Tag Archives: bail and credit

How to Post Bail With Bad Credit

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Although posting bail will not negatively affect your credit score, obtaining a bail bond may pose some difficulties if you have bad credit or low cash availability. Continue reading to learn how to post bail when you do not have enough cash nor credit limit to pay for the bail premium.

Indianapolis Bail Bonds 317-876-9600

Indianapolis Bail Bonds 317-876-9600

Credit Scores

The actual act of posting bail for someone will not negatively impact your credit score. It is the form of payment you choose, as well as, failure to obey the terms and conditions of bail, than can affect your credit. For example, if you pay the bail premium with cash, your credit score is not effected. However, if you take out a loan to pay for the bail premium, and then fail to pay the loan back, your credit score will likely be effected.

Low Credit Limits and Cash Reserves

But what about those who do not have enough credit or cash to pay for the full bail premium set by the presiding judge? The answer is a bail bond. When a person does not have the cash to pay for the full bail premium, they have the fortunate option of using a bail bond company.

Bail premiums are generally very high, usually in the thousands. For example: if a person’s bail is set at $10,000 for a drunk driving charge, they would have to fork up that amount in cash and pay it to the courts to get out of jail. But who has that kind of cash laying around? Not many people do.

So what’s the alternative?

An Indianapolis bail bond company will charge a 10 to 15 percent fee of the total bail premium, and cover the rest with their own assets. So long as the defendant appears for all scheduled court hearings, they will get their money back. Although the fee you pay out of pocket is not refundable, it is significantly less than having to pay the entire amount. In the case that your loved one’s bail is set at $10,000, you can expect a bail bond to cost anywhere from $1,000 to $1,500.

Using a Credit Card to Pay a Bail Premium

Even if you have enough credit limit on your credit card to cover the entire bail premium, doing so can really cost you. Many credit card companies will treat this charge as a credit card cash advance, which can be extremely expensive. In fact, some will charge a 3% fee plus interest that is higher than your typical interest fee. And on top of all that, the fees begin accruing immediately without any grace period.

So what starts as a $10,000 charge could quickly turn into an additional $12,000 within 6 months. That comes out to $22,000 for a $10,000 bail. Although you get the original $10,000 back if the defendant appears for all scheduled court hearings, you still end up pay more than that amount just to cover it on a credit card. And to think: a bail bond would have only cost a one-time fee of $1,000 to $1,500.

How to Get Started

Indianapolis Bail Bonds 317-876-9600

Indianapolis Bail Bonds 317-876-9600

Call Woods Bail Bonds at 317-876-9600 for safe and secure Indianapolis bail bonds you can trust. We also offer prearranged bail bond services for those needing to surrender to an arrest warrant. In some cases, we can get you turned in and released in as little as one hour! Request a free estimate or jail information, anytime.

Do I Need Good Credit to Bail Someone Out of Jail?

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Indianapolis Bail Bonds 317-876-9600

Indianapolis Bail Bonds 317-876-9600

After someone is arrested for a crime, they are transported by police to the town’s county jail or local sheriff’s office to be booked. The booking process involves a series of steps, including a search and seizure of personal belongings, fingerprinting, mug shots, general identification data entry, and more. Depending on the amount of traffic and the efficiency of the jail staff, as well as a few other factors, the time it takes to complete the booking process varies from one hour to 12 or more hours.

However, once the booking process is done, a person can post their bond and obtain a release from jail if a bond was set for them.

Bail Options

At this point, a person can be bailed out of jail by paying the entire bond amount in cash, which will be refunded to them so long as they appear for all court hearings. But this is “road-less-traveled” since many people do not have thousands of dollars of cash on hand to temporarily surrender. So instead, many people choose to bail themselves out of jail with the help of a bail bondsman. This way, they only have to pay a small percentage of their total bond amount for a release
from jail.

Bail Bond Co-Signing and Credit

Poor or fair credit may or may not affect your ability to co-sign for a bail bond. It depends on the discretion of the bail bond agency. Generally, credit doesn’t play a major part in obtaining a bail bond. However, if a person has very poor or no credit, it could pose an issue for the bail bondsman. To legally co-sign for a bail bond, a person must be a U.S citizen, at least 18 years old, and have stable employment; and they must be able to provide proof of all these. If a person meet all of the above requires, plus has the money or property to pay for the bail bond, bad credit may not be a problem.

Woods Bail Bonds

Woods Bail Bonds Marion County Indiana

Woods Bail Bonds Marion County Indiana 317-876-9600

Call Woods Bail Bonds at 317-876-9600 to get out of jail in Marion County, Indiana. Owner, James Woods, and his a team of experienced professionals, truly care about getting people out of jail quickly and comfortably. And we work around the clock, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, to provide friendly and discreet bail bond services all throughout Indianapolis. We also offer free estimates, free jail information, and free rides to and from the jail and our offices. Call 317-876-9600 for Marion County bail bonds you can trust.