Bill Text: NJ A3662 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Prohibits bail bondsmen from accepting bail fees in installments.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-09-18 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee [A3662 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-A3662-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JASON O'DONNELL
District 31 (Hudson)
Assemblyman JOSEPH CRYAN
District 20 (Union)
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits bail bondsmen from accepting bail fees in installments.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning bail payments and supplementing Title 17 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A bail agent, bail agency, or surety company that executes a bail bond for the release of a defendant from custody or incarceration shall collect the fee paid in exchange for executing the bail bond on behalf of a defendant in the form of a single payment. No bail agent, bail agency, or surety company shall accept a fee for executing the bail bond pursuant to a payment plan, installment plan, or other similar agreement made with or on behalf of a criminal defendant. At the time the bond is posted, the bail agent or agency that executes the bail bond shall attest in writing to the appropriate court, or other agency authorized to accept bail bonds, that the fee for executing the bail bond has been collected in a single payment.
b. If the commissioner determines, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, that a bail agent, bail agency, or surety company is in violation of this section, the authority of the bail agent, bail agency, or surety company to negotiate, solicit or sell bail bonds, or be affiliated in any manner with the execution of bail bonds, shall be suspended for 90 days for a first violation, 180 days for a second violation, and one year for a third violation. For any subsequent violation, the insurance producer license of the bail agent or agency shall be permanently revoked.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires a bail agent, bail agency, or surety company to accept the fee paid in exchange for executing a bail bond in the form of a single payment. The bill specifically prohibits a bail agent, bail agency, or surety company from collecting a fee from a criminal defendant under an installment plan or similar agreement.
The Commissioner of Banking and Insurance may suspend or revoke the authority of any bail agent or agency to solicit or sell bail bonds in this State if the agent or agency violates the bill's provisions. Under the bill, a period of license suspension of 90 days will be imposed for a first violation, 180 days for a second violation, and one year for a third violation. For a fourth or subsequent violation, the insurance producer license of the bail agent or agency is to be permanently revoked.
