Spending time in jail can be one of the most frustrating and demoralizing experiences imaginable. While people are incarcerated for different reasons, they share one similar goal: To get out of jail as quickly as possible! Unfortunately, the court may set the bail at a price that exceeds the arrestee’s account balance, though it is within the jailed individual’s legal rights to contact anyone over the age of 18 for help in paying that fine.

A bail bonds, also known as a surety bond, will cost you a premium, and you will not get any of the money from the premium back because it is nonrefundable. The amount of the premium will cost around 10% of the total bond.

Altough the costs associated with time spent behind bars can be high, both from a personal and financial standpoint we have a number of different options availble to help make this process as painless and easy to afford as possible. Please let us know which of these categories most matches your current situation:

I HAVE THE PREMIUM AND THE COLLATERAL
You can pay the premium however you want, cash, check or credit card.  Let us know how much the bail is and what you have for collateral.  If you don’t know how much the bail is we will find out for you and take care of things from there.  Depending on how much the bail is and what the charges are, you might not need collateral.  We’ll let you know and do what we can to make the process as pleasant and easy as we can for you.  Let us know if you have any special needs or concerns.

I HAVE THE PREMIUM BUT NO COLLATERAL
The premium is usually paid by cash, credit card or check.  If you pay the premium in full up front before the bond is posted and are able to supply us with information to complete our application, there’s a good chance we won’t require collateral for bonds under $100,000.  The best thing to do is call us and we can get things started for you.  If you don’t already know how much the bail is, we’ll find out for you.  We will also find out what charges the person was arrested for and when their arraignment will be (first court date).

I HAVE NO MONEY BUT I OWN A HOME
If your home has sufficient equity (what the home is worth minus what is owed against it) to cover the amount of the bail bond plus the premium amount being borrowed we can usually work something out.  All parties on title must be willing and able to sign the Trust Deed, Bail Bond Agreement and other documents relating to the transaction.  This option usually works for people when they know they will be getting money from say a tax refund, settlement of some kind, cashing in a 401k or they know they have sufficient income to make the monthly payments that have been agreed upon.  If you would like to learn more about how this would work feel free to give us a call and we will be happy to explain it further and answer any questions you may have without any pressure or obligation.

I HAVE SOME MONEY AND SOME COLLATERAL
The more information we have about your financial situation, the better we can help you.  If the collateral you have is your home, no problem.  We are extremely flexible on how we set up payments.  There is no set way it has to be.  We are usually able to accommodate our clients’ requests for payment amount and frequency.

If you are thinking of using a vehicle for collateral it has to meet certain requirements.  First off, it has to be paid for.  If you are still making payments on it the bank is the legal owner and we will not be able to use it for collateral.  We will need the Certificate of Title and it will need to be signed over to us.  The legal owner will need to be present to sign the Bail Bond Agreement and other documents.  The vehicle must be running and in good condition.  Generally it will have to be a 2000 year model or newer depending on the make.  We will need to see the vehicle.

Whether or not we can help will depend on the co-signer’s credit, how much money will be put down, how much the car is worth, how big the bond is and many other things. 

Houses and vehicles are the two main things people use for collateral.  If you have some other item of substantial value that you would like to use for collateral let us know and we can tell you if it is something we would be able to hold for collateral or not. 

I HAVE NO MONEY AND NO COLLATERAL
If you don’t have any money and don’t own a home or other substantial asset, the best thing you can do is talk to friends and family of the person in jail to see if they have any money or collateral that they would be willing to use to help bail the person out of jail.  The money and collateral doesn’t have to come from just one person.  It can come from several people.  We can have several Indemnitors on a bail bond.  We want to help you, but we have to have something to work with.