Thursday, November 3, 2016

Understanding How Bail Bondsman Services Work

By Walter Wagner


If you find yourself in serious legal trouble leading to an arrest, probably the only thing on your mind is how to get out of jail and how soon it can happen. Or you might get a call in the middle of the night from a friend or family member who has been arrested and wants you to bail them out. Many people would not even know what to do first. Most have watched enough television to know it will cost money to free someone and that a bail bondsman is the person to call.

How much you will have to pay to free the person depends on the charges brought against him or her. You will probably be required to come up with about ten percent of the total bond fee which must usually be paid in the form of cash. The bonding agent pays the court for you. Setting bail is the system courts use to ensure the accused shows up in court on the day of the case.

People who are in this line of work do have to meet some requirements before they are allowed to start a business. The regulations may vary from state to state, but most require individuals to take a class prior to taking the exam to get a license. All applicants have to be fingerprinted and pass a background check.

If you don't have the cash to post bond, you can call someone else to pay it for you as long as that person is at least eighteen years old. You can also put an asset, such as a house, up as collateral, but if the accused doesn't show up on his or her court date, the house can be foreclosed on. It will then be sold to the highest bidder in order to satisfy what is owed the court.

If the accused leaves town and doesn't appear in court, the court will issue a warrant for his or her arrest. After that the court has several options. The accused can be arrested by law enforcement, by someone authorized and licensed, or by a private investigator.

Bounty hunters might seem like something straight out of television or film, but they really do exist and are often referred to these days as surety recovery agents. Some adventurous young people might be interested in what it takes to become one of these professionals.

Requirements vary from state to state. In some places you really don't have to do anything but get the bondsman to hire you and tell you what to do and where to go. In other areas it is a felony to operate as a bounty hunter without a license. These individuals are paid a percentage of the bail money. How many cases they handle a year depends entirely on them, but most work on more than a hundred.

In a perfect world no one would need the services of a bondsman. If you find yourself in the unfortunate position of having to post bond however, knowing how the process works will save you some time.




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