Ronald Egana, et al. v. Blair鈥檚 Bail Bonds, Inc., et al.
Two New Orleans bail bond companies working with two other businesses charged clients hidden and illegal fees 鈥� even sending armed bounty hunters to kidnap clients and extort money from their friends and family. The Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit to stop the practice.
The federal lawsuit describes how Blair鈥檚 Bail Bonds, New Orleans Bail Bonds, Bankers Insurance Company, and Alternative to Incarceration, a company that provided ankle monitoring equipment, worked together to issue bail bonds that pushed clients deep into debt with hidden and illegal fees.
The lawsuit describes how Ronald Egana, along with his mother and a close family friend who wanted to get him out of jail, were required to pay a variety of nonrefundable and hidden fees. This included daily fees for an ankle monitor that was required not by the court, but the bail company.
Such fees and practices resulted in Egana, his mother, and the family friend paying more than $6,000 over the past year 鈥� far beyond the $3,275 bail bond fee the company said it would charge.
When Egana couldn鈥檛 make payments on his bail bond fee, a bounty hunter arrested him at work. He was taken to Blair鈥檚 Bail Bonds and told he needed to find someone to pay $800 if he didn鈥檛 want to go to jail. Egana鈥檚 mother emptied her savings account to pay the money. After arriving at the office, she was told she had to pay an additional $1,500.
On another occasion, a bounty hunter grabbed Egana on his way to court in Orleans Parish. He refused to listen to Egana鈥檚 pleas to allow him to attend court, telling him that he would soon have a warrant for his arrest. He dragged Egana across the street, handcuffed him inside of the Blair鈥檚 Bail Bonds office and held him against his will for hours until his family brought money.
The bounty hunter told Egana: 鈥淲e will see how much money we will get today!鈥�
Even after Egana, his mother and a family friend, paid $6,000 in fees 鈥� almost twice what the company originally said it would charge 鈥� a Blair鈥檚 bounty hunter took Egana to jail because the company claimed that he did not pay what he owed. Egana was forced to spend days in jail while friends and family tried to secure another bond.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, seeks damages on behalf of the plaintiffs and other class members for, among other things, violations of the Truth in Lending Act and federal and state racketeering laws based on kidnapping, extortion, and the unlawful collection debt. It also seeks damages for overcharging for bail bonds and seeks to stop the companies from collecting the unlawful fees.
