5.2 Cash and Check Collateral: Trust Account, Records and Return

Outline item V.C, Accepting cash or check as collateral, cites 114CSR103-7.3. This is the main money-handling rule for client collateral, and its numbers (five banking days, non-interest-bearing, West Virginia bank) are favorite exam details.

The deposit rule: 114CSR103-7.3

When collateral security is received in the form of cash or check or other negotiable instrument, the bail bondsman shall deposit the cash or instrument within five banking days after receipt, in an established, separate noninterest-bearing trust account in any bank located in West Virginia. The trust account funds under this subsection shall not be commingled with other operating funds of the bondsman.

Counting five banking days

Banking days exclude weekends and bank holidays.

Example. A cosigner gives a bondsman a $2,000 cashier's check as collateral on Thursday, October 8, 2026. Counting banking days after receipt: Friday Oct 9 (1), Monday Oct 12 (2, if the bank is open on Columbus Day; otherwise skip it), Tuesday Oct 13 (3), Wednesday Oct 14 (4), Thursday Oct 15 (5). The latest compliant deposit date is about October 15, or October 16 if the Monday is a bank holiday. Depositing the same day or the next banking day is the safe practice.

Collateral fee versus bonding fee

The bonding fee is the bondsman's earned compensation (section 4.1). Collateral still belongs to the person who gave it, subject to the bondsman's security interest. Putting collateral in the operating account to pay rent or payroll is commingling. It can also become misappropriation or conversion (11.1.4).

Records: 114CSR103-14

Trust account statements, receipts and collateral security agreements are bail records. They are kept separate from records of any other business and kept for at least five years after the final entry (section 1.2).

Returning collateral

The rule does not set a day-count for returning collateral, but it makes willful failure to return collateral security when the principal is entitled to it a ground for suspension or revocation (11.1.10). Related grounds:

• 11.1.4: misappropriation, conversion or unlawful withholding of money or property belonging to others, received in the business;
• 11.1.6: fraudulent or dishonest practices, or financial irresponsibility;
• 11.1.8: misrepresenting the terms of an actual or proposed bond, for example telling a cosigner the collateral is "non-refundable."

When the bond is discharged and the principal or provider is entitled to the collateral, the bondsman should return it promptly, document the return, and record the final entry. That date starts the five-year retention clock.

Two different "cash" accounts

The Commissioner uses a professional bondsman's cash security only when the bondsman fails to pay an order and judgment of forfeiture after proper notice. One bondsman's cash is never used for another bondsman's liabilities (9.2).

Scenarios

1. Deposit on day eight. A bondsman holds three collateral checks in a desk drawer for eight banking days. That violates 7.3 (five banking days).
2. Interest-bearing account. A bondsman parks collateral in a high-yield savings account to earn interest. That violates 7.3, which requires a non-interest-bearing account.
3. Ohio bank. A bondsman near the border uses a trust account at a bank located only in Ohio. That violates 7.3, which requires a bank located in West Virginia.
4. Holding the title hostage. A case ends and the bond is discharged. The bondsman refuses to return a cosigner's car title until the cosigner pays an unrelated debt. That is willful failure to return collateral (11.1.10), and an unlawful charge if presented as a fee (5.2).

Exam traps

• Five banking days, not five calendar days or ten working days.
• Non-interest-bearing, separate, trust account, at a West Virginia bank.
• No commingling with operating funds.
• Client collateral trust account ≠ Bail Bondsmen Cash Security Fund.