January 4, 2013 by Morris DeMayo
Bail bonds provide an effective way of securing the release of an incarcerated defendant as they await trial in court. The arrangement is signed by the defendant themselves, or a surety on their behalf. A surety is when one party promises to take responsibility of another. Some defendants are not able to raise the funds required to secure their own bail and this is where bail agents, or bail bondsmen, are relevant.
In Los Angeles, bail bondsmen can secure the freedom of defendants kept in small city jails and those in much larger detention facilities. Most people view the legal issues involved in securing bail as complicated. The case is not any different in Los Angeles, CA. The process is viewed as lengthy, dogged by bureaucracy and legal terminology that barely means anything to the defendant.
To solve this problem, there are several bail bonds firms with professional bondsmen. These are tasked with ensuring that all the documentation involved in the process is clear to the defendant. They explain and interpret all the legal issues in a lay way that is easy to understand, effectively solving the problem.
Securing bail bonds in Los Angeles should not be as expensive as most people think. Away from the hefty sums of money required to ensure ordinary bail, dealing with bail bonds firms in the city is a less expensive alternative. These agents usually charge a flat rate of 10% of the required amount of bail.
This makes the payment process quite manageable. It is particularly helpful to defendants whose total required bail amount is quite small. Such a client can easily raise this amount of money.
For a defendant whose total bail amount is considerably higher, the bail bonds agent can consider collateral security as an alternative. The defendant themselves can provide the security. In case the defendant cannot provide the required security, people known to them can step in and help. Also, anyone else willing to help the defendant can take on this responsibility of securing the collateral.
A wide range of items can be accepted as collateral, such as jewelry, stocks and other physical assets such as vehicles. This clearly shows the flexibility of bail bonds.
Still on bail bonds flexibility, a client’s behavior, and or reputation can determine their fate in Los Angeles.