Fraternity president starts bail bond business
Joshua Kayser entered business to pay for graduate school.
Published March 20, 2007
With tests, classes and his responsibilities as president of Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity, MU junior Joshua Kayser cannot afford to hang out with the wrong crowd. But to pick up a little extra money, he's the guy the wrong crowd calls when they need to get bailed out of jail.
Kayser, an economics major, began his bail bonds business, MU Bail Bonds, in February.
"If it picks up, and I can start making some money, I'd like to go to grad school," he said. "It's something that I'm using to build up money to be able to do bigger things. I didn't really want to get the cubicle internship like everyone else and not many people start their own company."
Kayser became interested in the bail bond business through his friend's uncle, who has been a bail bond agent for a few years.
The friend's uncle works through Adams Bail Bonds, a Warrenton, Mo.-based company that is also Kayser's general agent. Adams Bail Bonds insures Kayser if someone he bonds out does not show up to court, but it also requires a cut of each bond he writes.
Kayser has planned this business venture since spring of last year, but he could not become a licensed bail bondsman until the end of January, when he turned 21.
"There's a mandatory class that you have to take with the state," Kayser said. "I took it on my 21st birthday."
By December, he said the business aspect of the company was ready, and he was ready to begin business.
"I read every book there was, I read every statute," Kayser said. "I did my research. I know more about bonds and bond laws than some people who've been in the business a long time."
So far, Kayser has bonded out nine people, two of which were students. Although dealing with criminals might sound intimidating, Kayser said meeting such a variety of people is the best part of the job.
"You meet many, many different types of people," he said. "Everyone from the 45-year-old drug addict to the 19- or 20-year-old college student who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
The night someone gets arrested, there is a general bond amount already established depending on his or her crime. If he or she waits in jail, a judge could raise or lower the amount, but most people try to get out the day they go in, Kayser said.
That's where he comes in. Kayser requires a 10 percent fee and a co-signer for every bond he writes. If the individual he bonds out doesn't make his or her court date, it is Kayser's responsibility to find the person.
"I haven't had that problem yet, but in the event that it does happen, I'll be the one who tracks them down," he said. "I'll take a couple other people, and we'll have to put them back in jail."
Kayser has bonded people that missed their court date, but he said it has not been a problem getting them to court.
"Most of the time, people legitimately missed court," Kayser said. "I mean, you're dealing with people that aren't of the best of mind. They'll forget about court, and they're apologetic. You take them in and bond them right back out."
But there is a definite strategy and art to being a bondsman, Kayser said. If someone does miss court, Kaiser generally goes to his or her co-signer first. If the co-signer hasn't seen the person in a couple weeks, Kayser knows "it's on."
"It's easier to pop in on them because when you start making phone calls, you start making people alert," he said. "And if they do plan on running, they'll start moving around."
Bonding people out takes good judgment, Kayser said. He will never bond out anyone he feels should stay in jail.
"I don't have a family, I don't have many bills, I don't need to write bonds," Kayser said. "If I don't think that I would want to go pick them up, then I won't bond them out. If I don't think they belong with the general public, I won't bond them out. Someone else will, but I don't want that on my back."
With more than 15 other bail bond companies in the area, Kayser is still struggling to build his clientele, but he is optimistic that, as business picks up, he can hire help and perhaps eventually use profits from this business to go into something else, such as real estate.
"It's just me right now, which is tough because I can't really leave too much," Kayser said. "I don't get to go anywhere anymore. I'm looking to maybe add someone on to help split the work, but right now there's not enough bonds to support someone else. Right now I'm just trying to get my name out. It takes a long time to get your name out there."
