A cosigner is a person who legally agrees to deliver a defendant to court or a county jail, according to the terms of the defendant’s bail. If they do not perform this role, they will forfeit the entire value of the bail. Therefore, there is an incentive for them to act according to the terms the court sets.
Cosigners surrender bail bonds when they perform this duty. On delivery of the defendant into custody, the cosigner gets part or all of the bail money back. The defendant then enters the legal system, usually to await an imminent trial.
How much of the bail the consigner gets to keep depends on the circumstances of the defendant’s return to custody. Law enforcement may invoke terms that lead to less than 100 percent of the bail being returned.
Even if law enforcement returns the full value of the bail bond, consignors may still need to pay a fee to a bail bondsman, if they used one, called a “premium.” The premium is not part of the bail money. Instead, it is a fee paid to a bail bondsman in exchange for providing the full value of the bail to law enforcement. It is a service fee.
What Is The Difference Between Bail and a Bail Bond?
Bail is the cash required to secure a defendant’s freedom until the date of their trial. It is the money that must be paid upfront to law enforcement as surety for the defendant’s return to court later on. A bail bond, by contrast, is a guarantee by a third party, usually a bail bondsman, to pay the bail on the defendant’s behalf in exchange for a fee.
Defendants, or people who want to keep them out of jail, pay the bail bondsman 10 percent of the cost of the bail for this service. The bail bondsman then guarantees the payment of the bail in the form of a bond. Defendants cannot get the 10 percent fee back. The bail bondsman gets their money back when the defendant shows up in court at the agreed date and time for their trial.
Due to this arrangement, the bail bondsman’s role becomes one of jailor. If the defendant does not show up in court, the bondsman will find the defendant and return them to the hearing.
How Cosigners Can Revoke Bail Bonds
In some cases, cosigners may wish to pass responsibility for returning a defendant to court to a bail bondsman. Revoking prior to surrender occurs when the cosigner cancels the bond contract.
To do this, consignors must meet with a bail bondsman. The bail bondsman will then seek surety before taking responsibility. They may ask, for instance, about the defendant’s whereabouts, reasons for cancelling the bond, and for documents required to do so.
Under some circumstances, bail bondsmen may refuse to revoke the bond. In this case, you can continue to be the cosigner, or the defendant may have to return to jail.
Reasons Why Cosigners May Not Be Able To Revoke A Bond
Cosigners often want to revoke bonds when they believe that the defendant may not turn up to court. This process eliminates their responsibility under the bail contract.
However, there are situations in which cosigners cannot revoke bail bonds. For instance, bail bonds cannot be revoked if:
- A defendant fails to make all their court appearances
- The defendant does not show up to court and the cosigner has not revoked their bail bond yet
- The defendant breached the contract for the bond
How Much Does It Cost The Cosigner To Revoke A Bail Bond?
When cosigner revokes a bail bond, he or she may still have to pay a percentage of the bond payment to the bail bondsman. The bail bondsman charges this fee as a form of compensation for the risk that they take when agreeing to take over responsibility for the case. Cosigners may also need to pay for the fees involved in locating defendants and returning them to custody.
In situations where the defendant fails to show up in court at the specified date, the bail bondsman can collect the cosigner’s collateral.
What Is A Reasonable Rate?
How much bail bondsmen can charge depends on the state and is usually set by law. Legislators do this to uphold fairness and the principle of “innocent until proven guilty.” Keeping costs low means that more defendants have access to freedom before their hearings.
In California, the standard bail bond rate is 10 percent. You may encounter higher fees than this if the defendant has a criminal record or there are other circumstances that increase the risk to the bail bondsman. This payment is in addition to the 10 percent charge.
What Happens If The Case Continues For More Than A Year?
If the case is ongoing or makes slow progress through the courts, bail bondsmen may charge an annual fee, called a renewal premium. This fee covers the bail bondsman’s ongoing costs and risk.
How much the renewal fee depends on the bondsman and the state. Bonds should specify the renewal premium on signing. Therefore, you should be able to check this in your original contract.
If you are a cosigner, check the terms of the agreement. The bail bondsman may still require you to pay a renewal premium, even if you revoke the bond. It may also depend on the circumstances of the revocation.
Can Judges Revoke A Bail Bond?
Judges may also issue motions to revoke bail bonds, something that carries an additional criminal charge for the defendant. Reasons for judicial revocation include failing to comply with the terms of the bond (such as not communicating with the bond company), incurring additional criminal charges while on bail, and failure to appear at various hearings.
