Surety Bond Professionals is a family-owned and operated bonding agency with over 30 years of experience. With access to a broad range of surety markets, our expert agents are ready to assist with all your Montana title bond needs.
What Are They?
Purchasing a three-year Montana title bond is a mandatory step in the process of obtaining a bonded title for a motor vehicle currently lacking a valid title. A bonded title will allow you to register, sell, donate, or gift the vehicle like a regular vehicle title enables you to do.
A Montana title bond indemnifies the Montana Department of Justice’s Motor Vehicle Division against liability if, within the three-year bond term, someone comes forward with evidence that you are not the vehicle’s rightful owner and should not have been issued a bonded title. The title bond also ensures that the rightful owner or lienholder will be compensated for a financial loss incurred as a result of your actions during the three years that the bond is in place, such as selling, donating, crashing, or junking the vehicle.
Who Needs Them?
The most common reasons for needing a bonded title, and therefore a Montana title bond, are:
- The seller did not provide a title, though you may have received a bill of sale or receipt.
- The seller gave you a title that was improperly assigned, altered, damaged, or otherwise made invalid.
- The seller provided a title at the time of the sale, but it was lost or stolen before you could register the vehicle in your own name.
The required bond amount must be equal to the current value of the vehicle based on the National Appraisal Guide, or NADA. You will not need to purchase a title bond if the vehicle’s appraised value is.
Speak with a Surety Bond Professionals agent today to discuss your bonding needs.
How Do They Work?
During the three years that your Montana title bond is in force, there is the possibility that someone with a claim on the vehicle that trumps your own will be entitled to compensation for damages.
If a claim is filed against your Montana title bond, the surety bond company (the “surety” for short) will first investigate to make sure the claim is valid. If it is, the surety most likely will go ahead and pay it on your behalf, even though the legal responsibility for paying claims rests with you as the bonded individual (the bond’s “principal”). In essence, in paying a claim, the surety is lending you money, creating a debt that you must pay back.
What Do They Cost?
Surety bond companies typically sell Montana title bonds in tiers, depending on the required bond amount. Bonds with a maximum amount of $6,000 generally sell for a flat fee of $100. Title bonds with face amounts greater than $6,000 but no more than $25,000 sell for a base fee of $100. You’ll also have to pay an extra $15 for every $1,000 increment above $6,000.
Only Montana title bonds for more than $25,000 are subject to underwriting by the surety and are sold on a premium basis. The premium rate is determined primarily by the principal’s personal credit score. The higher the principal’s credit score, the lower the risk to the surety, and therefore the lower the premium rate will be.
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Our surety bond professionals will get you the Montana title bond you need at a competitive rate.