[vgaspar]

last december my husband and I committed to sign a bail bond agrrement for my brother. over the telephone he initiated a verbal contract to make payments when he got out of jail. It has been over eight months now and he has not made any payments or expressed any interest in taking care of this issue. my home is now in jeopardy. what should I do?

[aaron]

Have his charges been resolved, or are they about to be resolved, such that you might qualify for a refund of (most of) the bond money? Or was this simply a fee to a bail bond agent that will not be refunded?

You title your post "small claims", so you're obviously thinking about taking that approach. As jurisdictional limits vary by state, whether or not you could get a sufficient small claims judgment depends upon the laws of your state.

[vgaspar]

His charges were resolved. I was not aware of a possibility of getting a refund. would that still be the case? his charges were resolved in april. He has not paid any money towards the $10,000 pending.
I was not sure if it could be a small claims case or a verbal contract that I could take him to court for. My goal would be for taking any of his personal assets in order to pay this debt. Please advise me on what options I may have. Thank you.

[aaron]

You title your post "small claims", so you're obviously thinking about taking that approach. As jurisdictional limits vary by state, whether or not you could get a sufficient small claims judgment depends upon the laws of your state.

[vgaspar]

I'm in california.. so what steps could I take?

[aaron]

The California Courts Self-Help Center offers information on small claims court.