Last week I read a great post from Jurisco friend, and appellate law expert Benjamin Shatz, regarding updated rules on posting collateral in an civil appeal action(Appeal Bond vs. Cash Deposit with the Court). Article. In Civil Cases when an appeal bond is statutorily required, or deemed necessary by the judge, the principle has two options: 1) to procure a surety bond or 2) deposit cash in the amount of the bond with the court. In what scenarios does it make sense to obtain a surety bond and when does it make sense to deposit money with the court?
In this article, the bond experts at Jurisco will provide you with information to help make your choice easier. (See Code Civil. Procedure., §§ 995.710 for more information regarding updated rules: Link) One reason to obtain a surety bond, such as an injunction bond, appeal bond or a probate bond, is that it frees up capital for the principle. A surety bond requires only an annual premium payment of one or two percent of the bond amount; whereas if a principal chooses to deposit cash with the court, the principle loses access to a substantial amount of capital. This is money that could be invested; and since bonds can remain active for several years, the ‘lost’ income derived from investment could reach significant level.
Furthermore, when cash is deposited, the courts collect the interest from their deposit accounts. The principals money is working; just not for them. In addition, if you intend to post cash with the court in lieu of a bond then it is important to find out the rates because they can often be higher than than the premium. In Florida, for instance, the fee for placing a deposit with the court is often higher than the premium for the respective surety bond. In California, on the other hand, there is no fee for depositing money with the court. A second important consideration if the difficulty involved in retrieving the money from the court. Surety Bond agencies, such as Jurisco, are built on customer service and they retain clients based on their ability to solve their clients diverse needs. Often this requires being flexible and finding creative solutions to problems. Superior courts, like many municipal and state institutions are not; and retrieving deposits can be a long and arduous process. And when it is possible to reach customer service professionals, rarely do they have the answers. There are too few of them and the range of problems is far too large for any one employee to have a detailed grasp of all the issues. When making a decision involving time and money it is important to have all the facts. If the appeal bond process seems confusing, please don’t hesitate to contact the bond professionals at Jurisco. Their expert team is available to answer all your questions.