6 Va. Admin. Code § 20-250-250 - Professional conduct standards; grounds for disciplinary actions
A. Any violations
of the restrictions or standards under this statute shall be grounds for
placing on probation, refusal to issue or renew, sanctioning, suspension or
revocation of the bail bondsman's license. A licensed bail bondsman is
responsible for ensuring that his employees, partners and persons contracted to
perform services for or on behalf of the bonding business comply with all of
these provisions, and do not violate any of the restrictions that apply to bail
bondsmen. Violations by a bondsman's employee, partner, or agent may be grounds
for disciplinary action against the bondsman, including probation, suspension
or revocation of license. Upon notification from the State Corporation
Commission of a license suspension, the department shall immediately suspend a
surety bondsman's license, pending the results of an investigation.
B. A licensed bail bondsman shall not:
1. Knowingly commit, or be a party to, any
material fraud, misrepresentation, concealment, conspiracy, collusion, forgery,
scheme or device whereby any other person lawfully relies upon the word,
representation, or conduct of the bail bondsman.
2. Solicit sexual favors or extort additional
consideration as a condition of obtaining, maintaining, or exonerating bail
bond, regardless of the identity of the person who performs the
favors.
3. Conduct a bail bond
transaction that demonstrates bad faith, dishonesty, coercion, incompetence,
extortion or untrustworthiness.
4.
Coerce, suggest, aid and abet, offer promise of favor, or threaten any person
on whose bond he is surety or offers to become surety, to induce that person to
commit any crime.
5. Give or
receive, directly or indirectly, any gift of any kind to any nonelected public
official or any employee of a governmental agency involved with the
administration of justice, including but not limited to law-enforcement
personnel, magistrates, judges, and jail employees, as well as attorneys. De
minimis gifts, not to exceed $50 per year per recipient, are acceptable,
provided the purpose of the gift is not to directly solicit business, or would
otherwise be a violation of board regulations or the laws of the
Commonwealth.
6. Fail to comply
with any of the statutory or regulatory requirements governing licensed bail
bondsmen.
7. Fail to cooperate with
any investigation by the department.
8. Fail to comply with any subpoena issued by
the department.
9. Provide
materially incorrect, misleading, incomplete or untrue information in a license
application, renewal application, or any other document filed with the
department.
10. Provide bail for
any person if he is also an attorney representing that person.
11. Provide bail for any person if the
bondsman was initially involved in the arrest of that person.
C. A licensed bail bondsman shall
ensure that each recognizance on all bonds for which he signs shall contain his
name, license number and contact information.
D. A surety bail bondsman shall in addition
ensure that each recognizance for which he signs contains the contact
information for both the surety agent and the registered agent of the issuing
company.
E. An administrative fee
may be charged by a bail bondsman, not to exceed reasonable costs and must be
disclosed in writing. Reasonable costs may include, but are not limited to,
travel, court time, recovery fees, phone expenses, administrative overhead and
postage.
F. A property bail
bondsman shall not enter into any bond if the aggregate of the penalty of such
bond and all other bonds, on which he has not been released from liability, is
in excess of four times the true market value of the equity in his real estate,
cash or certificates of deposit issued by a federally insured institution, or
any combination thereof.
G. A
property bail bondsman or his agent shall not refuse to cover any forfeiture of
bond against him or refuse to pay such forfeiture after notice and final order
of the court.
H. A surety bail
bondsman shall not refuse to cover any forfeiture of bond against him or refuse
to pay such forfeiture after notice and final order of the court.
I. A surety bail bondsman shall not write
bail bonds on any qualifying power of attorney for which a copy has not been
filed with the department.
J. A
surety bail bondsman shall not violate any of the statutes or regulations that
govern insurance agents.
K. A
licensed bail bondsman shall disclose in writing to the indemnitor if the bail
bondsman has the knowledge that the bailee is being held in multiple
jurisdictions.
L. A licensed bail
bondsman shall not violate any provision specified in protective orders served
on a potential bailee pursuant to §
16.1-253.1 of the Code of
Virginia.
M. A licensed bail
bondsman shall not charge a bail bond premium less than 10% or more than 15% of
the amount of the bond. A licensed bail bondsman shall not loan money with
interest for the purpose of helping another obtain a bail bond.
For the purpose of this subsection, "bail bond premium" means the amount of money paid to a licensed bail bondsman for the execution of a bail bond.
N. A licensed
bail bondsman who has been arrested for a felony offense shall not issue any
new bonds pending the outcome of the investigation by the department.
Notes
Statutory Authority: §§ 9.1-102 and 9.1-185.2 of the Code of Virginia.
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