Can a Bail Bond Garnish Your Wages?

When a defendant awaiting trial cannot afford to pay his bail, he will often choose to purchase a bail bond from a private company. Generally, the defendant puts up some form of collateral, which the bail bond company will take in the event that the defendant skips bail, causing the bail bond company to forfeit its bond. However, in some cases, the client may end up owing the bail bond company money, which it can collect in a number of different ways.

Bail Bonds

Bail bond contracts are usually structured in such a way as to prevent bail bond companies from having to act as debt collectors. Because most bonds are secured by collateral, the bond company can simply seize this collateral in the event that the bond is in danger of forfeit. However, this collateral may not be enough to cover the cost of the bond, meaning that the defendant would be legally in debt to the bail company.

Civil Judgments

When one party owes another party money and becomes delinquent in repaying paying -- such as would be the case for a defendant who owes money to a bond company -- the creditor can file a lawsuit against the debtor. If the judge finds that the debtor owes the creditor money, he can issue a civil judgment awarding the creditor the amount due. This opens for the door for the creditor to take a number of actions to collect payment of the money.

Garnishment

One of the more drastic forms of debt collection is wage garnishment. When wages are garnished, the debtor's employer sets aside a portion of debtor's wages each pay period for the creditor until the debt is repaid. In order to garnish wages, a bail company would have to first receive a civil judgment -- unless the debtor has already signed a contract allowing the bail company to garnish his wages.

Garnishment Clauses

Some bail bond companies, such as 8-Bail Bail Bonds of Las Vegas, Nevada, require some clients to sign a document beforehand allowing the bail company to garnish wages in the event that they do not make a court date, thereby putting the bond at risk. Not all states allow companies to issue these garnishment agreements to clients; rather, all garnishments are issued by a judge. In Nevada, such an agreement is signed by a notary public.