The Expert Podcast

…All right Let's clear it up once And for all what is the actual cost of getting a bond for a vehicle A lot of times people will go to the DMV or look to apply for a bond to title. And they'll think that you have to come up with tens of thousands of dollars to get a bond. The cost of a lost title bond represents the value of the vehicle The applicant is titling. The title bond needs to be in the amount of one and a half or two times the value of the vehicle but that's not what you have to pay. If you have a $6,000 vehicle, one and a half times is $9,000, you might think well I have to come up with $9,000. That's not what it means And sometimes even the DMV employee you're talking to doesn't know this or not aware of this. Really What you need to do is you need to purchase a bond. For that amount let's say $10,000. Which is the bond amount the price you pays a very small portion of this. Most people only need to pay about a hundred dollars for a loss tidal bond. And here's a chart. If you buy a vehicle or you buy a bond that's 10,000 it'll cost you 115,001 50. It shows here a bond amount of 5,000 Usually there's a minimum amount for a bond of about a hundred dollars. So roughly, unless you have a 20 or $30,000 vehicle, you're going to spend it a hundred or 150 or 200 bucks…for. A title bond. So it's not as big of a deal as it looks And it's important to know this because many times…Somebody will look to get a bonded title. And the reason they don't continue with it is because they think they have to come up with a lot of money. So then they looked at some other title method which might not be as good. Sometimes they'll switch to a Vermont loophole or they'll try to do some kind of mechanics lien in the run into all kinds of problems, more expense and maybe even losing the vehicle. So here's a couple examples of how the bonded title process works. This one happens to, reference. What are not acceptable for bonds you can't do a bond on an abandoned vehicle We've talked about this before. Most vehicles that people think are abandoned really are not abandoned vehicles abandoned vehicles or something that somebody left. the side of the road that nobody knows where it came from. And…it's disposed of. Discarded. Most times people think abandoned is something that they bought and it's been sitting around or somebody didn't pay a bill for repairs or or service. Bottom line is that you don't want to call something abandoned unless you need to because guess what Abandoned vehicles are not finders keepers You don't get to keep an abandoned vehicle. By the same token mechanics liens. You can't do a bond to title. If there is an outstanding lien on the vehicle like a bank loan or, a financial institution you can not do a bonded title. If there's a litigation pending like. A probate. Divorce repo or something that has a court case. Can't do a bond a title on that either. This one happens to do with North Carolina, meaning that unless the vehicle is in North Carolina. You can't do it Most states require the same thing that. The vehicle has to be located where this application is occurring. And then many times if the vehicle is an insurance vehicle total loss. declared a total loss by. insurance company non-repairable junked. Can't do bonded title there either It's not designed for that process. Let's take a look at a couple other states. Here's what a bond looks like This is the Michigan department of state uniform shirt. bond This is what the bonding company will sign You can fill it in. With all the information. But the. Bonding company has to sign it Here's the principle of the surety company authorized agent, signed and they'll put a surety number on it. So that you can submit it to DMV. Before you can title a registered motor vehicle. You must file a uniform surety bond. With the application or registration. So, this is very similar to many other states Here's Illinois. On a, Fact sheet for titles obtained by bond. When applying for a title you have to have the description of the vehicle, the current value, the statement that the vehicle is intact and that all parts are present. You can't bond a partial vehicle or a vehicle that's in the process of being, I remodeled or restored. Or reconstructed. Once again if a lien holder is listed on the previous title record a lien release is required. So bonded titles have a place. They're very. Powerful ways to get a title. Sometimes your scenario might not. be eligible for bonded title and that case you want to look at a court order title and that's also on our website. If you do need to find out the exact amount for a surety bond, check out our website pro bonds.com. it'll give you a quote on your surety bond for your vehicle based on the value based on where you're located. And you could proceed with that process Many times a surety bond title is a good way to go. there's about eight or nine states that do not do surety bonds. So you have to make sure your state allows it. And it's usually better than doing like a Vermont loophole or some kind of mechanics lien or abandoned title because you'll run into problems with those. if for whatever reason the surety bond is not possible then you can elevate your case right To a court order title. And that's a lot easier than it sounds as well. Put some comments below let us know what you think. If you have any questions contact us on our website, car titles.com.