1. Home
  2. Blog
  3. Bail Bonds
  4. 5 Traits of a Good Bail Bonds Agent

5 Traits of a Good Bail Bonds Agent

From time to time, we all need a little help. Sometimes it can be more serious than others. In the case of getting arrested, sometimes you may need to get the financial assistance of a bail bonds agent. However, if you’ve never been arrested before, you may not understand the process. To help you get a better understanding, we’re going to go over the basic concepts of how bail bonds work below.

What Is Bail?

We’ve all surely heard the term bail before. Whether it was on a news release or from someone we know, bail is associated with being arrested. When you get arrested, there will be a court date scheduled at a later date. You typically have two options. You can stay in jail until that date. Or, you could post bail. A bail is a set amount of money by a judge that acts as an insurance policy for the court system. As long as you show up to your court date in the future, you can receive your bail money back.


What Is A Bail Bond?

If a judge allows for bail to be set, the amount can range greatly. In most smaller cases, bail will be set somewhere between 2,500 and 25,000 dollars. In cases where there was a larger offense, bail can be set in the hundreds of thousands or even millions. Paying any of these amounts of out pocket is typically not feasible for the average person.

In these cases, a bail bonds agent can help. A bail bond is a type of surety bond, which is available in two forms. An understanding of crimes will help you to decipher between the two. The civil bail bond and the criminal bail bond. The civil bond is used for civil cases and requires payment of the debt along with interest and fees. A criminal bail bond is used for criminal cases that require the defendant to show up for their trial date and pay any fines or penalties imposed against them.

To complete your knowledge of the bail bonds process, it’s time to look at how the bond is used. Instead of paying the entire amount that the bail is set at, a bail bonds agent will only require you to put down 10 percent of the bail amount. The rest of the bail money can typically be secured by any collateral that you may own, such as a house or a car. Once you appear at court and a ruling is given, the collateral lien is released. Common terminology for a bail bond

Traits Of A Good Bails Bond Agent

Bail documentations can be a tough thing to figure out. When you pick the right bail bonds agent, you’ll be able to get through the process easily. Here are the must-have traits of any bails bond agency that you’re considering hiring.

A Good Reputation

Bail Agent reputation is everything in the bail bonds industry. You need someone that you know you can trust with having a lien on your assets. You don’t want to end up having trouble later on with the ownership of your things. Take the time to do some searching around to see what others are saying about the agency that they worked with. A bail agent’s reputation should be pretty easy to decipher from their online reviews.

They Have Experience

An experienced bail bondsman is a must. Working in the law enforcement area, you need an agent that you trust to do the job right the first time. You don’t want to be worrying about having a warrant out for your arrest due to the lack of your bail bondsman doing their job correctly. Instead, only work with those experience bail bondsman that has been around for a while.

Available Around The Clock

Your knowledge of the bail bonds process should allow you to understand the fact that bonds are posted around the clock. People are arrested in the daytime and at night. Waiting to do bail documentation until 9 to 5 pm on only weekdays could mean spending more time in jail than you really need to. Instead, only work with bail bondsmen who are available around the clock to post bail.

They Listen To Your Situation

One of the best characteristics of a good bail agent is that they are concerned about you. You don’t just want to be another number on a piece of paper. You want a bonds agent that will listen to your situation and help you. Think about it like this for a moment. If you don’t trust the bonds agent, then why would you want to let them be the only link between you and jail? You wouldn’t, which is why you must ensure that consideration is one of the characteristics of a good bail agent.

Financial Backing

The bails bond agent is basically using other people’s money when they post your bail. Apart from the 10 percent that you pay for, they will use money from their financial backers. Their backers then get a return on their investment in fees that you pay back to the bail bonds agent. You should ensure that the bail bonds agent has ample financial backing so you can rest assured they have the funds to post your bail appropriately.

While none of us really want to ever deal with the bail process, sometimes life throws us a curveball. Having an understanding of crimes and the bail bonds process will allow you to be better prepared to handle it. Ensure that the bail bonds person that you hire has all the five traits above.