Here's how being bail bondsman works
By Peggy Judd
[Tagline]
Published Sunday, June 06, 2010 11:00 PM
By Peggy Judd
For the Salisbury Post
The first form of bail bondsmen were wealthy landowners or farmers who would post bail for their incarcerated neighbors, pledging with their money that the neighbor would show up for his trial.
Today, a bond agent must have a clean criminal background check and good credit to be licensed by the N.C. Department of Insurance.
A "professional" bail agent uses his own funds, held in trust, for bail fees. A "surety" bond agent works with various state insurance companies who underwrite the bail fee, though the bond agent is solely responsible for the fee.
Many agents carry both titles.
In brief, a person who is arrested and has to post bail to be released can enlist the help of a bond agent, or bondsman. The defendant agrees to pay the bondsman a fee up front for his services.
The fee for the bail bond is not more than 15 percent of the total bail amount.
The client is required to have a third party involved as a co-signer. The bondsman posts the bail fee with the agreement that the fee will be released when the defendant returns to court for trial.
U.S. Constitutional law states that when this person is released on bail, he is released into the custody of the bail bondsman, and the bondsman can take him back into custody at any time and return him to the custody of the sheriff.
There are seven rules that, if broken, give a bondsman reason to bring a defendant back into custody before the appointed court date. These include leaving the county or state without permission and giving false information about identity or other personal information.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Choosing the Right Bail Bondsman
Choosing the Right Bail Bondsman
Posted by Louis On June - 7 - 2010
When you have a loved one in jail, your first instinct will be to get them out right away. You could post bail yourself, but as you know, some courts tend to post excessive bail. They’re not supposed to, but honestly, how many times do you hear of a judge setting bail at one million dollars for a family who couldn’t even produce a fraction of that?
Bail bondsmen exist to help individuals post bail when they simply cannot do so themselves. It is not free of course. You will need to put down a bit of collateral, but by using a bail bondsman, you will be able to pay large amounts of bail that you wouldn’t be able to cover otherwise.
After the case is close, the bail money will, of course, be returned to the bail bondsman, and you may receive some of your collateral back, depending on the agreement you made. This sounds like a great deal, but it is important to make sure you actually choose the right bail bond Tampa agency. The city of Tampa has plenty of bail bond agencies, but which one should you use? How can you tell a good one from a bad one? It’s pretty simple actually.
The bail bond company needs to be completely open with you as to what it is doing. In the past, these agencies have been run by rather unprofessional individuals and this is what ultimately gave them a bad name. A good bail bond agency will walk you through every step of the process, and let you know about any developments, whether they are good or bad.
There are many things to take into consideration when you are choosing a bail bonds agency, and with that being the case, you need to do your research and even compare prices. Remember that just because a company has a low price does not mean they are reputable. You should expect to pay a decent price, especially if you want good service. In other words, this can be an expensive process, but it is much better than the alternative, which would be your loved one or friend sitting in jail until their court date. So start looking for good bail bonds Tampa agencies today, because while you might not actually need one right now, there is a chance you will need one later. It’s impossible to tell when the unexpected might occur.
Posted by Louis On June - 7 - 2010
When you have a loved one in jail, your first instinct will be to get them out right away. You could post bail yourself, but as you know, some courts tend to post excessive bail. They’re not supposed to, but honestly, how many times do you hear of a judge setting bail at one million dollars for a family who couldn’t even produce a fraction of that?
Bail bondsmen exist to help individuals post bail when they simply cannot do so themselves. It is not free of course. You will need to put down a bit of collateral, but by using a bail bondsman, you will be able to pay large amounts of bail that you wouldn’t be able to cover otherwise.
After the case is close, the bail money will, of course, be returned to the bail bondsman, and you may receive some of your collateral back, depending on the agreement you made. This sounds like a great deal, but it is important to make sure you actually choose the right bail bond Tampa agency. The city of Tampa has plenty of bail bond agencies, but which one should you use? How can you tell a good one from a bad one? It’s pretty simple actually.
The bail bond company needs to be completely open with you as to what it is doing. In the past, these agencies have been run by rather unprofessional individuals and this is what ultimately gave them a bad name. A good bail bond agency will walk you through every step of the process, and let you know about any developments, whether they are good or bad.
There are many things to take into consideration when you are choosing a bail bonds agency, and with that being the case, you need to do your research and even compare prices. Remember that just because a company has a low price does not mean they are reputable. You should expect to pay a decent price, especially if you want good service. In other words, this can be an expensive process, but it is much better than the alternative, which would be your loved one or friend sitting in jail until their court date. So start looking for good bail bonds Tampa agencies today, because while you might not actually need one right now, there is a chance you will need one later. It’s impossible to tell when the unexpected might occur.
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