What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
names in ""'s have been changed
My girlfriend got arrested on Sunday night. She called up a bail company and found out she was charged with a felony. The bondsman, who said her name was "rikki" from "abc bail bonds", told me the bail would be $50k and I would have to put up $5,000 up front to get her out.
My girlfriend asked if the amount might be lower if she stayed locked up until her first appearance. "rikki' said the bail would remain the same since the first appearance only determined whether you were pleading guilty or innocent. I decided to take care of things immediately.
Since I didn't have the $5,000 she agreed to take $1,000 up front, $1,000 a week later and $500 a month thereafter. She told me that I had to make the first payment over the phone with my credit card and then meet her at the county jail the following morning at 9:30.
At 11:00 AM "rikki" finally showed up with the contracts and a business card for a entirely different bail company. She told me the fee had been raised to $5,050 and that the payment was renegotiated. I now owed $1,000 the following day, $500 ten days later, and $500 a month thereafter. I signed the contract because I had already invested $1,000 and spent hours negotiating with her. She got my girlfriend out a few hours later.
While I'm happy that 'rikki' did her job, she misrepresented her company name, lied about the bail proceedings (bail amounts often do change on a first appearance), and changed the payment terms and agreements once I gave her money.
I'm curious. Is this behavior ethical, or even legal? I don't feel like I should have to pay 'rikki' any more money because the contract was written up in bad faith. Am I right to withhold it? I should also mention that the DA dropped the case. Is there any danger of my girlfriend going back to jail over this if there's no more appearances?
names in ""'s have been changed
My girlfriend got arrested on Sunday night. She called up a bail company and found out she was charged with a felony. The bondsman, who said her name was "rikki" from "abc bail bonds", told me the bail would be $50k and I would have to put up $5,000 up front to get her out.
My girlfriend asked if the amount might be lower if she stayed locked up until her first appearance. "rikki' said the bail would remain the same since the first appearance only determined whether you were pleading guilty or innocent. I decided to take care of things immediately.
Since I didn't have the $5,000 she agreed to take $1,000 up front, $1,000 a week later and $500 a month thereafter. She told me that I had to make the first payment over the phone with my credit card and then meet her at the county jail the following morning at 9:30.
At 11:00 AM "rikki" finally showed up with the contracts and a business card for a entirely different bail company. She told me the fee had been raised to $5,050 and that the payment was renegotiated. I now owed $1,000 the following day, $500 ten days later, and $500 a month thereafter. I signed the contract because I had already invested $1,000 and spent hours negotiating with her. She got my girlfriend out a few hours later.
While I'm happy that 'rikki' did her job, she misrepresented her company name, lied about the bail proceedings (bail amounts often do change on a first appearance), and changed the payment terms and agreements once I gave her money.
I'm curious. Is this behavior ethical, or even legal? I don't feel like I should have to pay 'rikki' any more money because the contract was written up in bad faith. Am I right to withhold it? I should also mention that the DA dropped the case. Is there any danger of my girlfriend going back to jail over this if there's no more appearances?
