jblarson2002
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Washington
The story begins when our son was left a voice mail message by a King County detective that they had a warrant for his arrest on a domestic violence charge and to call him. After returning the call to the detective our son made arrangements to turn himself in, which he then voluntarily did. At the first hearing the judge set his bail at $10,000. My wife and son were then approached by a bail bondsman who apparently is provided a list by the court of all those who will need bail that day. He offered to put up the bail for him and asked for $1000 to do so. My wife welcomed this immediate remedy and agreed to this and gave him the $1000. The next day my wife and son were back in court and the same bondsman approached them again and now advised that the bail had been increased to $50,000 and that it would take another $4,000 to cover the bail and keep our son out on of jail. My wife called me and told me the story and I went to the bank and withdrew the amount in cash. I met my wife and the bondsman in a shopping center parking lot and we gave him the money. My wife did sign a document and get a receipt for the money each time but NO information or explanation was ever offered by the bondsman regarding the agreement or any other options and we had no time to find an attorney.
It had been our somewhat uneducated assumption that 10% of this money would be retained by the bondsman and due to the stress of the situation and the joy of keeping our son out of jail and enabling him to keep his job must have satisfied our curiosity for the time being.
When the case was settled the bail bondsman advised me that the $5000 was his. We were shocked at this as at no time had the bondsman discussed this with my wife or when I met first him in the parking lot to give him the additional $4000. When we then closely reviewed her faint carbon copies of the documents for receipt of the $1000 and $4000 it does look like we are responsible for 10% of the TOTAL bail, not 10% of the amount we put up as we thought.
So although we feel we were somehow taken advantage of in this stressful situation I cannot
afford an attorney to advise me of my rights. This predatory process has left us with bad feelings towards bail bondsman.
The story begins when our son was left a voice mail message by a King County detective that they had a warrant for his arrest on a domestic violence charge and to call him. After returning the call to the detective our son made arrangements to turn himself in, which he then voluntarily did. At the first hearing the judge set his bail at $10,000. My wife and son were then approached by a bail bondsman who apparently is provided a list by the court of all those who will need bail that day. He offered to put up the bail for him and asked for $1000 to do so. My wife welcomed this immediate remedy and agreed to this and gave him the $1000. The next day my wife and son were back in court and the same bondsman approached them again and now advised that the bail had been increased to $50,000 and that it would take another $4,000 to cover the bail and keep our son out on of jail. My wife called me and told me the story and I went to the bank and withdrew the amount in cash. I met my wife and the bondsman in a shopping center parking lot and we gave him the money. My wife did sign a document and get a receipt for the money each time but NO information or explanation was ever offered by the bondsman regarding the agreement or any other options and we had no time to find an attorney.
It had been our somewhat uneducated assumption that 10% of this money would be retained by the bondsman and due to the stress of the situation and the joy of keeping our son out of jail and enabling him to keep his job must have satisfied our curiosity for the time being.
When the case was settled the bail bondsman advised me that the $5000 was his. We were shocked at this as at no time had the bondsman discussed this with my wife or when I met first him in the parking lot to give him the additional $4000. When we then closely reviewed her faint carbon copies of the documents for receipt of the $1000 and $4000 it does look like we are responsible for 10% of the TOTAL bail, not 10% of the amount we put up as we thought.
So although we feel we were somehow taken advantage of in this stressful situation I cannot
afford an attorney to advise me of my rights. This predatory process has left us with bad feelings towards bail bondsman.
