Bailing a friend of loved one out of jail can be a big decision to make. Oftentimes, the decision needs to be made quickly and the stakes are high. It important to know first what bailing someone out of jail really entails. When someone is arrested for being thought to have committed, there are typically two things that can happen to them. They can either be held in prison or released on bail. Bail is by definition money paid by a defendant to the court in order to be let out of jail. The idea being that the defendant will come back to the ensuing court dates because of the money on the line. Bail is due immediately at the time of the court’s ruling and must be paid to said court in full. If the bail is not paid, the defendant is forced to stay in jail while awaiting trial. Of course, for many people this would be the last thing that they would want for a friend of loved one.
In many cases, you and a loved one or friend will have to work with a bail bond agent like bail bonds Van Nuys. Oftentimes, this is because bail is set at thousands and thousands of dollars. Working with a bail bond agent usually allows you to put down only ten percent of the total bail. The rest of the bail is paid by the bail bond agent. The bail bond agent expects to receive the bail paid to the court given back once the defendant’s trial is finished. In this case, the bail bond agent keeps the ninety percent of the bail that they paid to get the defendant out of jail along with the original ten percent put down which the bail bond agent keeps as their fee.
If you cosign a bail bond, you are financially liable for the full amount if the defendant fails to appear in court. This is important to note. The bail bond agent can go after your stocks, assets, bank accounts and property to seek payment. If you or a loved one or friend fail to show up to court after a bail is paid by the bail bond agent, the bails bondsman or a bounty hunter can come after you or confiscate collateral damage put up for the bail bond. Laws governing bounty hunters vary by states. A bail bondsman seeking to recover money from a bail bond in Los Angeles has slightly different regulations than bail bondsmen in North Carolina. But usually a bounty hunter can access the private property of a fugitive, but no one else’s. Bounty hunters can typically use force to arrest a defendant, but not excessive especially none involving innocent bystanders.
