gilbert Bail Bonds No website available available

25 Tristan Brown Bail Bonds No website available available

26 Butte Chico Bail Bonds None https://chicobailbonds.com/

27 Leonard Padilla Bail Bonds Throughout California http://leonardpadillabailbonds.com/ BHS3

28 McMains Bail Bonds None No website available available

29 Valencia Bail Bonds Sacramento County, Sutter Count,

Yuba County, El Dorado

http://valenciabailbonds.net/ BHS4

30 Calaveras American Eagle Bail Bonds (see Alameda Listing) (see Alameda Listing)

31 Bunsworth Bail Bonds Inc None https://www.facebook.com/BurnsworthBailBon

ds/

32 Jail Bird Bail Bonds None No website available available

33 Colusa Bail Bond Shealy Colusa County, Butte Count, Sutter

County

http://www.bailbondshealy.com/

34 Gotham Bail Bonds See San Fransisco Listing https://gothambailbonds.net/

35 Preston's Bail Bonds None http://www.prestonsbailbonds.com/faq BHS5

36 Contra Costa AACHEN Bail Bonds None No website available available

37 Acme Bail Bonds See Ventura listing See Ventura listing

38 All-Pro Bail Bonds Throughout CA http://www.allprobailbond.com/locations/califo

rnia/bail-bonds-martinez/?apbb_source=yp-

online-

martinez&utm_source=yp.com&utm_medium=li

sting&utm_campaign=Yellow%2BPage%2BOnli

ne%2B%7C%2BMartinez

- 27 -

Table 2. Bail Bond Companies by County

County Company Name Other Locations Website Document Code

39 Contra Costa, cont. Angela Sobota Bail Bonds Website says "all of california" https://angelasobotabailbonds.com/

40 Bail Hotline Bail Bonds http://mybailhotline.com/ca/office/martinez-

bail-bonds/

41 Castle Bail Bonds http://www.castlebailbonds.com/

42 Cooper Bail Bonds None http://cooperbailbonds.net/

43 Curt Bulloch Around the state:

http://925bailinfo.com/

44 Martinez Bail Bonds None http://martinezbailbond.com/

45 Penny Bail Bonds None No website available available

46 Del Norte Crescent Bail Bonds None http://www.crescentbailbonds.com/

47 Del Norte Bail Bonds None No website available

48 Ray Genung Bail Bonds None No website available

49 Tonya Page Bail Fort Dick, Gasquet, Hiuchi, Klamath,

Patrick Creek, Couglas park,

Darlingtonia, SMith River

http://www.familybailbonds.com/del-norte/

50 El Dorado 2 B Free Bail Bonds Throughout Nothern California

http://www.2bfreebailbond.com/loc

ations.html

http://www.2bfreebailbond.com/index.html

51 49er Bail Bonds Placerville, Auburn, Roseville, South

Lake Tahoe, Jackson, San Andreas,

Sacramento

http://www.49erbail.com/

52 Gold Country Bail Bonds None http://www.goldcountrybail.com/index.html BHS6

53 Joshua Varozza Bail Bonds None http://www.varozzabailbonds.com/about-2/

54 Premiere Bail Bonds Thoughout California http://www.premierebailbonds.com/el-dorado-

county/south-lake-tahoe/

55 Quick Release Bail Bonds None http://www.bailbondslaketahoe.com/contact-

quick-release-bail-bonds-south-lake-tahoe-ca.htm

56 South Shore Bail Bonds None http://southshorebailbonds.com/ BHS7

57 Tahoe Bail Bonds None No website available

58 Fresno Ajua Bail Bonds None http://www.ajuabailbonds.com/

59 Albert T. Ramirez Bail Bonds None http://www.bail-bondsfresno.com/ BHS8

60 Best Chance Bail Bonds None http://www.bestchancebailbonds.com/

61 Bulldog Bail Bonds None http://bailbondbulldogs.com/

62 Dog House Bail Bonds None http://www.doghousebailbondsfresno.com/

63 Good Luck Bail Bonds None http://www.myvangold.com/

64 Good Luck Bail Bonds None http://www.www.vanguardbail.com/

website is broken

65 Madtown Bail Bonds None http://www.madtownbail.com/

66 Ramirez Bail Bonds Salvador None No website available

67 Speedy Bail Bonds None www.speedybailfresno.com

68 Glenn Preston's Bail Bonds Tehama County http://www.prestonsbailbonds.com/ CB3

69 Humboldt Aladdin Bail Bonds Nationwide - because of their "find a

location by zip code" search, it is hard

to tell how many

https://www.aladdinbailbonds.com/office-

locations/eureka-bail-

bonds/?utm_source=yelp&utm_medium=social

70 Belinda's Bail Bonds None http://www.belindasbailbonds.com/ - Website is

inactive

71 Norcal Bail Bonds 40+ other locations in California http://www.norcalbailbonds.com/humbolt-

county-ca-bail-bonds

72 Venture Bail Bonds None http://www.venturebailbonds.com/

73 Imperial Abaca Easy Out None http://www.abacaezout.com/

74 Abailable EZ Out Bail Bonds None No website available available

75 El Centro Bail Bonds None http://www.elcentro-bailbonds.com/

76 Franco Bail Bonds None No website available available

77 Guerro Henry L. Bail Bonds None No website available available

78 McCurly Bail Bonds None No website available available

79 Rolando Romo Bail Bonds None http://www.rolandoromobailbondsca.com/

80 Inyo Buckaroo Bail Bonds None No website available available

81 Yusef Odeh Bail Bonds None http://www.bailnu.com/

82 Kern Patriot Bail Bonds http://www.patriotbailbonds.com/ CB1

83 Kings Gotham Bail Bonds Yes - throughout CA https://gothambailbonds.net/ CB2

- 28 -

Table 2. Bail Bond Companies by County

County Company Name Other Locations Website Document Code

84 Lake Lake County Bail Bonds None No website available available

85 Luna Bail Bonds None No website available available

86 Mel's Bail Bonds None http://www.gomels.com - but website cannot be

reached

87 Lassen Bail Bonds by Holly Redding and Red Bluff http://hollybailbonds.com/

88 Marland Bail Bonds None No website available available

89 Nancy Schwarz Bail Bonds None No website available available

90 Quincy Bail Bonds None No website available available

91 Susanville Bail Bonds None No website available available

92 Los Angeles Abba Bail Bonds Downtown, Los Angeles (+42

locations, see website:

http://www.abbabailbonds.com/loca

http://www.abbabailbonds.com

94 Absolute Bail Bonds http://www.absolutebailbonds.com/california/lo

s-angeles-county/los-angeles-ca-9001-bail-bonds

95 Acme Bail Bonds Downtown, Los Angeles (+19

locations - see website)

https://acmebail.com/ CB4

96 Always Bail Bonds Downtown, Los Angeles (+26

locations)

http://www.alwaysbailbonds.com/

97 American Liberty Bail Bonds Whittier, Anaheim http://www.callthebailguy.com/ CB6

98 Answer Bail Bonds http://www.answerbailbonds.com/index.html

99 Avenger Bail Bonds OC & LA (Per a Yelp review) http://www.avengerbailbonds.com/

100 Bad Boys Bail Bonds Downtown, Los Angeles (+9

locations - see website)

https://www.badboysbailbonds.com/

101 Bail Bonds Direct Downtown, Los Angeles (+23

locations, see website)

http://www.bailbondsdirect.net

102 Bail Hotline Bail Bonds

103 Gotham Bail Bonds Over 19 locations in CA (see website) http://jrsbailbond.com/ CB5

104 iCandy Bail Bonds None Website link does not work - www.icanbail.com

105 Lancaster Bail Bonds None http://lancasterbail.com/

106 Palmdale Bail Bondsmen None http://palmdale-bail-bonds.com/

107 Santa Clarita Bail Bond Store None http://santa-clarita-bailbonds.com/

108 SCV Bail Bonds None https://www.scvbailbonds.com/

109 The Bail Boys Bail Bonds Downtown, Los Angeles (+23 other

locations, see website)

http://www.thebailboys.com/

110 Madera Best Chance Bail Bonds None http://www.bestchancebailbonds.com/

111 Mad Town Bail Bonds None http://www.madtownbail.com/

112 Speedy Bail Bonds None No website available available

113 Marin 5 Star Bail Bonds San Raphael, Petaluma, Novato,

Larkspur, Mill Valley, Santa Venetia

http://5star-bailbonds.com SK1

114 Aladdin Bail Bonds National company https://www.aladdinbailbonds.com/

115 Calvin Elam Bail Bonds Unknown No website available available

116 Castle Bail Bonds Richmond http://www.castlebailbonds.com

117 Greg Rynerson Bail Bonds Statewide http://www.888bailbond.com

118 Le Bail Bonds San Jose, San Francisco, Contra

Costa/Richmond/Martinez, San

Mateo, Monterey, Orange, Los

http://www.lebailbonds.com

119 Marin Bail Bonds San Raphael http://www.marinbailbonds.info

120 Minuteman Bail Bonds Statewide http://www.minutemanbail.com SK2

121 New Century Bail Bonds See Notes. http://www.bailbondsinsanfranciscoca.com

122 Zig Zag Bail Bonds El Sobrante Bail Bonds, Hercules Bail

Bonds, Albany Bail Bonds, San

Francisco Bail Bonds, Vallejo Bail

http://www.zigzagbailbonds.com

123 Mariposa Robin's Bail Bonds Unknown No website available available

124 Mendocino Aladdin Bail Bonds National company https://www.aladdinbailbonds.com/

125 Bail Bonds Express Ukiah No website available available

126 Bail California Ukiah No website available available

127 Dave Galli Bail Bonds Ukiah No website available available

- 29 -

Table 2. Bail Bond Companies by County

County Company Name Other Locations Website Document Code

128 Mendocino, cont. Mel's Bail Bonds Eureka, Lakeport, Santa Rosa, Ukiah melsezoutbailbonds.com SK3

129 Nathan Maxwell Bail Bonds Ukiah http://www.ukiahbailbond.com

130 Professional Bail Bond Services Ukiah No website available available

131 Ukiah Bail Bonds Ukiah http://www.ukiahbailbonds.com

132 Merced Abba Bail Bonds Statewide http://www.abbabailbonds.com

133 Aladdin Bail Bonds National company https://www.aladdinbailbonds.com/

134 All-Pro Bail Bonds National company http://www.allprobailbond.com/locations/califo

rnia/bail-bonds-merced/

135 Bail Bonds-Mark Davis Bail Bonds Merced No website available available

136 Martinez Family Bail Bonds Modesto, Stockton, Merced, Fresno,

Sacramento, Yuba City, Marysville,

Roseville

http://www.mtzbail.com

137 Merced Bail Bonds Merced http://www.bailmerced.com

138 Morenita Bail Bonds Merced No website available available

139 Modoc Bail Alturas Alturas No website available available

140 Mono Acme Bail Bonds Sacramento and surrounding areas https://acmebail.com SK4

141 Mark Lee Bail Bonds Auburn and surrounding areas https://sites.google.com/site/markleebailbonds/

home

142 Rescue Bail Bonds Mammoth Lakes Mammoth Lakes and surrounding

areas

No website available available

143 Monterey Aladdin Bail Bonds National company https://www.aladdinbailbonds.com/

144 All-Pro Bail Bonds Statewide http://www.allprobailbond.com/locations/califo

rnia/bail-bonds-salinas/

145 Anytime Bail Bonds Bakersfield, Los Angeles, San Diego,

Visalia, Vista

http://gottagobailbonds.com

146 Bail Bonds by Barry Salinas No website available available

147 Diaz Brothers Bail Bonds Salinas, Santa Cruz http://diazbrosbailbonds.org SK5

148 Gonzalez Jose A Bail Bonds Salinas http://www.gonzbonz.com

149 Gothan Bail Bonds Statewide https://gothambailbonds.net SK6

150 Liberty Bail Bonds San Francisco and Santa Rosa http://www.libertybailofcalifornia.com

151 Salinas Bail Bond Store Salinas and Monterrey County http://salinas-bailbonds.com

152 San Mateo Statewide http://mybailhotline.com/ca/office/salinas-bail-

bonds/

153 Napa A Sam R Aldridge Bail Bonds Napa No website available available

154 Aladdin Bail Bonds National company https://www.aladdinbailbonds.com/

155 Aldridge Bail bonds Napa, Fairfield, Santa Rosa, Marin http://www.bailed.com

156 California Bail Bonds Fairfield http://www.californiabailbonds.com SK8

157 Edward McKee Bail Bonds Napa No website available available

158 Joanne's Bail Bonds Napa No website available available

159 Marty's Bail Bonds Napa No website available available

160 Napa Bail Bonds Napa No website available available

161 Novelli Bail Bonds Napa http://www.novellibailbonds.com SK7

162 ASAP Bail Bonds Napa No website available available

163 Nevada Burnsworth Bail bonds Nevada City burnsbail.com

164 Calabretta's Bail House Nevada, Placer, El Dorado,

Sacramento Counties

http://nevada-city-bail-bonds.com

165 Dean Charles Johnson Bail Bonds Nevada No website available available

166 Mark Lee Bail Bonds Auburn and surrounding area No website available available

167 Nevada City Bail Bonds Nevada City https://www.nevadacitybail.com

168 Acme Bail Bonds Sacramento and surrounding area https://acmebail.com SK9

169 Orange 24 Hour Bail Bonds Orange County http://bailadvice.net

170 24/7 Bail Service Irvine http://www.247bailservice.com

171 Ace Baron Bail Bonds Irvine http://www.acebaronbailbonds.com

172 Affirmative Bail Bonds Irvine No website available available

- 30 -

Table 2. Bail Bond Companies by County

County Company Name Other Locations Website Document Code

173 Orange, cont. Alvarado Bail Bonds Santa Ana https://www.alvaradobailbonds.com

174 Always Bail Bonds Southern California http://www.alwaysbailbonds.com

175 Angels Bail Bonds Orange Orange http://bailbonds-orange.com

176 Apollo Bail Bonds LA, Orange, Inland Empire,

Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino

Counties

http://www.orangecountyjailbailbonds.com SK14

177 Avenger Bail Bonds Orange, Los Angeles, and San

Bernardino Counties

http://www.avengerbailbonds.com

178 Bail Bonds DIRECT Orange, LA, Riverside, Ventura, San

Bernardino, San Diego

http://bailbondsdirect.com/orange-county/santa-

ana-bail-bonds/

SK13

179 Bail Bonds Irvine Irvine http://www.bail-bonds-irvine.com/index.php

180 Bail Brothers Bail Bonds - Los Hermano

Fianzas

Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San

Bernardino, Ventura, San Diego,

Imperial Counties

http://www.thebailbrothers.com

181 Bail Man Bail Bonds LA, Orange, San Bernardino, Ventura

Counties

http://bailmanbailbonds.net/test/ SK12

182 California Bail Bonds Southern California http://cabailbonds.us

183 Certified Bail Bonds Orange No website available available

184 Greg Benjamin Bail bonds Santa Ana http://www.bailbondsinorangecounty.com

185 I & V Bail Bonds Irvine Irvine http://ivbailbondsirvine.blogspot.com

186 Joseph Lombardo Bail Bonds Orange No website available available

187 Live Free Bail Bonds Irvine LA, Orange, Riverside, San Diego http://livefreebailbonds.com

188 Magic Bail Bonds Irvine Irvine https://www.bail-bonds-in-irvine.com

189 Mr. Nice Guy Bail Bonds Los Angeles, Newport Beach,

Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino,

San Diego Counties

http://www.mrniceguybailbonds.com SK11

190 Orange Coast Bail Bonds Orange County http://www.orangecoastbailbonds.com

191 ORN Bail Bonds Orange http://ornbailbonds.blogspot.com

192 Penny Bail Bonds Orange, Van Nuys, San Raphael, San

Bernardino, San Diego

http://pennybailbonds.com

193 Power Bail Bonds San Diego, LA, Riverside, San

Fernando Valley

http://www.powerbailbonds.com

194 Remedy Bail Bonds / Santa Ana Bail Bonds San Bernardino, Etiwanda, Riverside,

Banning, Temecula, San Diego, Chula

Vista, LA, Lynwood, El Monte, Santa

Ana, Adelanto, Castaic, South Gate

http://remedybail.com/orange-county-bail-

bonds

195 Riddlers Bail Bonds Garden Grove, North Orange, South

Orange, Santa Monica, West LA, LA,

Downtown LA, Long Beach, San

Fernando Valley, San Bernardino,

Hollywood, Glendale, Anaheim.

http://www.riddlersbailbonds.com/index.htm SK10

196 Signature Bail Bonds Santa Ana http://www.ibail247.com

197 Steven Mehr Bail Bonds Southern California http://www.ssmehrbailbonds.com/locations/ora

nge-county-bail-bonds

198 Velocity Bail Bonds Orange County http://velocitybailbonds.net

199 Placer 49ER Bail Bonds Placerville, Auburn, Roseville, South

Lake Tahoe, Jackson , San Andreas,

Sacramento

http://www.49erbail.com

200 Ace of California Bail Bonds Sacramento http://www.auburnplacerjailbailbonds.com

201 Alladin Bail Bonds Over 20 (see cities online) https://www.aladdinbailbonds.com/office-

locations/auburn-bail-

bonds/?utm_source=yelp&utm_medium=social

&utm_content=contact%20us&utm_campaign=a

uburn

202 Auburn Bail Bonds No website available available

203 Gotham Bail Bonds Over 20 locations (cities on website) https://gothambailbonds.net

204 Joshua Waxham Bail Bonds http://www.placerbailbonds.com

205 Powers Bail Bonds http://powersbailbonds.weebly.com

206 Roseville Bail Bonds Sacramento http://www.rsvlbailbonds.com

- 31 -

Table 2. Bail Bond Companies by County

County Company Name Other Locations Website Document Code

207 Plumas Americal Bail Bonds No website available available

208 Bail Bonds by Holly http://hollybailbonds.com

209 Bear Bail Bonds No website available available

210 Garner Bail Bonds No website available available

211 Gotham Bail Bonds https://gothambailbonds.net

212 Leonard Padilla Bail Bonds http://leonardpadillabailbonds.com

213 Marland Bail Bonds No website available available

214 Nancy Schwarz Bail Bonds No website available available

215 Quincy Bail Bonds No website available available

216 Susanville Bail Bonds No website available available

217 Riverside About Time Bail Bonds http://www.bailbondsbanningca.com

218 Answer Bail Bonds Multiple Locations (see website) http://www.answerbailbonds.com/#!riverside-

county-location/cxvk

219 Bail Depot Bail Bonds https://www.thebaildepot.com

220 Bail Hotline Bail Bonds Multiple locations (see website) http://mybailhotline.com/ca/office/blythe-bail-

bonds/

221 Banning Bail Bonds http://socalbailbonds.net

222 Burton Campbell Bail Bonds No website available available

223 El Don Bail Bonds http://www.eldonbailbonds.com

224 Gantes William R Bail Bonds No website available available

225 Justice Bail Bonds San Diego, San Bernadino http://justicebailbonds.com

226 Rocco Edivan Bail Bonds Multiple Locations (see website) http://www.roccoedivanbailbonds.com

227 Sacramento 1 Hour Bail Bond Service https://www.1hourbailbonds.com

228 Abba Bail Bonds Multiple locations (see website) http://www.abbabailbonds.com/locations/

229 Acme Bail Bonds Multiple locations (see website) https://acmebail.com

230 Eddie Cuevas Bail Bonds No website available available

231 Greg Padilla Bail Bonds http://gregpadillabailbonds.com

232 Henry Martinez Bail Bonds No website available available

233 Joshua Varozza Bail Bonds http://www.varozzabailbonds.com/locations-

services/

234 Le Bail Bonds No website available available

235 Leonard Padilla Bail Bonds http://leonardpadillabailbonds.com/locations/

236 Valencia Bail Bonds http://valenciabailbonds.net/download-forms/

237 San Benito Aardwolf Bail Bonds Monterey, San Jose, Salinas, Alameda

County

http://aardwolfbailbonds.net

238 Bail Bond Agency No website available available

239 Craig Avila Bail Bonds No website available available

240 Eight Ball Bail Bonds Multiple Locations (see website) http://www.eightballbail.com RC6

241 Gabriel Ibarra Bail Bonds No website available available

242 Jokers Bail Bond No website available available

243 Luna Bail Bonds http://lunabailbonds.com/52-2/

244 MacKenzie Scott Bail Bonds No website available available

245 New Century Bail Bonds http://www.bailbondsinsanfranciscoca.com

246 Pacific Coast Bail Bonds No website available available

247 San Bernardino Absolute Bail Bonds http://www.absolutebailbonds.com/california/sa

n-bernardino-county/victorville-ca-92392-bail-

bonds

248 Access Bail Bonds Multiple locations (see website) http://www.accessbailbonds1.com RC4

249 Answer Bail Bonds Multiple Locations (see website) http://www.answerbailbonds.com

250 Bail Hotline Bail Bonds Multiple locations (see website) http://mybailhotline.com/ca/office/san-

bernardino-bail-bonds/

251 Bail Hotline Bail Bonds Multiple Locations (see website) http://mybailhotline.com/ca/office/rancho-

cucamonga-bail-bonds/

- 32 -

Table 2. Bail Bond Companies by County

County Company Name Other Locations Website Document Code

252

San Bernardino, cont.

Montana Bail Bonds Orange County, San Diego http://montanabailbonds.com

253 Penny Bail Bonds http://pennybailbonds.com

254 Remedy Bail Bonds Multiple locations (see website) http://remedybail.com/san-bernardino-bail-

bonds

255 SOTA Bail Bonds http://www.sotabailbonds.com

256 Team One Bail Bonds Multiple Locations (see website) http://www.teamonebailbonds.com

257 San Diego A to Z Bail Bonds http://bigmarco.com

258 Aladdin Bail Bonds Multiple locations (see website) https://www.aladdinbailbonds.com/office-

locations/san-diego-bail-

bonds/?utm_source=yelp&utm_medium=social

259 All Pro Bail Bonds San Diego Multiple locations (see website) http://www.allprobailbond.com/locations/califo

rnia/bail-bonds-san-diego/?apbb_source=yp-

online-san-

diego&utm_source=yp.com&utm_medium=listin

g&utm_campaign=Yellow%2BPage%2BOnline

%2B%7C%2BSan%2BDiego

260 Bad Boys Bail Bonds Multiple locations (see website) https://www.badboysbailbonds.com

261 Bail Bond Woman http://www.thebailbondwoman.com/forms RC3

262 Bail Hotline Bail Bonds Multiple locations (see website) http://mybailhotline.com/ca/office/san-diego-

bail-bonds/

263 Fausto's Bail Bonds Multiple locations (see website) http://www.faustosbailbonds.com RC2

264 Golden Boy Bail Bonds Located throughout Southern

California

http://www.goldenboybailbonds.com RC1

265 King Stahlman Bail Bonds http://sd-bailbonds.com/forms/2507209 RC7

266 Power Bail Bonds Los Angeles, Orange County,

Riverside, Oceanside

http://www.powerbailbonds.com/locations/

267 San Francisco Al Graf Bail Bonds http://www.algrafbailbonds.com

268 Aladdin Bail Bonds Over 20 (see website) https://www.aladdinbailbonds.com/office-

locations/san-francisco-bail-

bonds/?utm_source=yelp&utm_medium=social

&utm_content=contact%20us&utm_campaign=s

an%20francisco

269 All-Pro Bail Bonds Bakersfield, Chula Vista, Fairfield,

Fresno

http://www.allprobailbond.com/locations/califo

rnia/bail-bonds-san-

francisco/?utm_campaign=Yellow%2BPage%2B

Online%2B%7C%2BSan%2BFrancisco&utm_me

dium=listing&utm_source=yp.com&apbb_source

=yp-online-san-francisco

270 Bail Hotline Bail Bonds Over 20 (see website) http://mybailhotline.com/ca/office/san-

francisco-bail-bonds/

271 BailNow Bail Bonds No website available available

272 Gotham Bail Bonds Over 20 (see website) https://gothambailbonds.net/pages/locations

273 Le Bail Bonds Multiple (see website) http://www.lebailbonds.com/index.php/contact-

us/our-locations

274 Liberty Bail Bonds http://www.libertybailofcalifornia.com

275 Luna Bail Bonds http://sanfranciscobailbonds.com

276 New Century Bail Bonds http://www.bailbondsinsanfranciscoca.com

277 San Joaquin Aladin Bail Bonds Over 20 locations (see website) https://www.aladdinbailbonds.com/office-

locations/stockton-bail-

bonds/?utm_source=yelp&utm_medium=social

278 BAM Bail Bonds http://www.bambailbonds.net

279 Bill's Bail Bonds No website available available

280 Could not find a 10th on yelp or google

maps

281 Espinoza Bail Bonds Over 20 locations (see website) http://www.joseespinozabailbonds.com

282 Leonard Padilla Bail Bonds Over 20 locations (see website) http://leonardpadillabailbonds.com

283 Maggie Gutierrez Bail Bonds No website available available

284 Martinez Family Bail Bonds Modesto, Merced, Sacramento,

Marysville, Stockton, Fresno, Yuba

City, Roseville

http://www.mtzbail.com

285 Nor Cal Bail Bonds Over 20 locations (see website) http://www.norcalbailbonds.com RC5

286 Punjab Bail Bonds Modesto, Merced, Sacramento,

Marysville, Stockton, Fresno, Yuba

City, Roseville

http://www.punjabbailbonds.com

- 33 -

Table 2. Bail Bond Companies by County

County Company Name Other Locations Website Document Code

287 San Luis Obispo ABC Bail Bonds http://www.bailbondsabc.com

288 Aladdin Bail Bonds Over 20 locations (see website) https://www.aladdinbailbonds.com/office-

locations/san-luis-obispo-bail-

bonds/?utm_source=yelp&utm_medium=social

&utm_content=contact%20us&utm_campaign=s

an%20luis%20obispo

289 Bail Hotline Bail Bonds Over 20 locations (see website) http://mybailhotline.com/locations/

290 Easy Out Bail Bonds No website available available

291 Erden Steve & Barbara Bail Bonds No website available available

292 Larry's Bail Bonds http://www.bailbondsofslo.com

293 San Luis Bail Bonds http://sanluisobispobailbonds.com

294 Slo Bail Bonds No website available available

295 Tim Romero Bail Bonds http://www.bailbondsofslo.com/forms-and-links

296 Wayne Vaughn Bail Bonds No website available available

297 San Mateo Aladdin Bail Bonds 40 locations throughout CA https://www.aladdinbailbonds.com

298 All-Pro Bail Bonds Redwood City, San Jose, Oakland http://www.allprobailbond.com/

299 Bail Hotline Bail Bonds 32 locations in 19 counties

throughout CA

http://mybailhotline.com/

300 Eduardo Guilarte Bail Bonds http://eduardoguilarte.com/en/

301 Esther Green Bail Bonds http://esthergreenbailbonds.com/

302 Golden State Bail Bonds No website available available

303 Kathy Erken Bail Bonds http://www.kathyerkenbailbonds.info/

304 Out Now Bail Bonds http://outnowbail.com/

305 Pacific Coast Bail Bonds Salinas, Redwood City, Hollister,

Oakland, Santa Cruz, Gilroy, SF

http://www.pacificcoastbailbond.com/

306 ZZ Smok'n Bail Bonds San Jose, San Mateo & Santa Clara http://zzsmoknbailbonds.com/ JC1

307 Santa Barbara 101 Bail Bonds OC http://www.101bailbonds.com/

308 Absolutely Affordable Bail Bonds Santa Barbara and Ventura http://bailondemand.com/ JC2

309 Aimee's Bail Bonds No website available available

310 Chuck Bohl Bail Bonds SLO, Ventura http://chucksbailbonds.com/

311 Famous Bail Bonds http://www.famousbailbonds.com/ JC4

312 Goleta Fast Response Bail Bonds http://bailbonds.byethost14.com/ JC3

313 Santa Clara 510 Bail Bonds http://www.510bailbond.com/

314 Aardwolf Bail Bonds Santa Cruz, Monterey, Salinas, http://www.aardwolfbailbonds.net/ JC7

315 Amigo Bail Bonds http://www.amigobailbonds.co/

316 Bodyguard Bail Bonds Stockton http://www.bodyguardbailbonds.net/

317 Discreet Bail Bonds Redwood City, Fairfield, Sacramento http://discreetbailbonds.com/

318 Good Guys Bail Bonds Santa Cruz, Santa Rita, Sac http://www.goodguysbailbonds.com/

319 Tapout Bail Bonds http://www.tapoutbailbonds.com/ JC5

320 Tedd Wallace Bail Bonds http://www.teddwallacebailbonds.com/

321 Veronica Melero http://veronicamelerobailbonds.com/

322 Vu Bail Bonds SF, Oakland, Sac, Garden Grove,

Stockton

http://www.vubailbonds.com/ JC6

323 Santa Cruz Diaz Bros Bail Bonds Salinas http://diazbrosbailbonds.com/ JC8

324 Reasonable Bail Bonds San Jose http://reasonablebailbonds.com/about/

325 Santa Cruz Bail Bonds http://www.santacruzbailbonds.com/

326 Shasta Holly Bail Bonds http://hollybailbonds.com/

327 Sierra Alder Creek Bail Bonds http://www.aldercreekbailbonds.com/

328 Frank Calabretta's Bail Bonds Roseville, Nevada City http://www.bailhouse.com/

329 Solano Act Fast Bail Bonds http://actfastbailbondsfairfield.com/

330 Bail Bonds Made Easy http://bailbondsmadeeasy.com/

331 Solano Bail Bonds No website available available

- 34 -

Table 2. Bail Bond Companies by County

County Company Name Other Locations Website Document Code

332 Sonoma Bail Bond Express http://bailbondexpressca.com/ JC10

333 Bailly Bail Bonds http://baillybailbonds.com/

334 Emergency Rescue Bail Bonds http://www.emergencyrescuebailbonds.com/

335 One hour bail bonds http://onehourbailbond.com/

336 Randall Parker Bail Bonds http://randallparkerbailbonds.com/

337 Rod Buntjer http://rodbuntjerbailbonds.com/ JC11

338 Romelli Bail Bonds http://www.romellibailbonds.com/ JC9

339 Stanislaus A.J.'s Bail Bonds No website available available

340 All Good Bail Bonds No website available available

341 Bad Moon Bail Bonds http://www.badmoonbail.com/

342 Bail Bond Girl http://www.bailbondgirl.com/ JC12

343 BAM Bail Bonds http://www.bambailbonds.net/

344 Joanna's & Ward Bail Bonds No website available available

345 Redemption Bail Bonds No website available available

346 Underdogg Bail Bonds No website available available

347 Sutter Aladdin Bail Bonds All over California and several other

states

https://www.aladdinbailbonds.com/ None

348 Gotham Bail Bonds All over California https://gothambailbonds.net/ AB1

349 Robert Hawkins Bail Bonds Not sure No website available available

350 Tehama 2BFREE Bail Bonds All over California, but no specific

addresses given

http://www.2bfreebailbond.com/

351 Express Bail Bonds Not sure No website available available

352 Holly Bail Bonds Redding http://www.hollybailbonds.com/

353 Preston's Bail Bonds Willows - in Glenn County http://www.prestonsbailbonds.com/ AB3

354 Trinity Godfather Bail Bonds Redding No website available available

355 Weaverville Bail Bonds All over California http://www.norcalbailbonds.com/ AB4

356 Tulare Absolute Bail Bonds All over California http://www.absolutebailbonds.com/

357 Adams Bail Bonds Not sure No website available available

358 Ajua Bail Bonds Fresno, Selma, Atwater, Madera,

Merced

http://www.ajuabailbonds.com/

359 All-Pro Bail Bonds All over California http://www.allprobailbond.com/

360 Andy Moreno Bail Bonds Porterville, Long Beach http://andymorenobailbonds.com/

361 Anytime Bail Bonds Not sure No website available available

362 Bail Hotline Bail Bonds All over California http://mybailhotline.com/ca/office/visalia-bail-

bonds/

363 David Ortiz Bail Bonds None listed on website http://davidortizbailbonds.com/

364 Eddie Brieno Bail Bonds Hanford, Corcoran, Porterville http://www.eddiebrienobailbonds.com/

365 Family Bail Bonds Fresno County, Kings County, Kern

County; expanding statewide soon

https://www.familybailbondsca.com/

366 Graham Wilkie Bail Bonds Not sure No website available available

367 Great Dane Bail Bonds Hanford; all California serviced http://www.greatdanebailbonds.com/

368 Hometown Bail Bonds Not sure No website available available

369 Luna Bail Bonds All over California http://lunabailbonds.com/

370 Porterville Bail Bonds None listed on website http://porterville-bailbonds.com/

371 Speedy Bail Bonds Not sure No website available available

372 Victor Bianchi Bail Bonds Not sure http://victorbianchibailbonds.com/

373 Tuolumne Always Forgiven Bail Bonds Not sure No website available available

374 Dennis Morgan Bail Bonds Not sure No website available available

375 Gangster Bail Bonds Not sure No website available available

376 Mark David Bail Bonds Not sure No website available available

377 O C Services & Bailbonds Not sure No website available available

- 35 -

Table 2. Bail Bond Companies by County

County Company Name Other Locations Website Document Code

378 Ventura 101 Bail Bonds Santa Barbara http://www.101bailbonds.com/

379 20 Something Bail Bonds Orange County and Riveside County http://www.20somethingbailbonds.com/Home.

html

380 877-NOJAILS Bail Bonds Los Angeles County and Orange

County

http://877nojailsbailbonds.com/

381 ABBA Bail Bonds All over California http://www.abbabailbonds.com/

382 Acme Bail Bonds All over California https://acmebail.com/ AB5

383 Affordable Ventura Bail Bonds Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley http://www.affordableventurabailbonds.com/

384 Bail Resource Center None listed on website http://link2education.com/bail-school/

385 Biker Bail Bonds Santa Barbara and San Diego http://www.bikerbailbonds.net/

386 Capstone Bail Bonds Not sure No website available available

387 Fineline Bail Bonds Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties http://finelinebailbonds.com/

388 Gotta Go Bailbonds All over California - main office is in

Bakersfield

http://gottagobailbonds.com/

389 Rodrigo Bail Bonds Service Calabasas http://www.fastbailbondsthousandoaks.com/

390 S&H Bail Bonds Service all over California - main

office is in Van Nuys

http://www.shbailbonds.com/

391 Simi Valley Bail Bonds None listed on website http://www.simivalley-bailbonds.com/

392 Solution Bail Bonds Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks,

Calabasas

http://www.solutionbailbonds.com/ AB6

393 Superior Bail Bonds of Oxnard Santa Barbara http://805bail.com/

394 The Bail Boy Bail Bonds Several locations in Southern

California

http://www.thebailboys.com/

395 Yolo Almighty Bail Bonds None listed on website http://www.almightybailbonds.com/

396 California Bail Bonds Fairfield http://www.californiabailbonds.com/ AB8

397 Toler Bail Bonds Fairfield, Napa, Martinez, Yuba

County, and Sutter County

http://tolerbailbonds.com/ AB9

398 Valencia Bail Bonds All over California and Tucson http://valenciabailbonds.net/ AB10

399 Woodland Bail Bonds None listed on website http://woodlandbail.com/ AB7

400 Yuba Abalone Bail Bonds Not sure No website available available

401 Accountable Bail Bonds Not sure No website available available

402 Bail Bond Shealy No other addresses listed, but serves

other county jails

http://www.bailbondshealy.com/

403 Bail Bonds by Alex Padilla Sacramento http://alexpadillabailbonds.com/

404 Greg Padilla Bail Bonds Several other locations in California;

Sacramento is the main office

http://gregpadillabailbonds.com/ AB2

405 Gunn Bail Bonds Not sure No website available available

406 Sturgeon Susie Bail Bonds Not sure No website available available

- 36 -

- 37 -

Endnotes

PRETRIAL JUSTICE INSTITUTE, PRETRIAL JUSTICE: HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? 2 (2017).

Natalie Ortiz, “County Jails at a Crossroads,” National Association of Counties, Fig. 3, July 8, 2015,

PRETRIAL JUSTICE INSTITUTE, PRETRIAL JUSTICE: HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? 2 (2017).

Sonya Tafoya, Pub. Policy Inst. of California, Pretrial Detention and Jail Capacity in California (July 2015),

http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R_715STR.pdf.

County of Santa Clara Bail and Release Work Group, Final Consensus Report on Optimal Pretrial Justice 34-35 (August, 2016).

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, “NOT IN IT FOR JUSTICE”: HOW CALIFORNIA’S PRETRIAL DETENTION AND BAIL SYSTEM UNFAIRLY

PUNISHES POOR PEOPLE. (2017), https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/04/11/not-it-justice/how-californias-pretrial-detention-and-

bail-system-unfairly

JUSTICE POL’Y INST., SYSTEM OVERLOAD: THE COSTS OF UNDER-RESOURCING PUBLIC DEFENSE 19 (2011).

AM. BAR ASS’N, CRIM. JUSTICE SECTION, STATE POLICY IMPLEMENTATION PROJECT, PRETRIAL RELEASE REFORM 2 (2011).

Santa Clara County Human Relations Commission, Justice Review Committee, Report on the Public Forum for Family and Friends

of Inmates, p. 38

LAURA MARUSCHAK AND MARCUS BERZOFSKY, BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS, U.S. DEP’T OF JUSTICE MEDICAL PROBLEMS OF

PRISONERS (Apr., 2008), http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/mpp.pdf.

Joseph A. Bick, Infection Control in Jails and Prisons, 45(8) CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES 1047 (2007).

NAT’L INST. OF CORR., U.S. DEP’T OF JUSTICE, NATIONAL STUDY OF JAIL SUICIDE: 20 YEARS LATER NIC 024308 (Apr. 2010),

http://static.nicic.gov/Library/024308.pdf.

Empirical studies in Pennsylvania estimated that defendants held pretrial are 12 to 13 percent more likely to be convicted than

defendants released pretrial. The study conducted by Gupta, Hansman, and Frenchman studied 260,333 criminal cases in Philadelphia

and Pittsburgh between 2010 and 2015. Arpit Gupta et al., The Heavy Costs of High Bail: Evidence from Judge Randomization 22 (Columbia

Law, Econ. Research Paper Series, Paper No. 531, 2016), https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2774453. The study

by Stevenson utilized 331,615 criminal cases in Philadelphia between September 2006 and February 2013. Megan Stevenson, Distortion

of Justice: How the Inability to Pay Bail Affects Case Outcomes 1 (2016), https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2777615. A

similar study conducted on misdemeanor cases in Harris County, Texas, found that detained defendants were 25 percent more likely

to be convicted. A similar study conducted on misdemeanor cases in Harris County, Texas, found that detained defendants were 25

percent more likely to be convicted. The paper completed by Heaton, Mayson, and Stevenson studied 380,689 misdemeanor cases in

Harris County, Texas between 2008 and 2013. Paul S. Heaton et al., The Downstream Consequences of Misdemeanor Pretrial Detention 4

(Univ. of Pa. Inst. for Law, Econ., Paper No. 16–18, 2016), https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2809840##.

Studies of criminal cases in New York City likewise found a 16.2 percentage point increase in the likelihood of being convicted.

Phillips studied 1,999 non-felony and felony cases between September 2002 and March 2003. MARY T. PHILLIPS, A DECADE OF BAIL

RESEARCH IN NEW YORK City 56, 116 (2012), https://nyulawcommentator.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/00c6b-cja-

decadebailresearch12.pdf. The study by Leslie and Pope analyzes 973,815 misdemeanor and felony cases from New York City

between 2009 and 2013. Emily Leslie, Nolan G. Pope, The Unintended Impact of Pretrial Detention on Case Outcomes: Evidence from NYC

Arraignments 13 (Univ. of Chi. Working Paper, 2016), http://home.uchicago.edu/~npope/pretrial_paper.pdf.

Studies in New York City and Leon County, Florida found that “pretrial detention significantly increased the likelihood of jail and

prison sentences.” This study by Williams examined 412 cases from Leon County, Florida between January 1, 1994 and December 31,

1996. Marian R. Williams, The Effect of Pretrial Detention on Imprisonment Decisions, 28 Crim. Just. Rev. 299, 313 (2003); Phillips, supra note

7, at 118. A study in Harris County, Texas found that defendants detained pretrial were 43 percent more likely to be sentenced to

incarceration instead of probation. Heaton et al., supra note 7, at 21.

A study conducted in 2016 of defendants charged with misdemeanors in Harris County, Texas found that jail sentences received by

detained defendants were over two times longer than the sentences received by released defendants. Heaton et al., supra note 7.

Another study published in 2016 compared the maximum sentence lengths between detained and released pretrial defendants, and

found that the maximum sentence for detained defendants was approximately 4.5 years longer than the maximum sentence for

released defendants. Leslie & Pope, supra note 7. Lastly, a study of criminal cases in Philadelphia found that the sentences were

roughly five months longer for detained defendants pretrial. Stevenson, supra note 7.

One study found that detained defendants were ordered to pay approximately $128 more in court fees than released defendants.

Stevenson, supra note 7.

The increased likelihood of plea deals is influenced by the social and economic costs of pretrial incarceration, including negative

impacts on employment, housing, and child custody, among others. Gupta et al., supra note 7, at 19, 22. A study from 2016 in Harris

County, Texas found that of defendants with similar characteristics who differ only in their pretrial custody status, detained

defendants were 25 percent more likely to plead guilty. Heaton et al., supra note 7. Brooklyn Defender Services estimated that in 2013,

detained defendants were more than nine times as “likely to plead guilty to a misdemeanor” than released defendants. Matt Sledge,

Community Bail Fund for Poor Defendants to Launch in Brooklyn, Huffington Post (Mar. 17, 2015, 4:26 PM),

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/17/brooklyn-community-bail-fund_n_6886836.html. Pretrial detention negatively impacts

defendants’ ability to negotiate plea bargains. Because incarcerated defendants need to be released as soon as possible, these

defendants are more likely to accept an unfavorable plea bargain. Will Dobbie et al., The Effect of Pre-Trial Detention on Conviction, Future

Crime, and Employment: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Judges 25 (Nat’l Bureau of Econ. Research, Working Paper No. w22511, 2016),

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2823319.

- 38 -

Traci Schlesinger, Racial and Ethnic Disparity in Pretrial Criminal Processing, 11 (2005).

Shawn D. Bushway ad Jonah B. Gelbach, “Testing for Racial Discrimination in Bail Setting Using Nonparametric Estimation of a

Parametric Model” (2011)

Johnny Obsorn, An Analysis of the Bail-Reform Constitutional Amendment, NMpolitics.net (October 29, 2016)

(http://nmpolitics.net/index/2016/10/an-analysis-of-the-bail-reform-constitutional-amendment/)

Justice Policy Institute, For Better or for Profit: How the Bail Bonding Industry Stands in the Way of Fair and Effective Pretrial

Justice 26 (2012), http://www.justicepolicy.org/uploads/justicepolicy/documents/_for_better_or_for_profit_pdf.

Brian A. Reaves, U.S. Dep’t. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2009 – Statistical

Tables 1, 15 (2013).

Nat’l Inst. Money State Politics, Follow the Money, Query showing contributions from bail bond services to candidates and

committees in elections in California 2010-2017, https://followthemoney.org/show-

me?y=2017,2016,2015,2014,2013,2012,2011,2010,f-fc=1,2,d-ccb=451,s=CA#[{1|gro=c-t-id,d-eid.

Amanda Guillings Ctr. on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, The Commercial Bail Indus.: Profit or Public Safety? 6 (2012),

http://www.cjcj.org/uploads/cjcj/documents/Profit_or_Public_Safety.pdf.

Email correspondence between Shelby King, UCLA law student, and Kendra Zoller, Deputy Legislative Director of the California

Department of Insurance, dated February 17, 2017.

Id.

For Better or For Profit, supra note 8, at 42.

Email correspondence between Shelby King, UCLA law student, and Kendra Zoller, Deputy Legislative Director of the California

Department of Insurance, dated February 17, 2017.

South Bay Bail Agents Targeted in Law Enforcement, Cal. Dep't of Insurance, Sep. 9, 2015 http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-

news/0100-press-releases/2015/release083-15.cfm

San Jose Mercury News, San Jose Bail Agent Arrested on Suspicion of Extortion (Dec. 19, 2015),

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_29280847/san-jose-bail-agent-arrested-suspicion-extortion.

Email correspondence between Shelby King, UCLA law student, and Kendra Zoller, Deputy Legislative Director of the California

Department of Insurance, dated February 17, 2017.

Email correspondence between Shelby King, UCLA law student, and Kendra Zoller, Deputy Legislative Director of the California

Department of Insurance, dated February 17, 2017.

Mel Gonzales, Regulating Commercial Bail in California Through Consumer Protection Law (March 3, 2017). Available at SSRN:

https://ssrn.com/abstract=2927128 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2927128

Photo credit: https://www.jailadvertisingnetwork.com/about-us

Photo Credit: http://www.cjcj.org/news/10643

As of April 2017, we could not identify any cases in California courts challenging the legality of bail bond contracts on the basis of

unconscionability.

Perdue v. Crocker Nat’l Bank, 38 Cal.3d 913 (1985) (holding that a bank’s check processing agreement was unconscionable).

See Lona v. Citibank N.A., 202 Cal. App. 4th 89, 109 (2011) (holding evidence that one party has overwhelming bargaining power,

drafts the contract, and presents it on a take-it-or-leave-it basis is sufficient to demonstrate procedural unconscionability and require

the court to reach the question of substantive unconscionability, even if the other party has market alternatives).

The prevailing view is that procedural and substantive unconscionability do not need to be present in the same degree. See id. at 108

(noting the more substantively oppressive the contract term, the less evidence of procedural unconscionability is required to come to

the conclusion that the term is unenforceable, and vice versa).

Abdulai Bai, Big Insurance behind bail bonds (May 23, 2014), http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/fault-

lines/FaultLinesBlog/2014/5/23/the-big-insurancebehindbailbonds.html

Id.

See California Bail Bonds (AB8), King Stahlman Bail Bonds (RC7), Minuteman Bail Bonds (SK2) Bail Bond Agreement; Gold

Country Bail Bonds (BHS6), South Shore Bail Bonds (BHS7), Goleta Fast Response Bail Bonds (JC3), Vu Bail Bonds (JC6), 5 Star

Bail Bonds (SK1) Bail Bond Agreement.

See California Bail Bonds (AB8), King Stahlman Bail Bonds (RC7), Minuteman Bail Bonds (SK2) Bail Bond Agreement.

See Gold Country Bail Bonds (BHS6), South Shore Bail Bonds (BHS7), Minuteman Bail Bonds (BHS2), Goleta Fast Response Bail

Bonds (JC3), Vu Bail Bonds (JC6), 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1) Bail Bond Agreement.

See Tapout Bail Bonds (JC5) Bail Bond Agreement (page 2), Gotham Bail Bonds (AB1) Bail Bond Agreement, ZZ Smok’n Bail

Bonds (JC1), Nor Cal Bail Bonds (RC5), Weaverville Bail Bonds (AB4) Bail Bond Agreement (clause 3), Fausto’s Bail Bonds (RC2), 5

Star Bail Bonds (SK1) Bail Bond Agreement, Acme Bail Bonds (SK4) Bail Bond Agreement/Indemnitor Checklist.

See Tapout Bail Bonds (JC5) Bail Bond Agreement (page 2).

See Minuteman Bail Bonds (SK2, BHS2) Conditions of Continued Bail.

See Id.

See 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1) Conditions of Release v2.

See Id.

See Gold Country Bail Bonds (BHS6), South Shore Bail Bonds (BHS7) Bail Bond Agreement, ZZ Smok’n Bail Bonds (JC1), Nor

Cal Bail Bonds (RC5), Weaverville Bail Bonds (AB4) Bail Bond Agreement (clause 6), Fausto’s Bail Bonds (RC2), 5 Star Bail Bonds (5

Star Bail Bonds (SK1) 1 Indemnitor/Co-signor Application.

See Gold Country Bail Bonds (BHS6), South Shore Bail Bonds (BHS7) Bail Bond Agreement, ZZ Smok’n Bail Bonds (JC1), Nor

Cal Bail Bonds (RC5), Weaverville Bail Bonds (AB4) Bail Bond Agreement (clause 6).

- 39 -

See ZZ Smok’n Bail Bonds (JC1), Nor Cal Bail Bonds (RC5), Weaverville Bail Bonds (AB4), Golden Boy Bail Bonds (RC1)

Indemnitor Application (clause 12), Gold Country Bail Bonds (BHS6) , South Shore Bail Bonds (BHS) Bail Bond Agreement, 5 Star

Bail Bonds (SK1) Indemnitor App (clause 13), Patriot Bail Bonds (CB1) privacy agreement (para 4), Tapout Bail Bonds (JC5) Bail

Bond Agreement (page 2), Gotham Bail Bonds (AB1) Bail Bond Agreement, Famous Bail Bonds (JC4), (Romelli Bail Bonds (JC9),

Eight Ball Bail Bonds (RC6), 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1) Indemnity Agreement, Toler Bail Bonds (AB9), Diaz Bros Bail Bonds (JC8).

See Id.

See ZZ Smok’n Bail Bonds (JC1), Nor Cal Bail Bonds (RC5), Weaverville Bail Bonds (AB4) Bail Bond Agreement (clause 5), Gold

Country Bail Bonds (BHS6), South Shore Bail Bonds (BHS7) Bail Bond Agreement, Gotham Bail Bonds (AB1) Bail Bond

Agreement, Fausto’s Bail Bonds (RC2), 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1) 1 Bail Bond Agreement, Toler Bail Bonds (AB9), Diaz Bros Bail

Bonds (JC8).

See Id.

See Gold Country Bail Bonds (BHS6), South Shore Bail Bonds (BHS7) Bail Bond Agreement, Fausto’s Bail Bonds (RC2), 5 Star Bail

Bonds (5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1) 1 Bail Bond Agreement, Toler Bail Bonds (AB9), Diaz Bros Bail Bonds (JC8) Bail Bond Application.

See Id.

See ZZ Smokin’ Bail Bonds (JC1), Nor Cal Bail Bonds (RC5), AB4 Bail Bond Agreement (clause 7), JC 5 Bail Bond Agreement

(page 2), Gotham Bail Bonds (AB1) Bail Bond Agreement.

See Id.

See Gotham Bail Bonds (AB1) or Greg Padilla Bail Bonds (AB2) Defendant Application; Preston’s Bail Bonds (BHS5) or Tapout

Bail Bonds (JC5) Bail/Bond Agreement.

See Id.

Patriot Bail Bonds (CB1) Misc. References.

See Acme Bail Bonds (SK4) Indemnitor Checklist, Clause 14 (“I declare that all statements made on the application and financial

statement are true I agree to notify the bail agency, within 48 hours of any changes, including but not limited to any change of address

or employment of either myself or the criminal defendant.”).

See Gotham Bail Bonds (AB1) California Addendum to Indemnity Agreement, Clause 7 (amending Gotham Bail Bonds (AB1)

Indemnity Agreement, Clause 12). For similar provisions in other contracts, see Valencia Bail Bonds (BHS4), Preston’s Bail Bonds

(BHS5), Tapout Bail Bonds (JC5) Indemnitor/Co-signor Application.

See Minuteman Bail Bonds (SK2) Indemnity Agreement.

See Minuteman Bail Bonds (SK2) Bail Agreement(2), Clause 8.

See Gotham Bail Bonds (AB1) Indemnity Agreement, Clause 12. However, the California Addendum to this contract does not

require waiving the causes of action mentioned here. For an equivalent provision that does require indemnitors to waive these causes

of action, see Acme Bail Bonds (CB4) Bail/Bond Agreement, Clause 7.

See Gotham Bail Bonds (AB1) Indemnity Agreement, Clause 13. ZZ Smok’n Bail Bonds (JC1), Nor Cal Bail Bonds (RC5), AB4,

Golden Boy Bail Bonds (RC1) Indemnitor App, Clause 13. 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1) Indemnitor Checklist, Clause 13.

See King Stahlman Bail Bonds (RC7), California Bail Bonds (AB8), 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1)3, Bail Bond Woman (RC3), Solution

Bail Bonds (AB6), ZZ Smok’n Bail Bonds (JC1)1, AB5, Acme Bail Bonds (SK9), Gold Country Bail Bonds (BHS6), South Shore Bail

Bonds (BHS7) – Bail Agreement

See BHS2, Goleta Fast Response Bail Bonds (JC3), Vu Bail Bonds (JC6), Minuteman Bail Bonds (SK2), 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1)–

Bail Agreement

See King Stahlman Bail Bonds (RC7), California Bail Bonds (AB8), 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1)3, Bail Bond Woman (RC3), Solution

Bail Bonds (AB6), ZZ Smok’n Bail Bonds (JC1)1, AB5, Acme Bail Bonds (SK9), Gold Country Bail Bonds (BHS6), South Shore Bail

Bonds (BHS7) – Bail Agreement

See BHS2, Minuteman Bail Bonds (SK2), ZZ Smok’n Bail Bonds (JC1), Patriot Bail Bonds (CB1), AB4, Access Bail Bonds (RC4),

Nor Cal Bail Bonds (RC5), Bad Boys Application for Premium Rate

See Id.

According to Kendra Zoller, Deputy Legislative Director of the California Department of Insurance:

There is no California statute that requires the bail bond rate to be 10%. The reason for a 10% rate, according to the Bail

industry, is that it was established in 1953 due to a court case (Groves vs City of Los Angeles). At the time, insurers charged

2% of the bond amount as premium and bail agents charged 8% as a service charge. The court decided that the total

premium and service charge be considered premium, hence the 10% rate.

The Department has no maximum permitted rate. Rather, a surety is subject to prior approval under Proposition 103. If

under the prior approval process, an increase is supported, that would be allowed. This is unlikely to happen as insurers

have very few paid losses on bail bonds. The reason why companies don’t charge more is debatable but it’s primarily due to

competition. Over time, companies have introduced discounts to the 10% rate which drops the rate down to around 8%

for individuals that meet certain criteria. It’s our understanding that bail agents also rebate part of their commission when

writing a bail bond. The agent is allowed to do this under prop 103. With “commission” paid to the agent around 90%,

the rebate can be pretty sizeable.

Email correspondence between Kellen Russoniello, ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, and Kendra Zoller, dated February

13, 2017.

See BHS2, Goleta Fast Response Bail Bonds (JC3), Vu Bail Bonds (JC6), Minuteman Bail Bonds (SK2), 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1),

Greg Padilla Bail Bonds (AB2), Valencia Bail Bonds (BHS4) - Bail Agreement.

See Id.

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CCR 2083: Written Statements.

Novelli Bail Bonds (SK7) Bail Agreement

King Stahlman Bail Bonds (RC7), California Bail Bonds (AB8) - Bail Agreement.

Id.

See Toler Bail Bonds (AB9) (Bail Bond Agreement), Diaz Bros Bail Bonds (JC8) (Bail Bond Agreement), 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1)2

(Bail Bond Agreement); King Stahlman Bail Bonds (RC7) (Bail Bond Agreement); California Bail Bonds (AB8) (Bail Bond

Agreement).

Bankers Insurance Group Bail Bond Agreement (clause 3); For another example of conditions leading to breach, See Fausto’s Bail

Bonds (RC2), 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1)1 Bail/Bond Agreement: Unless otherwise provided by applicable law (if any) as stated in an attached

addendum, the following events shall constitute a breach of your obligations to the Surety, and the Surety shall have the right to immediately apprehend, arrest

and surrender you, and you shall have no right to any refund of premium whatsoever: (a) you depart the jurisdiction of the court without the prior written

consent of the court and the Surety; (b) you move from your current address without prior written consent of the Surety or you fail to notify Surety of any

material information; (c) you commit any act that constitutes reasonable evidence of your intention to cause a forfeiture of the Bond; (d) you are arrested and

incarcerated for any other offense (other than a minor traffic violation); (e) you make any materially false statement in this application; (f) any indemnitor for

you makes any materially false statement in the Indemnitor Application and Agreement; (g) your bail is increased; (h) any indemnitor requests that you be

surrendered; (i) there is a material increase in the risk assumed by the Surety (as determined by the Surety in its sole and absolute discretion) including, by way

of example but not limitation, any collateral or security given for the Bond depreciates in value or becomes impaired, or (j) Other Conditions . . . .

5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1) – Indemnitor Checklist; See also BHS2, Goleta Fast Response Bail Bonds (JC3), Vu Bail Bonds (JC6),

Minuteman Bail Bonds (SK2), 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1)– Bail Agreement; Fausto’s Bail Bonds (RC2), 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1)1

Indemnitor/Co-signor Application

10 CCR § 2083(f)

See Toler Bail Bonds (AB9) (Bail Bond Agreement), Diaz Bros Bail Bonds (JC8) (Bail Bond Agreement), 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1)2

(Bail Bond Agreement)

See California Bail Bonds (AB8), King Stahlman Bail Bonds (RC7) - Bail Agreement.

Novelli Bail Bonds (SK7) - Bail Agreement

See Acme Bail Bonds (SK4) - Bail Agreement; See also Valencia Bail Bonds (BHS4) - Indemnitor Checklist, 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1)3,

Bail Bond Woman (RC3), Solution Bail Bonds (AB6), ZZ Smok’n Bail Bonds (JC1)1, AB5, Acme Bail Bonds (SK9) Bail Bond

Agreement; AB5, Acme Bail Bonds (SK9) Indemnitor Checklist.

Acme Bail Bonds (SK4) – Bail Agreement

See 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1)3, Bail Bond Woman (RC3), Solution Bail Bonds (AB6), ZZ Smok’n Bail Bonds (JC1)1, AB5, Acme Bail

Bonds (SK9) Bail Agreement; Acme Bail Bonds Indemnitor/Guarantor Checklist

See 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1) - Indemnitor Checklist, ZZ Smok’n Bail Bonds (JC1) Nor Cal Bail Bonds (RC5), AB4, Patriot Bail

Bonds (Patriot Bail Bonds (CB1)), Golden Boy Bail Bonds (RC1) - Bail Agreement

Acme Bail Bonds Indemnitor/Guarantor Checklist

See Fausto’s Bail Bonds (RC2), 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1) Indemnitor/Co-signor Application

CCR 2082: Prohibited Service Charges

These fees are usually 10% of the scheduled payment amount. See Absolutely Affordable Bail Bonds (JC2) - Unpaid Premium

Agreement, Bad Boys Unpaid Premium Agreement; BHS2, Vu Bail Bonds (JC6), Minuteman Bail Bonds (SK2), Acme Bail Bonds

(SK4) – Indemnitor checklist; Goleta Fast Response Bail Bonds (JC3) - Unpaid Premium Agreement; 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1)3, Bail

Bond Woman (RC3), Solution Bail Bonds (AB6), ZZ Smok’n Bail Bonds (JC1)1, AB5, Acme Bail Bonds (SK9) - Bail Agreement;

See Absolutely Affordable Bail Bonds (JC2), ZZ Smok’n Bail Bonds (JC1)2, King Stahlman Bail Bonds (RC7), California Bail Bonds

(AB8) Bail Agreement; Access Bail Bonds (RC4) Unpaid Premium Agreement

100

See 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1)3, Bail Bond Woman (RC3), Solution Bail Bonds (AB6), ZZ Smok’n Bail Bonds (JC1)1, AB5, Acme

Bail Bonds (SK9) - Indemnitor Checklist

101

See Id.

102

See Tapout Bail Bonds (JC5) (Bail Agreement), Gotham Bail Bonds (AB1) (Bail Agreement); Patriot Bail Bonds (CB1) (Bail

Agreement); 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1) (Bail Agreement); ZZ Smok’n Bail Bonds (JC1) (Bail Agreement); Nor Cal Bail Bonds (RC5)

(Bail Agreement), AB4 (Bail Agreement)

103

California Penal Code § 1276.5

104

See Fausto’s Bail Bonds (RC2) (Bail Bond Agreement); Tapout Bail Bonds (JC5) (Bail Bond Agreement); Gotham Bail Bonds

(AB1) (Indemnitor Checklist)

105

Fishman, Eric and James, Robert. Drafting a Better Severability Clause.

https://www.pillsburylaw.com/images/content/4/4/v2/4483/Article20131001DraftingaBetterSeverabilityClause.pdf

106

The doctrine of contra proferentum (translated “against the offeror”) dictates ambiguities be resolved against the drafter of a contract

of adhesion (a contract that one side drafts and one side signs without negotiating). The doctrine is a prominent feature in insurance

law, and insurance companies do not typically contract around it, but instead try to argue an exception to the rule applies if the issue

arises. See https://www.law360.com/articles/819173/contra-proferentem-doesn-t-always-mean-against-the-insurer.

107

See Fausto’s Bail Bonds (RC2) (Bail Bond Agreement); Tapout Bail Bonds (JC5) (Bail Bond Agreement); Gotham Bail Bonds

(AB1) (Indemnitor Checklist)

108

See Bail Boys Indemnity Agreement (clause 7); Minuteman Bail Bonds (SK2) Bail Agreement(2) (clause 8); Aardwolf Bail Bonds

(JC7)), ZZ Smok’n Bail Bonds (JC1)0, Access Bail Bonds (RC4), 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1) Indemnitor/Co-signor Application (clause

7); AB4, Patriot Bail Bonds (CB1), Nor Cal Bail Bonds (RC5) Plain Talk Contract; Toler Bail Bonds (AB9), Diaz Bros Bail Bonds

(JC8), 5 Star Bail Bonds (5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1) 2 Bail/Bond Agreement

109

Minuteman Bail Bonds (SK2) Bail Agreement(2) (clause 8)

- 41 -

110

See Bail Boys Indemnitor Checklist (clause 6); AB4, Patriot Bail Bonds (CB1), Nor Cal Bail Bonds (RC5) Plain Talk Contract;

Famous Bail Bonds (JC4), Fausto’s Bail Bonds (RC2), Eight Ball Bail Bonds (RC6), 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1)0, 5 Star Bail Bonds

(SK1)1 Indemnity Agreement; Toler Bail Bonds (AB9), Diaz Bros Bail Bonds (JC8), Diaz Brothers Bail Bonds (SK5) Indemnitor

Checklist; Toler Bail Bonds (AB9) Plain Talk Contract

111

See Toler Bail Bonds (AB9), Diaz Brothers Bail Bonds (SK5) Indemnitor Checklist; see also Fausto’s Bail Bonds (RC2), 5 Star Bail

Bonds (SK1)1 Indemnitor Checklist

112

See AB4, Patriot Bail Bonds (CB1), Nor Cal Bail Bonds (RC5) Plain Talk Contract; Famous Bail Bonds (JC4), Fausto’s Bail Bonds

(RC2), Eight Ball Bail Bonds (RC6), 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1)0, 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1)1 Indemnity Agreement

113

Toler Bail Bonds (AB9) Plain Talk Contract

114

See Famous Bail Bonds (JC4), Romelli Bail Bonds (JC9), Eight Ball Bail Bonds (RC6), 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1)0 Indemnity

Agreement; 5 Star Bail Bonds (SK1)3, Bail Bond Woman (RC3), Solution Bail Bonds (AB6), ZZ Smok’n Bail Bonds (JC1)1, AB5,

Acme Bail Bonds (SK9) Bail Bond Agreement/Indemnity