Bail Bonds are Serious Business

If you have ever been arrested and jailed before, or if you find yourself in that position in the future, it can be easy to overlook all that goes into bail bonds. While the process is seemingly as easy as posting bond and then getting out of jail, it is important to understand everything involved before receiving one.

Anyone who finds themselves in court and heading to jail is going to want to take any way out that they can find, and that often means bail bonds. However there is more to a bond than simply being a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Bail bonds are legally available to any criminal defendant and are offered all over the world, typically 24 hours per day and seven days per week. The process can be quick, easy, and may seem simple, and in many cases it can be, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t make sure you understand what you’re signing up for.

The three types of bail bonds involve putting up cash, personal property, or surety as collateral. A cash bond is very straightforward in the sense that it simply means putting up the amount in question in cash in exchange for the issuing of the full amount to the court. A property bond works similarly in that it uses the value of a given piece of property as collateral for issuing a bond in the amount of the value. However, it should be noted that this means having to sign over the property in question to the issuer if the defendant should fail to meet the conditions laid down by the court.

Where things can get complicated is with a surety bond. This is when bail is set at an amount that the individual is not prepared to pay, and he or she reaches an agreement to pay a certain percentage of the total in exchange for the full amount being guaranteed by the issuer. The percentage is usually in the vicinity of 10 percent of the total and is non-refundable, meaning that it is a one-time fee and not a deposit that is returned to the individual.

If the defendant fails to appear in court, this is where things can become problematic. When cash or property is put up as collateral, the bondsman simply maintains possession of one or the other and does not lose anything out of pocket. However when a surety agreement is reached, defaulting on that can escalate things quickly.

Bondsmen have legal grounds to sue individuals who default. They can also send legal bounty hunters in search of them, with the objective being to capture them and return them to court to have their money returned.

Knowing these various types of bail bonds and the conditions they carry with them can be both helpful and important in knowing how to proceed and what is ultimately at stake.