Commonly Asked Bail Bond Questions & Answers

It is a contract between the bonding company and the INS for the release of the alien from INS custody.

Yes. There are two types of immigration bonds, the delivery bond and the voluntary departure bond.

A delivery bond is an appearance bond and is posted to ensure that the alien will appear for all of his future immigration proceedings.

A bond posted to ensure that the alien departs the United States within the time specified.

We charge a one-time fee equal to 20% of the amount of the bond. Therefore, a $10,000 bond would cost $2,000. This fee is called the premium.

Some agencies charge annual premiums which have to be paid every year that the bond is in force. Thus, if the bond lasts 5 years, the premium will have to be paid 5 times. We do not charge an annual premium for our immigration bonds, so the cost is the same regardless of whether your case lasts 1 year or 10 years.

Yes. It is common for immigrations cases to last several years. In fact, we have had cases last as long as 10 years.

No. The premium is our fee which we earn by taking the risk that the alien will fail to appear for his hearing dates and we will be forced to pay the bond.

Yes.

Call us at 1-800-954-4008 Monday - Friday, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. pacific time. We will need the full name of the alien, his or her alien number and the name of the facility where the alien is being detained. We will then contact the INS to find out the amount of the bond. You will be contacted and informed of how much the bond will cost, what kind of collateral will be required, and to arrange a meeting to fill out the forms. You can expedite this process by printing out the application and filling it out prior to meeting with us.

Because the INS field offices are not open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In fact, the Fresno, California field office is only open from 8:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m., Pacific Time, Monday through Friday and is closed during all federal holidays.

A Deed of Trust on real property with sufficient equity to cover the amount of the bond plus foreclosure costs and/or cash collateral.

A lien on real property for a specific amount of money.

Yes, when the bond is canceled, provided that the alien has not breached and there is no premium owed. If the alien does breach or premium is owed, your property will not be reconvened until all premiums and expenses are paid and your property may be foreclosed upon to pay these expenses.

Yes, when the bond is canceled, provided that the alien has not breached and there is no premium owed. Even if the alien does breach or premium is owed you will still get your cash collateral back minus the expenses caused by the breach or the premium owed.

Yes. The right to reasonable bail is guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the California Constitution (U.S. Const. 8th Amend., Cal. Const. Art.1, Sec.12) However, this right is not absolute and bail can be denied for capital crimes and certain serious felony offenses, especially when there is a substantial likelihood that the defendant's release would result in great bodily harm to others.

Security, usually in the form of a bond, exchanged for the release of an arrested person as a guarantee of that person's appearance in court.

A bail bond is guarantee given by bail bonds company to the court for the appearance of the defendant at all of his required court dates.

A bail agent is a person licensed by the California Department of Insurance to write bail bonds.

Call us at 1-800-954-4008 anytime 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The agent on duty will need the full name of the defendant, the name of the jail that he is in, and his date of birth or booking number. The agent will then contact the jail and find out what his charges are and the amount of his bail. The agent will then call you back to tell you how much the bond will cost, what type of collateral will be required, and to arrange a meeting to fill out the required forms. You can expedite this process by printing out the application and filling it out prior to meeting the agent.

Call us at 1-800-954-4008 anytime 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and we can tell you what his charges are. If you want to learn more about the charges you can look them up online at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html.

We charge an annual fee equal to 10% of the defendants’ bail plus a flat per bond service charge of $15.00. This fee is called the premium. Thus, if a defendant's bail is $10,000 the premium would be $1,015.

No. The premium is our fee which we earn by taking the risk that the defendant will fail to appear for his court dates and we will be forced to pay the bond.

No, under certain circumstances, you can pay as little as half of the premium up front with balance paid in payments.

That law has changed to prohibit renewal premiums on bail bonds, a renewal premium would be a NO.

It depends on many factors, the most important of which is the amount of the bail and the nature of the charges. Many smaller bonds can be written with the signature of just one indemnitor who is employed and has been working at his job for a year or more. Large bonds will require several indemnitors with good jobs and/or a deed of trust on property with sufficient equity to cover the amount of the bond and foreclosure costs, some amount of cash collateral, or a combination of all of these.

A person who agrees to pay us for all of the losses on the bail bond including, but not limited to, forfeiture costs, investigator fees, unpaid premium, attorney fees, foreclosure fees, interest, and other costs. Indemnitor is synonymous with co-signer.

A lien on real property for a specific amount of money.

Yes, when the bond is exonerated, provided that the defendant has not forfeited and there is no premium owed. If the defendant does forfeit or premium is owed, your property will not be reconvened until all premiums and expenses are paid and your property may be foreclosed upon to pay these expenses.

Yes, when the bond is exonerated, provided that the defendant has not forfeited and there is no premium owed. Even if the defendant does forfeit or premium is owed you will still get your cash collateral back minus the expenses caused by the forfeiture or the premium owed.

The court will order the bail bond forfeited and in California Albert Ramirez Bail Bonds will have 185 days from the date of forfeiture to find the defendant and return him or her to court. Usually the defendant fails to appear due to mistake or inadvertence and his bond can be reinstated provided that he contacts us immediately after his failure to appear. If he does not contact us immediately, i.e. usually within 30 days, after his failure to appear we will assume that he or she has skipped bail.

Unless we can get an extension, we will have to pay the entire amount of the bond to the court. Thus, if we posted a 10,000 bond and the bond is not exonerated within 185 days, we will have to pay the entire $10,000 to the court. Of course we will execute on the collateral to recover this cost.

A bail skip is a person out on bail who has failed to appear for one of his court dates. We hire skip tracers, also known as fugitive recovery agents, to locate skips and surrender them into custody.

A person who locates skips and surrenders them back into custody. Skip tracers are required by California Penal Code section 1299.04 to have certain minimal training. In addition to meeting this requirement, our skip tracers are also licensed private investigators.

Yes. Pursuant to California Penal Code section 1301 we have the power to arrest defendants that have forfeited their bonds.

An exoneration is the court order which ends our liability on a bail bond.

Usually, an exoneration is issued when the case is terminated by the defendant being acquitted, convicted and sentenced or pleading guilty and being sentenced. An exoneration will also be issued if the defendant is surrendered within the forfeiture period or if the court made a procedural error sufficient for us to get an exoneration via a legal motion.