Liberty Bail Bonds, Inc

Review: After receiving a phone call from Liberty Bail Bonds asking to post bail for my sister who was incarcerated for a domestic dispute I was told that if I paid 250.00 plus a 40.00 processing fee she would be released that evening or the next morning. After going to post the bond, I awaited to hear from her and after not hearing from her I contacted Liberty Bail bonds and they told me she was "hit" with a probation detainer and that the bail was posted, and there was no way to receive my money back. After searching public records, I see that the detainer was posted on 6-18-13 and I paid the bond amount on 6-19-13. It is clear to me that they knew about the detainer and there was no risk for them to post the bail as it was clear she would be detained until the court hearing. After calling, the person I spoke with said they don't have to tell me about the detainer, and depending upon whom serviced me they will not tell me about that information. My sister has 3 children one being a baby and this has hit my family hard trying to monetarily support these children, and I feel it is completely unjust for a company to not disclose this information to the clients they service. I am just in shock and disbelief that this is a legal practice.Desired Settlement: I would like the 290.00 that was taken from me, knowing that regardless of the posting of bail my sister would still remain incarcerated.

Business

Response:

We are in receipt of the above captioned complaint from your office, dated June 28, 2013. A copy of that complaint is enclosed.

The complaining party, [redacted], is referencing a bond we posted on her behalf for her sister, [redacted], on Magistrate Case [redacted]. Our office posted this bond on June 19, 2013 at 11:14 AM. The bond was posted with the Department of Court Records in the Allegheny County Court House.

Since we are responsible to the Courts until the full and final disposition of the case, up through and including appeals to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, we cannot refund the premium paid by[redacted], unless the Courts return our bond. If Ms. [redacted] wishes to engage the services of an attorney to petition the Court through Motions Court, which is held every morning in the Court House, and said petition was successful, we would be happy to refund the $250.00 premium paid by her. The additional $40.00 is a filing fee paid to the Department of Court Records and is not ours to refund.

For your information, there are a number of checks and balances that have to occur prior to the posting of bail. First of all, we contact the jail and verify with the Records Department of the Jail that if the bond is posted, the defendant is eligible for release. Secondly, and perhaps most important, the Department of Court Records reviews the "jail screen" for detainers or other holds prior to accepting the bail. Both of these safeguards had been followed in this case.

I fully agree with Ms. [redacted] that she should receive her premium back. I will be happy to do so if she is able to convince the Courts to exonerate our obligations to them and return our $5,000.00 bond.

Her allegations that we knew about the probation issues prior to accepting her premium for the bail are unfounded. If there had been a valid legal reason to post the bond with the detainer, she would have had to sign a document acknowledging she knew it existed. (There are times posting bail with a detainer in place is beneficial to the defendant.) In this instance, no one, including the Department of Court Records, was aware of the detainer at the time the bond was posted.

The most disturbing allegation that Ms. [redacted] makes is stating that we would have withheld the detainer information from her because we don’t have to tell her. Nothing could be further from the truth. If we accepted bail under the guise of duping her out of her premium, knowing the defendant could not be released, we would be guilty of theft by deception, which is a criminal offense.

Once again, I restate that if Ms. [redacted] is able to convince the Department of Court Records to return our bond and exonerate our obligations to the Courts with regards to her sister’s criminal charges, we will be happy to return her premium.

A copy of their policy is enclosed. Prior to this policy, effective March 28, 2008,1 would have been able to "pull" the bond and refund her premium without hesitation.

Sincerely,

Attachment:::

To: All Sureties

From: [redacted], Division Manager Re: Voiding of Posted Bonds

Date: March 28, 2008

Please be advised that effective immediately, the Allegheny County, Department of Records, Criminal Division-Bond Counter will no longer void a posted bond because a defendant cannot be released due to a detainer placed on the defendant. Once a bond is posted, it will remain in effect until another bond replaces it or the case is completed.

If you have any questions concerning this change in policy, please call the Criminal Division-Bond Counter @[redacted].

Thank you in advance for your cooperation on this matter.