New York Times article
Bail Bond Collateral
When someone is arrested for a suspected criminal offense, he or she will come before a magistrate (in the Virginia legal system) for a bail hearing. If the magistrate decides that it is reasonable to release the accused on bail, it is incumbent on the accused to produce the sum of money to obtain the bond.
Whether it is the accused or a family member, they have a number of choices to produce collateral on this kind of guarantee.
These methods include:
- Surety Bonds-in this case, the family agrees to pay 10% of the bail cost to the bondsman, who will provide the full sum to the court. If the accused flees, rather than appear for trial, the party who acquired the bail must pay back the entire sum to the bondsman.
- Property Bond-the guarantors of the bail put up their property, land or home, as collateral. A lien is placed on that property; if the accused does not appear for trial, the court may order the property to be foreclosed.
- Home-this is when they offer their home for payment purposes. Normally, the court will require that the property value have 150% equity. The home will be sold to pay the bail. This can take weeks to process.
- Land-the client’s land is offered to the court, which sells it in order to cover the cost of bail.
- Bank accounts-the individual or family turns over all or part of their bank account balance to cover the bail.
- Car-this works just like houses and land. If the accused doesn’t come to court, the car is sold. In some cases, the value of the car won’t meet the full bail costs.
- Jewelry-the party offers their jewelry for appraisal, and it is handed over to the court for sale to secure the bond.
- Firearms-just like jewelry, if they’re in good condition.
- Items that can be pawned-this includes any items that can raise the funds by being pawned.
- Cash-the guarantor pays the full amount in cash, or when the court will accept it, credit cards or checks. This ties up family or personal funds until the accused appears for their court date. If that person flees, all the money is lost.
Chances Bail Bonds specializes in surety bonds for our clients. We charge the lowest amount allowable by law, and are available 24/7. Our mission is to treat our clients with respect and compassion. Please consider us if you or a family member is being held pending bail.
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Criminal convictions, even for minor crimes, often times lead to harsh consequences beyond possible jail time and fines. Convictions of criminal charges can have an impact on professional licensing, immigration status, mandatory classes, registration with local authorities, etc. Criminal Defendant’s should consider these collateral consequences before accepting a plea. Also, Prosecutors understand that there is a strong chance that a defendant will sign up for a “probation only” sentence only to impose such harsh terms on “probation only” sentence that the defendant is likely to violate his or her probation. In turn, a violation of probation is easier to prosecute than the original underlying charge because there are less constitutional rights that afforded to a probationer at a violation of probation hearing, such as the right to a jury trial by twelve jurors who must be persuaded beyond a reasonable doubt of the defendant’s guilty. In effect, the defendant who pleads out to a “probation only” sentence often times violate their probation and lose the stringent constitutional safeguards that the defendant’s once enjoyed before pleading guilty on the original charge. In addition, defendant’s who plead out early without the advice of a criminal defense attorney may have collateral consequences that are much worse than a short stint in jail.