Bail bond firms are businesses that assist individuals who have already been charged at a court of law. So the company helps them live outside the prison while still waiting for their trial.

State regulations regulate these bail bond businesses, and some requirements can be quite complex. If you are looking to invest in this kind of business, then you ought to be watchful as there has been uproar’s by legal groups to bring down the cash bail demands in the courts.

What is bail?

If you are charged in a court of law with a criminal offense and appear before a judge, they will determine whether you will go to trial or be released. On few occasions, the court may decide to release the accused and trust that they will show up at the court when they are needed and that they will follow all the requirements put in place by the court.

In case the judge has some doubt that the accused will not follow the rules stipulated by the court, then they will set up a certain amount of money that the charged person should pay. This money is referred to as the bail, and it can vary depending on the complexity of the case. The court will now hold on to this money until the entire trial process is complete. If all the conditions for the bail are met then the money will be refunded back to the accused.

Duties of the Bail Bond Company

Many are the times when the bail amount is high, and the accused cannot be able to raise the full amount asked. If they are not able to come up with the amount, then the friends and family can look for a bail bond company to help them out. The business will now sell surety bonds to the accused that will now act as insurance. It becomes insurance that this accused person will show up in court when asked to.

A jail bond will typically cost a certain percentage of the total bail. The amount is usually 10 percent of the bail. The accused person may secure this bond with fancy and expensive collateral like a car, house, title deed, jewelry, among other assets. So after this, the company will send a representative to assure the court the accused will appear in court and also pay some part of the bail. If the accused fails to show up, then the bondsman will pay up the remaining portion of the bond.

How the Bail Bond business makes money

These bail bond businesses make their money using the nonrefundable fee. For a bail bond company to grant you bail, you have to pay a certain percentage of the bail which is not refundable. That is usually the fee for the bond. That is technically the reason why several legal advisors try to tell clients not to use the bail bond services in any way. 

Lawyers have even tried to work hand in hand with judges so that they can reduce the asking price for bails so that their clients will not have to pay vast sums of money to the bail bond companies that will not be refunded.