Dallas Bail Bonds and Your Credit
The short answer is “No”. Posting a Dallas bail bond, or any bail bonds for that matter, should not affect your credit whatsoever. Whether you’re posting bail bonds with the County or with a Dallas Bail Bondsman, there is no reason your credit should not be a factor.
If you post a cash bond with the City or County, as long as the defendant makes all necessary court appearances the bond amount should be returned to you, minus any court related fees. These fees are generally minimal.
Using Dallas Bail Bonds Agents To Post Bail
If you go through a Dallas Bail Bonds Agent, then the bond agent will post the bond on behalf of the defendant, and your premium will just be a portion of the total bond amount. Once the bond is posted by the bail bonds agent, then the premium is said to have been earned.
Just as posting a bond with the City or County does not affect your credit, working with a bail bonds agent to get a bond posted does not affect your credit either. One thing to note is that there are some bail bond agencies that do run credit reports and they may use information gained from that report to make their decision on whether or not they write the bond or bonds you’ve requested. In that case, there may be an inquiry shown on your credit report, depending on whether or not they ran a soft inquiry or hard inquiry. If you’ve had several inquiries, then an additional inquiry could possibly affect your credit score.
Bail Bond Loans And Your Credit
If, on the other hand, you’ve taken out a loan or been placed on a payment plan and you do not honor the payment agreement, there is a possibility that your credit can be affected. But of course, as the co-signer, you have complete control over this situation by simply staying in compliance with the terms of your agreement.
If you find that circumstances prevent you from making scheduled payments, then get in contact with your bond agent. Most agents will be happy to work with you and may possibly make adjustments to your payment plan to make it easier for you to remain on track. Remember, any time you’re dealing with a bond situation, communication is key!
Does Co-signing For Bail Bonds Affect Credit Scores?
Some people assume that co-signing will destroy their credit. Your credit score should not be affected in most cases as long as you make the bail payment on time. As mentioned earlier, some companies check on your credit details to ensure you are an e viable co-signer. In some cases, your credit score may determine the terms of your payment plan if you choose to make payments instead of paying the entire about of the bond premium at one time.
If the bail bonds company you are working with determines you do not have sufficient credit per their guidelines to qualify for a payment plan, then your options are to either pay the full premium or work with a different bail bonds company. Either way, bail bonds companies generally charge between 8 and 20% of the bail amount in order to post the bond.
Ways To Pay For Your Bail Bonds
There are multiple ways to pay for bail bonds without affecting your credit in any way:
Pay by Check: Note: Many bail bonds companies do not accept regular checks as payment for bail premiums. But there are some bail bonds agencies that will however, accept checks and they will generally have the ability to process them immediately the same as a credit or debit card payment, so the funds are removed from the checking account immediately.
Debit and Credit Card: Both debit and credit cards are accepted. Southern Bail Bonds Dallas make it easy for every individual to pay from a card. We can even process your payment over the phone to save you a trip to our office.
Cash: Due to the nature of our industry, some people prefer to pay cash in person. They want to know that the company is legit and they want to be able to look at the people they are dealing with. At Southern Bail Bonds Dallas, we get it! Everyone has heard of some sort of bail scam, so wanting to come into the actual office and put eyes on the people you are dealing with makes perfectly good sense to us. By the way, our agents like it too because we get to make a more personal connection with the folks we’re working with.
Money orders: A money order is another way to pay your bail bond company if you are not willing to pay cash. The money order is as easy as other ways to pay the bail bond company.
Installments: Some bail bonds companies allow payments to be made by making an initial down payment and paying the balance in installments. Let’s face it, most people do not have tons of money laying around that isn’t already allocated to pay bills and other living necessities. Southern Bail Bonds Dallas is happy to work with individuals who are needing to post bail for a loved one but who may need a bit of assistance with the bail premium.
Money Transfer Apps: Southern Bail Bonds Dallas offers its clients the opportunity to pay using CashApp, Zelle, PayPal, Apple Pay and Venmo.
Collateral payment: Depending on the amount of the bonds or other circumstances surrounding your particular situation, as a co-signer you may be required to produce collateral to secure the bonds. This generally happens when the bond amounts are high or the defendant has a history of not showing up for court. Note that collateral CAN NOT be used in lieu of payment for the bond. The reason for this is because if collateral is the only thing used to cover the cost of the bond, then once the case is over and the collateral has been returned, then no payment was actually made to cover the bond.
When using collateral to help secure a bond, check with your bond company to see what can be used as acceptable collateral. In Texas, a person’s homestead can not be used for collateral. Also, generally speaking if property is being used, it can not have a lien.
Requesting A Bail Reduction
Do you know you can even ask to have your bail reduced? Let us have a look at how?
If the bail is excessive, the defendant can have their attorney request a bail bonds reduction. This is not something that happens quickly. And it’s not something that is guaranteed. Basically, an attorney has to file a motion with the courts and build a case for why the bond reduction should be granted. Then the attorney has to schedule time in front of the judge or magistrate to present their request. After careful consideration, the judge will make a decision on whether or not to grant the bond reduction, and if so, they will set the new bail amounts. Just know that the judge can also deny the request leaving the bail amount unchanged.
Bail agents do not requests bond reductions, this is only done through