Here is a thought; can bail bondsmen get into trouble with the law? If and when they do, what does that trouble look like? What happens to their bail bond agency if they themselves need bail and are stuck in jail? Everyone assumes that because these agents help people out of jail that the agents are never arrested or in jail themselves. To answer these questions and peek into their world, the following information is provided for you.
A Requirement of Licensing Holds Bond Agents to the Law
Not surprisingly, anyone who wants to become a bail bond agent cannot be convicted of any crime at least ten years prior to applying for a bail bond license. Maybe this is where people get the idea that bail bond agents are completely infallible and can never get into trouble with the law.
However, if after receiving one's license, the bail bond agent is arrested and convicted of even the smallest of crimes, he or she loses his or her license as a bond agent. The federal government requires that all bail bond agents be conviction-free for at least ten years prior to applying for a license, and convictions after becoming licensed are prohibited. This is why it comes as a great shock when a bond agent is arrested for anything from a DUI to assault because it means that the bond agent may have just lost his or her license and tossed his or her entire career out the window.
Other Bail Bond Agent-Related Crimes
There are also very strict rules on how a bond agent can operate his or her business. He or she cannot take bribes in any form, nor can he or she give discounts on bail bond services. If it is discovered that a bond agent reduces the bail bond servicing fees for this or that consumer, the agent could be arrested and his or her agency would be closed. Many states pre-establish the rates and fees so that bond agents cannot provide services on a sliding scale. They also cannot take property for a bail bond and then list the property for sale before the owner and the person in jail have had time to sort things out legally.
Giving bail money back is often illegal as well. This is because the agent is helping to back the promise of the charged and jailed so that they can get out of jail. Almost all of the money you give a bail bond agent is paid to the courts. If the agent gives the money back to you, you and/or the agent could be arrested for theft because the money belongs to the courts.
