All Things Bail Bonds

you need to check into the local laws. some states won’t allow you to own a bond company until you have worked for one for several years.

yes, bond companies can be very lucrative but they also have a high liability…….especially if you don’t know your local court system. another liability is if you use a national insurance company to post your money for you. i know a woman who owned a bond company that used an insurance group to post the money but the insurance company never gave the money to the county…she was personally liable to the county for several thousand dollars and was put out business….all because she didn’t research the business properly before opening her doors. another guy made 3 bad bonds that were for $100,000 each…..all three people bonded were illegals and took off back to mexico as soon as they were bonded. now, guess who gets to pay the county $300,000……that is right, the guy who owned the bond company that wrote the bonds….he is now out of business.

the best thing to do if you don’t know much about bonding is to get a job at a bond company and learn the ropes and the laws reguarding the business. the more prepared you are, the better off you are.

bonding is both boring and interesting. boring because it is pretty much the same thing day after day. interesting because you learn a whole lot about the legal system and the criminals you deal with tell the most outrageous lies.

also, i sure hope you are good at assessing risk. because, bonding is basically giving someone a loan. are you going to buy every bullsh** story and make some bad bonds, or are you going to be able to recognize when someone is lying to you and are going to be a bad risk?

the way bond companies make money is through the bond fees on bonds wherein the defendant takes care of their charges. then the bond fee is free and clear (minus overhead). but if the defendant doesn’t show up to court, you, as the bond company, are liable to the court for the full amount of the bond (some counties will allow you to settle for a percentage, some counties want the full amount). so, how many $1500 bonds do you have to write at $200 bond fee each to cover one $1500 bond that went bad? plus, are you going to ask for collatoral? do you know when you need collat? do you have the storage space for small items? were you planning on taking vehicles? where were you going to store them? what about property deeds? do you know how to check to see if a property deed or vehicle title is free/clear and doesn’t have a lein on it already?

and how are you going to arrest bond jumppers? are you going to use a company that provides that kind of service? are you going to just surrender the bond and hope the cops pick them up before the defendant is due in court? do you know how to surrender a bond? are you going to become a licensed investigator so you can arrest them yourself? do you know what the license is in calif that will allow you to arrest them yourself?

there are a whole lot of issues to consider when starting any new business, especially one that has a high financial liability and could possibly get you arrested if you do something wrong.

The link below is to the “Complete Guide to Owning and Operating a Successful Bail Bond Company” in California. Good Luck!