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What Possessions Can You Use as Collateral When Arranging a Bail Bond?

Criminal law in Indiana makes it easy for a defendant to acquire bail on a pre-trial basis, as long as they’re able to fulfill the following conditions:

  1. They don’t pose any threat to public safety.
  2. They don’t carry a risk of fleeing while out on bail.
  3. They’re able to pay the bail amount.

Technically, you don’t have to pay the bail amount, as long as you’ve got some help from a reliable bail bond agent. To do so, the pre-requisite is to own valuable collateral. Here are some commonly used options:

Real estate

Real estate is one of the most commonly used collateral options. This is because it offers greater monetary value compared to most alternatives.

Also, real estate is immovable property, so it’ll stay with the bail bond agent for as long as they want it to. Real estate can include both commercial and residential property.

The three most common options include:

  1. Any piece of useful land.
  2. Natural resources such as a farm or orchard.
  3. Equity from a mortgage if the defendant has built up significant equity.

Another reason real estate serves as a lucrative option is that such transactions can be easily processed and are typically straightforward.

The agent, however, takes a number of factors into account, including the property’s prevalent market value. If the property is in a neighborhood that is not historically known to yield good value, the agent might decline the offer altogether.

Motor vehicles

Motor vehicles of all types and categories are usually accepted as collateral by most bail bond agents. They include motorbikes, cars, RVs, boats, snowmobiles, and more.

However, you must have the vehicle’s title for it to be accepted as collateral. It’s also important that the defendant is the outright owner of the vehicle. If you still owe some payments to creditors, the vehicle can’t be used as collateral.

In order to submit a motor vehicle as collateral, all you need to do is hand over temporary possession of the title to the bail bond agent.

You will be legally permitted to retain rights for use and possession of said vehicle. This means that the bail bond agent will only hold on to the title for the vehicle and not the vehicle itself. You’ll be allowed to use and drive your vehicle around.

Precious metals

Your bail bond agent will accept precious metals as collateral if they have significant cash value and have high liquidity. But they will assess current market value before accepting them.

This includes holdings of gold, silver, platinum or any other precious metals. The metals could be or could not be in the form of ornaments. If you’ve got a good store of value, you could also use sapphire, ruby, emerald or diamond.

If any of them are unique or innovative designs, that could also add to the value of the collateral.

Bad things can always happen to good people. But there’s no need to worry, as long as you’ve got DeLaughter Bail Bonds on board.

Get in touch to avail our 24-hour bail bond services.

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