The agent of a bail bond, has the permission to revoke a
bond at any time that the person who has been granted the bond shows the intent
of leaving town or shows signs of not making the court date. There is some type
of bail bonds that can be made without the need of an agent. The suspect is
allowed to provide a cash bond, but the drawback of this procedure is the fact
that this can hold up a lot of the suspect’s money that one might need for some
of the other legal procedures. However, some courts also allow suspects to file
property bonds.
The property bond procedure requires that the suspect, a
family member or even a friend to sign over the property to the court which
will be marked as a sign that the suspect intends to follow the court’s
directives says Jimmy from Cherry Bail Bonds. However, a property bond is considered as a very risky bond which
may result in the loss of a business or the home of a family.
When seeking a bail bonds agent to post bail for someone
else – your family member, son or daughter, or best friend – it is essential to
seriously consider several factors before you sign on the dotted line. You are
taking personal responsibility for the behavior of someone who is being charged
with a crime. Unless you know you can account for and be responsible for that
person’s willingness and ability to show up in court for all the necessary
dates and appearances; you should carefully consider whether or not you want to
take the financial risk involved in signing an agreement with a bail bonds
agent.
Singing the contract places responsibility on you for the
defendant’s appearances in court. If they “skip bail” or do not show
up for appearances, not only are you responsible for the entire bail bond
amount, but also corollary costs on the part of the bondsman, who is going to
track down the defendant to make an arrest aggressively.
In practical terms, that means that you could be charged
with paying for administrative costs and time, the fees that add up in
requiring the services of a bounty hunter, travel expenses if the defendant has
fled to another city, or even another country, as well as costs associated with
court and fees issued from lawyers. So before you sign, you should be extremely
confident that the defendant will not skip bail.
As a guarantor, you are also responsible for a contact with
the agency that posts the bail bond for the defendant. This means providing
them information regarding the client if he or she moves, changes phone
numbers, or loses a job or finds other employment. If the defendant breaks the
terms of his release or your contract, or flees and tries to hide from the
authorities, you are also obligated to provide the bondsman with any
information that you have regarding the whereabouts of the client.
Weighing these factors is very important as you seek to
contract with a bail bonds agent, for obvious reasons. If for any reason, you
cannot trust the defendant to make all necessary court appearances until the
case is resolved, then it may be in your best interests not to sign. However,
if the defendant is a family member whom you may not trust but who you may be
able to motivate to be attendant on court dates, that is a factor to weigh and
consider, as well.