I’ve been posting about my attempt to get an answer to a simple question using Avvo Answers. In Take 1, an out-of-state lawyer provided a wrong answer. In Take 2, our own Jeremy Richey provided a good answer that misseda part of the question. I clarified my question, and now Jeremy has provided the final answer in a comment to Take 2.
My clarified question was:
If the bond is $1000/10%, that means I only had to pay $100 to get the person out. I’ll lose that. But what happens to the other 90% of the bond? Is it entirely a fictional amount that never materializes? Or could someone have to cough it up? In other words, if I post $100 on a $1000/10% bond, and then the defendant skips, am I just out the $100, or am I out the whole $1000?
Jeremy’s response nails it:
The other 90% is fictional. You won’t have to pay it. You are only out the $100.
That’s exactly what I needed to know.
I’m not entirely talentless when it comes to writing, and Jeremy is the right kind of lawyer in the right state, yet we had enough miscommunication that it took two attempts for me to ask the question right and Jeremy to answer it right.
I’m beginning to understand why Scott Greenfield thinks Avvo Answers is a bad idea.
You have probably gotten a really bad answer, but partly because the practice differs from state to state and sometimes jurisdiction to jurisdiction. I am only familiar with Texas. In Texas there are several types of bonds. A cash bond. One where you put up the entire $1000, usually with the sheriff and get the entire amount back when the case is resolved. The second is a bail bond. In that case you put up 10 to 15 percent of the bond as a fee to the bondsman and you never get that back. The bondsman, then in turn pledges the entire amount to insure that the defendant appears. So the bondsman or his insurer is on the hook for $1000, but doesn’t pay anything unless the bond is forfeited. He is usually licensed or permitted by the sheriff and pays a fee for that privilege. Also, the bondsmen will usually require collateral sufficient to cover his liability, especially on large bonds. There are also other kinds of bonds but these are the usual ones.
So obviously I agree about getting quick answers on line.
Thanks. It’s not obvious from this post, but I identified myself as being in Chicago, Illinois, when I posted the question on Avvo. The first answer was from a lawyer in California, and it was clear he didn’t understand how things work here. Jeremy Richey is a criminal defense lawyer from central Illinois, and is well known as a non-douchebag blogger, so I think I can trust his answer.
And ironically, Raising the Bar is in NY, where there is no 10% cash alternative, much to the surprise of people who go to post bail based on what they watch on TV. In NY, a $1000 cash bail would require you to post $1000. If the defendant returns as required but pleads guilty or is convicted, you would receive 97% of the bond back, with the state keeping 3%. If the defendant returns as required and is acquitted or the case is dismissed, it is all returned. If the defendant absconds, you lose it all.
And we have bail bondsmen as well, but that’s a different animal from your question.
Scott, you’ve mentioned the 3% before, and that just kills me. The defendant has been found (or plead) guilty. It’s hard to see how he could have cooperated with the court more than that.