How to be a Bounty Hunter

Be honest, have you stayed up watching A&E’s Dog the Bounty Hunter© all night, thinking……I could do that?  Are you really good at problem solving, tracking, and finding clues?  Then why not become a bounty hunter?

When you think of a Bounty Hunter, you probably picture some pistol packing, spur wearing, cowboy with a horse and a death wish, but the times have changed, and so has the payouts!  In the old days, the town, or the local government would post a reward for wanted criminals, and anyone that could bring them in; dead or alive, could claim the reward.  Now days, things are much different.  A criminal is arrested, and thrown into jail.  Depending on the severity of the crime, the judge sets a bail amount for the criminal.  The bail amount increases for more severe crimes.  With the bond, a persons family or friends can bail them out of jail, until their hearing for a certain amount of money.  The problem comes when the bond is really high, and the individuals family can’t afford to bail them out.  This is where a bail bondsman comes in, and puts up the money for a large fee, and if the criminal flees (about 25 out of 100 do), then he hires a a bounty hunter to find the criminal, and bring them back to jail.  The Bounty Hunter then gets a percentage of the bail from the Bondsman!

How to get started:  The first thing you need to do is check the laws in the state you live in.  It is very important to know you are doing everything legally.  Every state has different laws, as does every country regarding bond enforcement.  Find out if your state allows concealed carry, and if it does, go get your license and start packing some heat!  You should never need a gun, but the time might come when you do.  As they always say, “Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight”.

Once you establish the local laws, you should really think about going to work with a experienced team first.  You should put in a few months just to learn the tricks of tracking and subduing the criminal.  I know you won’t, but I had to put that advice in there!!!

Now that you know the laws, and have some experience under your belt, it’s time to start apprehending the bad guys yourself.  Being a Bounty Hunter might not sound like the norm for a entrepreneur, but it is a business, and you have to remember that, and run it like one.  Make sure you keep great books, with detailed information about your mileage, expenses, and time spent tracking, because all of this is a tax write off!  If you have to travel four states to find someone, all of those miles are a tax write off, as well as your food, and hotel stay if needed.

Tracking:  Like I said earlier, understanding the laws is vital in this business, and I am just giving you a starting point.

When a person signs a contract with a bondsman, they sign away all of their rights to this company, in turn for the money to get themselves out of jail.  This is exactly what you need.  You get a copy of that contract from the bond company, and you have all the legal data you need to pursue this criminal at almost any cost.  They are not like a normal criminal who commits a crime, but has not been caught yet, they have literally signed away every legal right they have, saying that you can listen in on their phone calls, walk in to their residence without a knock or anything, and go through all of their personal information, including phone records, credit/bank account statements, and everything.  So as you can see, as a bounty hunter, you actually have more rights than the police do with a criminal, there is no need to obtain a warrant or anything else for that matter.  Use whatever you need to track, find, and apprehend your people.

Marketing:  Marketing for a bounty hunter is pretty simple…..find every bail bond company you can, and introduce yourself.  The truth is, the best marketing is returning the bondsman their huge investments back safe and sound.  Prove you can apprehend the bad guy, and your phone will ring!  A bondsman really doesn’t have anything to lose by hiring you, or giving you the contract, because they will only pay you if you bring in the suspect.  They may hire several Bounty Hunters for every claim, but the only one who gets paid is the one who wins!

Earning Potential:  This can be a full time or a part time business, or can just be a hobby for the guy in his mid life crisis who just needs a little action in his life!  The pay structure is usually set up at 12-15% of the bondsman profits.  So if the person who skipped towns’ bail was set at $500k, that means the bondsman probably charged a fee of roughly $50k, meaning if you find and bring in the individual, your total payout would be in between $5k and $7500.  Half a million is a very large bail, and normally you will be dealing with $10k – $50k bail, but you can see how this can quickly add up if your good at finding these people.

Summary:  This is just a starting point to give you a quick overview of what is needed to get started in this business.  This is not your normal accounting business, you will be dealing with people who already broke the law at least twice, and really don’t care to much about your pretty mug, or your well being.  Make sure you know what your getting yourself into, and don’t forget……..John Wayne’s real name was Marion, and he might of been one tough SOB on the movie screen, but he wasn’t really bulletproof in real life.

Other businesses you could do along side being a Bounty Hunter:

• Start a repo business
• Become a Bondsman
• Private investigator

Resources:

• Bail Yes:  This site has a lot of resources for this industry, including a state by state list of laws regarding bail enforcement
• American Bail Coalition:  Great resources.
• National Association of Bail Enforcement Agents: One of the very few associations for Agents.
• National Institute of Bail Enforcement:  Great links, and training resources.