Bail bond companies sued for conspiring to fix prices

A class action filed Tuesday accuses insurance companies of conspiring to fix prices and inflate bail bond premiums, a claim that could significantly frustrate an industry already fighting for its life in California.

The complaint alleges an antitrust conspiracy that’s fixed bail premiums since at least 2004 with major class actions firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP joining with Justice Catalyst, Public Counsel, the National Consumer Law Center and Towards Justice to file the lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court.

The lawsuit seeks class certification for anyone who paid for all or part of a bond premium for a state criminal proceeding between 2004 and now as well as injunctive relief “to end the overcharges going forward.”

It acknowledges SB 10, signed into law last year, would eliminate money bail “if enacted” but noted it won’t take effect until November 2020 “at the earliest.”

Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced earlier in January that an initiative sponsored by the bail industry has qualified for the ballot next year, delaying the law that is designed to phase out money bail. An industry spokesman has called the law “reckless.”

“Even when it does go into effect, it will do nothing to directly redress the injury to California’s residents, who, in exchange for their liberty, have been forced to pay inflated premiums to private bail agents and the sureties that back them,” according to the 34-page complaint. “And consumers will continue to suffer from Defendants’ anticompetitive conduct as sureties aggressively seek to recover debts for price-fixed premiums.”

Harmeet Kaur Dhillon of the Dhillon Law Group Inc., who represents the California Bail Agents Association, was not available for comment Tuesday afternoon. Reached by phone, Gloria Mitchell, the association’s president, declined comment.

A news release announcing the lawsuit lambasted what Ben Elga, executive director of Justice Catalyst, called a “surety cartel” that harmed Californians, “including people who were arrested but never even charged, and family members who paid the inflated price to secure the release of their loved ones.”

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages “for the hundreds of thousands of Californians” who have overpaid bonds.

The two named plaintiffs are residents of Alameda and Contra Costa counties who claim they paid unlawfully inflated bonds. One said defendant All-Pro Bail Bonds Inc. didn’t reimburse her for anything after charges against her relative were dismissed; the other says she didn’t get her money back from defendant Seaview Insurance Co. even though she never was charged with a crime.

All-Pro and Seaview are among approximately 25 bail companies named as defendants. The American Bail Coalition Inc. also is named as is the California Bail Agents Association and the Golden State Bail Agents Association.

The lawsuit accuses them of violating sections 16720 and 17200 of the California Business and Professions Code.

David Seligman, director of Towards Justice, said in the news release he’s confident California will eventually eradicate cash bail.

“We’re confident that someday, California will eradicate cash bail entirely. In the meantime, Californians should have the power that comes from a competitive market and the ability to shop around and negotiate for cheaper bail bond premiums,” Seligman said.