When To Resort To Turning Over Your Car As Collateral
Using your vehicle as potential collateral for someone's bail can be a quick way to spring them from the local lockup. However, it can also be a fairly dicey choice if you need your car. Some states allow you to turn over the title only, but others require the entire car to be kept as collateral, leaving you with no wheels. If you need to come up with bail bond collateral, a car can help, but you must consider the option carefully.
Alternative Transportation and Car Rentals
First, you need to take a look at your transportation alternatives. If you have none — no money for rideshares or cabs, no buses, and so on — don't turn over the car if you need it to get to work or other urgent destinations. You need your transportation, too. Even a couple of days of not having the car can be difficult to deal with when you don't have many other options. If you do have a lot of options, then turning over the car for collateral might be okay, but see the section on the length of time of the case for more information.
Confidence in the Accused
Do you think the accused will show up to all court dates? Not just the first, but all of them? If not, you risk losing your main form of transportation. The court isn't going to take pity on you because you thought the person would end up showing up anyway. If you're not sure the person will show up, you need to be very careful about anything you use as bail bond collateral.
Length of Time the Car Will Be Gone
One good piece of news in all this is that, as mentioned, sometimes you don't have to turn over the actual car when simply arranging for bail. Depending on the laws in the state you're in, you might have to turn over the car — or you'll have to turn over the title only.
For states in which you have to turn over the car at the start, you really need to take into consideration how long the court might take to get through the case. You can rent a car for a couple of weeks. Longer than that, and rentals, rideshares, and public transportation all become a real drag. You need to know what you're in for before turning over keys.
Speak with the bail bond agent to get more information on your state's laws regarding vehicles as bail collateral. You need to make an informed choice.
