By ALFREDO ALVARADO

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer has introduced a bill in the City Council calling for the banning of commercial bail.

Earlier this year, Stringer’s office released a report on the predatory nature of the commercial bond industry in New York. His report showed that bail bond companies extracted between $16 million and $27 million from low income New Yorkers in 2017. And that money paid to private bail bond companies is non-refundable.

“This industry is about making money off of misery,” he said. “It’s why we’ve called for commercial bail to be banned and have worked with our colleagues in government to propose state legislation that will do just that.”

The comptroller’s report found that the use of commercial bail bonds increased by 12 percent over the past two years despite a decline in crime and arrests.

DC 37 supports banning commercial bail bond companies in the state.

“For too long the unfair bail system has tilted the scales of justice against the city’s poor, said DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido. “This problem has been exacerbated with the predatory practices of the commercial bail bond industry. Those practices must be stopped.”

Defendants locked up because they cannot make bail payments lose $28 million in wages annually, according to the report.