NYC's Bail Bond Industry Is A $20 Million Predatory Mess

Despite feeble efforts by City Hall to reform the city’s cash bail practices, New York City jails are still filled overwhelmingly with people who simply cannot afford to post bail.

While awaiting trial dates (which can take years), or to strike a plea deal (which can take months), arrested New Yorkers have to make a choice: either sit in Rikers Island, a desperate and dangerous place, or have their family make a deal with a bondsman to bail them out.

But New York City’s bail bondsmen operate almost entirely without regulation, and often without licenses or scrutiny of their services, which are frequently punitively expensive, according to a report released today by the Brooklyn Community Bail Fund, a nonprofit that partners with public defender agencies to bail people out of jail.

“People who turn to bondsmen are often overcharged, and are the victims of deceptive practices. It’s common sense that this industry should be robustly regulated, but it is not,” said Peter Goldberg, the executive director of the Brooklyn Community Bail Fund, during a press conference on City Hall’s steps this morning. “It is not uncommon for bail bondsmen to operate without state-required licenses, and they fail to comply with state-required reporting obligations. There’s a complete lack of transparency.”

Read more: https://www.villagevoice.com/2017/06/14/report-nycs-bail-bond-industry-is-a-20-million-predatory-mess/