How Many Co-Signers Do You Need For A Bond?

Seeing a loved one go to jail is not fun, especially when there’s nothing you feel you can do to help. Luckily, there’s an option of becoming a co-signer, that way you can get your friend or relative their freedom as soon as possible. And if the arrested person chooses to go the route of a bail bondsman, you’ll be an instrumental part of his/her release from prison – a crucial pre-trial assist. 

What is a co-signer?

As we well know, the legal system requires a property or money bail to be paid in order to secure the defendant’s release from jail. Upon release, the defendant is under agreement that he or she will return to court on their trial dates. If not, he or she will be sought out by a bounty hunter and returned to prison. 

This entire process requires a co-signer as a secondary guarantee that the defendant will attend all scheduled court dates. The co-signer is legally required to vouch for the defendant.

In the state of California, the co-signer can be anyone that knows the defendant. It’s highly suggested that the arrested person chooses someone close and reliable. The closer and more reliable the better the chance that the bail bonds company will accept the offered co-signer. This can include family, significant others, co-workers, and close friends. 

If you have any questions about who is the right qualifying co-signer, please speak with a local, trusted bail bondsman. Synergy Bail Bonds would be a great place to start, and we have specialists and trusted professionals waiting my the phone and computer all day to help you the best way we can.

What qualifies you as a good cosigner?

If you’re considering being a co-signer for a loved one, please take the following considerations seriously:

1- Credit History 

If you’re co-signing a bail bond, the bail bond company needs to know that you’re financially reliable. That means offering proof of a good credit history where you’ve made regular payments. Additional savings accounts, collateral, and property can play a beneficial role in your part as a co-signer, too. 

2- Job History

Having a history at the same career for a long period of time will deem you as reliable. If that job gives you a weekly paycheck, the bail bond company will feel even more secure adding you to the legal documentation. Why? Because if the defendant breaches their bail terms, the paperwork shows that you can pay the bail amount in their absence. 

3- Responsibility

You must be a reliable person with firm responsibilities. Being a co-signer for a bail bond requires it. Why? Because if your responsibilities are not met as stated in the legal documentation, you will be held accountable for the defending being a no-show in court. 

What is your main responsibility as a co-signer?

The #1 thing you have to be sure of when signing up to be a co-signer is that you can trust the defendant. You are 100% responsible for them and the amount of bail required to release him or her from jail.

If more than one co-signer is present on the contract, the both of you are responsible.

Be sure to get your loved one to court at the scheduled timeframe because if they fail to show up, the bail bondsman will be seeking you out as well as hiring a bounty hunter to secure the defendant and bring him or her back to court. Also, be sure to pay the bond premium in full. The bond premium is the full bail fee amount, or the charges for the service that the bail bondsman is performing on behalf of the defendant. 

In addition to all of this, the bail bondsman is allowed to charge a recovery fee if the defendant skips bail. This recovery fee will cover the cost of finding them and returning them to jail.