On some bonds they have a ten percent.  So if you had a 100k ten percent you could get them out for 10k.  Or we write it for a quarter. That 10k ten percent becomes a 25k surety bond. Family only needs $2,500.
Ten percent bonds are one of the ways that the bail business is under fire.

Because they are dirt bags. We pay that day or the next. It takes five seconds to cut a check, but a lifetime to regain a resource (the fugitive recovery guy).

Not likely. I have between 31-65 days to make the defendant appear. Then I have to cut a check to the court. If the defendant is caught within a year I can get my money back, minus expenses for the county (very low and very rare)
That guys a winner and the definition of "shitty bail"

We are agents of a larger company. Our surety company gives us our underwriting requirements. We are the first party responsible for a bond. If we can't pay (out of business ) the surety pays. If it ever came to that the county would shut us down and not allow any more bonds from us.
My commission is not anyone else's business
We save money by doing the recovery work ourselves, if we contracted it out we would have to pay them for it.

You rock. Thanks for what you do.

I'm in Ohio and I went to county to bail out a friend who had a $10k bond.

I brought $10k, because I am a n00b.

The county officer said I needed a grand to get him out, cash or credit card with a 3% fee.

I paid the grand, got a receipt, and when his case got dismissed a few months later, I got a check for something like $920, because they took a fee out for something.

I asked the officer multiple times if I was responsible for his whereabouts and/or the other $9k if he skipped. He said no to both.

Was he full of shit?

and

It sounds like bail doesn't work this way in Michigan (or at least Detroit), correct?

Great thread. Much better than the usual BS.


Question : Why can't you go after them in Kentucky?

nope  you posted what we call a 10% bond here.  If you went to a bondsman it would run you 250.

http://www.lrc.ky.gov/Statutes/statute.aspx?id=19246
its a misdemeanor for me to do it.

What kind of people get into this business and are successful, vs the kind that get into it and are not successful?

Have you ever had a hot chick in your clutches and wanted to trade freedom for sex?

Thanks for an interesting thread.

About the same. We have one guy who comes through our jail and does like 95% of the bonds who is pretty squared away.

The other 5% is a rather motley crew.

it is really the same as in life.  If you have that hustle bone you will do just fine.  You get a call at 11 at night? Go do it, don't wait till the morning, someone else (me) will snatch it up.  
Also the people that fail to see long term will fail.  $5k in your pocket today sounds good, but the $50k check hurts to write and will ruin your day.  
You also need to read people, unfortunately over the phone (no facial expressions)  If you catch the lying you can use it to ensure they tell the truth for the rest of the conversation (or at least hope)  
"what is he in jail for" I ask
"I don't know" says johnny felon's GF.
"He called you and told you he was in jail and you didn't ask what he was in there for? I call bullshit, I can't do anything until we find out what it is for." I say matter of factly.
"well he was caught driving n a suspended and I know he carries a gun." she finally spits out.
"See how easy it is to tell me the truth, now we can continue."
They typically won't lie the rest of the phone call.
(this conversation happens at least 5 times a day.)

What are the underwriting requirements?  Credit score threshold?? multiple of assets? Do you personally indemnify the surety or does only the company?  Whats your loss ratio? Regarding the commission, can you give an industry range?  

I am in construction bonding and was always curious about your type of bonding.

Is this you?







https://goo.gl/images/7p0EwqYou!

Yup.  Once you get in good with the guys in the jail you can figure out how they like business done and make it easier for everyone.  And if you don't rip off the clients you can typically get referrals from the deps.  
We have one county in BFE that has no bonds companies that are in the county (not really enough to support them) Most of the companies charge an extra 2-300 to go out there.  We ask for 80.  as a result the deputies give out our name. I have a fuel efficient car that I take out there.  But i'm dead if i hit a deer or a cow.

So lets say you dont get the guy. You pay the court 10k. How do you get the 10k out of the family? Civil court if they refuse to pay?

The people that sign the bond are the indemnitors.  It really depends on the bond amount and charge.  $500 bond?  Got a pulse and live in the area?  500K bond? I will likely need a whole neighborhood of houses.  10k bond?  a signer or two.  You kinda get as much of the story as you can from the family and go from there.  No real set in stone requirements, more flexibility.

You're not wrong.

We have a book with a list of all bonding agencies and agents that we'll accept in my county

We only keep the business cards of just a couple of those guys at our booking desk.

Civil Court.  We can garnish taxes and wages.  We also get POA over their belongings.  We can walk in their house and take the TV off the wall and sell it, drive off with the keys and sell it.

Why are these 10% bonds not good for the common man (or criminal for that matter)?

Interesting thread.

How did you find your way into this business?  Did you know someone? Previous mil or leo?

How is bussnes?

Been slow for us last month or so

What state are you in?

I see. I work near the jail, so there are a lot of bail bonds places within eyesight all day. This thread is interesting since I've never worked on that end, only on the lockup side. Good thread. 

I learned more in this thread than 54 weeks of browsing on Instagram.

Good night guys.  I will reply back in the morning.  I'm out.

What are a couple of examples of when you have to hand it off to the LEO's?


any good stories to share?

If we are on the other end of the county and we get a tip that he is there.   If we see them in a vehicle (we can't pull them over, we'll gladly take them once the cop stops them)
Stuff like that.


any good stories to share?

It ain't bad. Did 5 yesterday.  Could have had six, but the family was... difficult.
I'm in metro Detroit. Michigan.

If the person skips, who has the incentive to arrest he person?  The family that posted the bond has no right to do it (kidnapping) and they wouldn't get the money back anyway.

10% is a way for the courts to collect money and for leftists to put bondsman out of business. Plain and simple.


I was in a completely different industry (education) my friend was getting into the business and I have been working for his company ever since.

What aspect of the job sucks?

What type of person would enjoy this work?

Are you in hazel park? How does castle doctrine law apply to what you do? If you think johnny felon is at a buddies house will you go in? Would the buddy be in deep shit if he fired on you thinking you are a home invader? Just curious, ive always wanted to be a bail bonds/ bounty hunter.

My brother is a bail bondsman.  Has his own business he built from the ground up.  He keeps bonding these drug dealers that are coming down from detroit to the rural areas.  I told him, what are you going to do when one skips on you and heads to the ghetto in detroit? Go roll in there and grab him?  Sure enough, that just happened.  Fortunately, the cops up there got him and he's sitting in jail waiting for him.  But usually, they seem to be pretty good clients.  Always have extra mercedes, etc., to let him hold onto until the bond is released.

It's funny. It hasn't really been handled in the courts too much. But if a bondsman comes into your home with the intent to arrest party A and you fire on him, was he really there to do you severe bodily harm?  Especially if we announce our intentions as we enter the door.

As for the B&E charge...  yeah. It could happen if the prosecutor has a bug up his ass. But we could also ask for harboring charges (not that they would stick).
Best bet is to sit on the house and wait till he comes outside.

The biggest headache is dealing with ghetto people. It is rare that my clients speak proper English. It makes it difficult at times.  Plus their general lack of common courtesy.
"Hey I'm gonna call a man about a financial transaction, let's turn the TV to eleven."

Or the famous "yeah I'm on the way". I almost always get here gen minutes late. I almost always beat the clients to the jail.

The people that would like this job would be people that want to help people or of a tough spot. Also you have to not give a shit about making the world a better place.  I've gotten out some complete scumbags and felt bad about it. But I got paid, so I got that working out for me.

What's your ratio black client to non-black client bonds?

Why?

A.W.D.

$$$

Which is nice.

I have a good friend that owns a bond biz.  When we're out at dinner and his phone rings, it goes like this from my side…….

Ring ring… yeah…. uh huh…. got a job?… click.  Never heard it go beyond that.

Last time we we were out at dinner he was telling us about the tow truck he just picked up for collateral.  He said it broke down at 29 and Soscol.  Sure as shit, that truck was sitting in the breakdown lane as we passed it on the way back to the hotel.  Got a newer, running truck the next day. Fucker has more boats, trucks, cars and GSDs than anyone I know.  Great business, but I couldn't do it.

I worked in jail for 3 years and never learned anything about bails or bonds or the process before.

This thread answered a lot of questions I had about it.

Op is a better man than me

Hey, I'm in Warren. Got any good recommendations for a bail bond company if I need one?

Do you pay your CI's if they find someone that fails to show up?

Not only that but if you let the court hold your $10K so you can save $1k in bondsman's fees, you won't have anyone actively looking to find your buddy or family member or employee who just fugitized after buying a bus ticket for parts unknown.  How you gonna get the time off to find him?  Where are you gonna start?  Do you have a nationwide network of quiet professionals ready to go to work for you when you need them to?   Do you have the proper training and equipment to transport someone who does NOT want to return with you across the country?  (Yes, there are professional recovery agents out there and they don't all look and act like the Cheeseball Bounty hunter.)  If you said 'no' to any of these questions, then kiss the $10k you left with the court goodbye...all because you cheaped out trying to save a thousand bucks.  Way to go.  Real shrewd move, Daddy Warbucks.

We don't just write the bond & disappear.  We have a vested interest in making sure the defendant goes to every court appearance, as required.  We are directly accountable to the court for the full amount of each and every bond we write.  If we don't have a qualified co-signer, if we didn't collect sufficient collateral, if we can't find the defendant ourselves or pay a team to find 'em, and if we don't have the money to pay the forfeited amount of the bond out of our own pocket...then and only then will the insurance company I write for, pay the forfeiture to the court.  

And that money will come out of the build up fund (B.U.F.) I've paid into along with the premium I've paid to the insurance company for the privilege of writing for them.  Don't misunderstand, I'm ok with paying a premium to the insurance company.  But the B.U.F. is also for my retirement, if there's any left at the end of my career.  It stings knowing a bad bond could get paid out of my retirement funds, so my incentive to write good business is strong.  My loss ratios, compared to the total dollar volume of bonds I write every year has always been 1% or less.  I've seen dozens of people come and go through this business over the years.  I start year 20 in this biz in April of this year.  

The temptation for greed and corruption in this biz is huge because it is mostly a cash business.  If one is not thoroughly grounded with good values and ethics, this biz will give you all the rope you need to hang yourself.

What he said.


We take very good care of our CIs. Many companies just screw them and the bounty hunters over.  Not us. We are a lil more reputable than some.

Is this you OP?



http://www.grumpysbailbonds.com



Friend of a friend of a friend.
Big laugh when some DWI idiot thinks she is the one coming to pick them up out of jail!
Must work, #1 BB in Nashville metro
http://www.murfreesboropost.com/remarkable-rutherford-woman-everyone-knows-grumpy---or-leah-hulan-cms-43612