When you or a loved one is charged with a crime and gets arrested, bail will be set to get you out in jail. Bail is a sum of money given to a court by the defendant to ensure that he will show up on the day of the succeeding court trials. Bonds don’t completely assure the court that the defendant will return, but it can impact the accused if he doesn’t. If the accused doesn’t respond on the set dates, or “jump bail,” he will not be able to get his money back. Also, he will have additional charges when he gets caught because jumping bail is a criminal offense. You may even not be allowed to bail on the second time, and you will have to stay in court until the next trial day.
There are different types of bail that you can use. The first option is to pay the bond in full, on your own. You can also use a bail bondsman and pay 10% of the total bail amount. These two options are both ideal and useful for a defendant who doesn’t intend to jump bail. But aside from these two, there is a third choice that you can opt for.
You can use a property bail bond as your third option. If you have under your name a house or a vacation home, this will be a great option. Your property will serve as security in place of bail money. Unlike bail bonds, using your property will mean a lot of paperwork. Depending on the state, you may also be asked to move out of the property until the property is under your name again.
To qualify for a real estate bail bond, you need to have your property, to begin with. If your property is in mortgage, the loan amount will be deducted from the market value of it, and this becomes your equity. If a judge decides to allow you to use your property as bail, only your equity will be considered.
Although your property doesn’t need to be paid off, your equity should still be of a significant amount. It is ideal if your property is worth twice the amount of the bail amount for it to cover for the whole bail amount. If your house is worth $200,000 and the bail amount is at the same amount, it will not be enough. Ideally, your property should at least be $400,000.
When you use your real estate as property bail bond, the court will be entitled to the bail amount. This lien gives them the power to do what they seem fit in case you fail to appear in court on the set trial date. They have the right to sell it or foreclose it if they want because they don’t invest in real estate business. The court will sell it quickly, and it can mean that they will sell it for an amount below the actual value of your property. If you want to use your property as bail bond, make sure that you have planned about it thoughtfully.