Three ways to get someone out of jail in Florida. Pick the bond amount and see what each one really costs. We write bonds up to $2,000,000, so the number in your hand is almost certainly one we can cover.
The premium is the entire cost of the bond, not a deposit and not a first payment. The guarantee is different: it is not money you pay, it is what you become responsible for as the cosigner if the defendant does not go to court. Most people never pay any of it. Everyone should know it exists before they sign.
How we underwrite, every bond
Before a bond is written we run a background and asset check on both the defendant and the person signing as indemnitor. It is not something we do only on large bonds or only when something looks wrong. It happens every time.
If that search shows you own something of value, we will ask you to pledge it as collateral.
That is how this agency works, and we would rather you read it on a website than hear it for the first time with a pen in your hand. It is not a judgement about you or about them. A guarantee standing on something real is part of what lets the bond be written.
If it shows nothing to pledge, that is not a refusal. Plenty of our bonds are written exactly that way, on a payment plan and on your ties to the area. What follows is what the conversation actually looks like, either way.
Your ties to the area
Which of these are true? Tick any that apply.
Renting counts. A job you started three months ago counts. None of this is a test you pass or fail. There is no score here and no box that disqualifies you. It is simply what gets discussed, and it is why most people never reach the collateral conversation at all.
Say that early in the call and the agent can move faster. Whether a bond is approved, and on what terms, is still their decision after looking at the whole case, including the charge.
None of them? Still call. People are bonded out every week whose circumstances look like nothing on paper. There are more arrangements than this page can list, and the only way to find out which one fits is to say the situation out loud to somebody who does this all day.
If collateral does come up
If collateral does come up, and on larger bonds it can, here is exactly what that means.
It cannot be more than the bond justifies. Under Fla. Stat. § 648.442(1) any collateral an agent requires must be reasonable in relation to the amount of the bond. Nobody may ask you to pledge a house against a small bond.
You get a numbered receipt. Subsection (2) requires a written, numbered receipt giving a full account of what was taken. If an agent takes something and hands you nothing, that is not a paperwork oversight. Violating this section is a third degree felony under subsection (11).
It is held, not used. Collateral is received and held in the insurer's name in a fiduciary capacity, kept separate from the agency's own money, and may not be used for personal benefit or gain.
It comes back when liability ends. Collateral is returned on final termination of liability on the bond, once the court has released the surety in writing.
Nobody may agree a value with you. Subsection (7) forbids an agent from entering into any agreement as to the value of collateral. That is exactly why the figure below is your arithmetic and not our valuation.
A quitclaim deed is never acceptable. The statute prohibits it outright. Property is pledged through a recorded mortgage in the insurer's name. If anyone asks you to sign a quitclaim deed for a bond, stop and call us.
Work out your equity
If you want to work out what equity you have, it is value minus what is owed.
A private party value from KBB or Edmunds is close enough for this.
Enter 0 if it is paid off.
Your county property appraiser's site is the steadier number.
Include any second mortgage or home equity line.
Property is the bigger step. Under the statute a home is pledged as a recorded mortgage in the insurer's name, never a quitclaim deed. That takes paperwork and time, and it is worth understanding fully before agreeing to it. Ask an agent to walk you through it rather than assuming.
One of those is worth less than what is owed on it, so it carries no equity to pledge.
Whether this bond needs collateral at all, and whether this would be accepted, is a decision a licensed agent makes after looking at the case. This page cannot tell you, and by § 648.442(7) we may not agree a value with you here in any event. Any site that claims otherwise is guessing. What we can do is tell you honestly on the phone, usually in a couple of minutes.
Neither? That is genuinely fine. Plenty of our bonds are written without collateral, and a payment plan does not depend on owning anything. See payment options.
Tell us who is in jail and where. Our team calls you straight back, any hour of the day.
