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It is illegal here to solicite at the jail or courthouse, but it is not uncommon in some of the larger cities for bond companies to station their agents at both to see what they might be able to pick up on the fly. They sit around with their briefcases, and wait for somebody to show up looking for a bondsman, or possibly steal a bond from another that hasn't shown up yet.
I have written a few bonds simply because I was at the jail or courthouse doing another when I was approached. Sometimes I was pointed out as being a bondsman by another, sometimes they knew me, sometimes they recognized the paperwork that I was doing. The only times I wrote the bond over another agent was if they had turned it down (and I could make it work), they hadn't contacted anybody else, or the agent was unavailable for a time period that was unacceptable to the client. In the second situation I always had them call the other agent and tell them not to come.
People tend to shop around on bonds, looking for the best "deal." I tell them my requirements, and they either take it or leave it. Several bondsmen play the game, trying to undercut the rest. If I get a call that so-and-so will do it for xx, hoping that I will beat it, I tell them to use so-and-so. If I get that reputation, everybody will expect me to do the same for them, and I not only lose current money but the ability to maintain my stance in the future. Never get so greedy or desparate for money that you compromise your values. In the end, it is your reputation and success that is at stake.
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Kathy Blackshear
Blackshear Investigations
Blackshear Bail Bonds
Sales Associate, Prepaid Legal Services, Inc.
Walsenburg, CO
Proud Member of the AB Reject Club
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