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How To Post Bail Using Your Property (Real Estate)

Written by Posted On Wednesday, 13 November 2019 06:40
How To Post Bail Using Your Property (Real Estate)

When we find ourselves incarcerated, we explore all the available options to be released from jail as soon as possible due to the hard time we might face behind bars. One option to gain freedom while one’s case is still ongoing in court is through the posting of a bail. This is an amount that the court collects from the defendant in exchange for his freedom in-between court hearings. Such amount, however, can skyrocket into huge sums depending on the crime the defendant is on trial for. Fortunately, properties can also be used as bail if the defendant does not have sufficient funds to cover the amount. 

When a property is used in lieu of a professional bail bondsman or the cash amount set for bail by the court, this is referred to as ‘property bond’. For a property to qualify as the security to be used for bail, its equivalent value must be equal or greater than the bail amount needed. If he has multiple properties but all are valued below the amount of undertaking, he may post more than one of them as his property bond provided that the aggregate sum is also equal to or greater than the bail amount. 

If a defendant wishes to use one or more of his properties as bail, he must first write an annotation to his certificate of title with the Registry of Deeds if his property is registered with the state.  If the property is not registered, he must first register such property with the Registry of Deeds for the city, province, or state where the property’s land lies. The property must also be correctly declared in the defendant’s tax declaration in the office of the city, province, or state concerned. Registering the property is an important step for the court to be convinced that the defendant legally owns the property and that no technicalities can contest his ownership of it. 

Once registered, the defendant’s lawyer must submit documents pertaining to the property to the prosecution, who will review and decide if the property will satisfy the bail. These documents include mortgage documents, title deeds, and a current appraisal from a certified appraiser who determines the current value of the property to be used as bail. When deemed satisfactory, the court can now hand over a release order for the defendant and the property will be posted as his bail. Such property can only be returned to him if he completes all court hearings and does not run away from his trial. 

While property bonds being an option for bail is great for those who do not have sufficient cash to cover the bail amount, there are a few dangers to this form of bond. If a third party posts his property bond for another defendant and he evades his responsibility to attend court hearings, the property will immediately be forfeited by the court. Such a case is bad especially if the property is being actively used. Residents will be forcefully evicted by the court since the property will be sold to pay off the bail amount. 

Property bonds offer an alternative means to post bail in case the defendant does not have enough money to cover the entire amount needed for bail. Keep in mind, however, the risk of forfeiting such property in the worst case of flight by the defendant.      

  




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