Colorado certificate of title bonds.
From $100.
Also known as the Colorado bonded title bond.
When you can’t prove ownership of a vehicle, Colorado lets you get a bonded title — file a surety bond under C.R.S. 42-6-115 (form DR 2922) and the DMV issues the title. The premium is 0.9% of your bond amount, with a $100 minimum; the amount is twice the vehicle’s value, and your exact price appears at the application.
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How much does a Colorado certificate of title bond cost?
0.9% of the bond amount, from $100. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Apply to bonded title in one sitting.
No underwriting queue for the standard title bond — enter your amount, pay, and take the executed bond to the DMV. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
Your details, the vehicle, and the bond amount (twice the vehicle’s value) — that is the application.
Issued fast
Most applications approve instantly and the executed bond is generated as soon as you pay. No credit check up to $100,000.
File with the DMV
Take the executed bond (form DR 2922), your appraisal, and a VIN inspection to the DMV to get your bonded title. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the office insists.
Getting a bonded title in Colorado, step by step.
Colorado Department of Revenue, Division of Motor Vehicles, through your county motor vehicle office handles it. The bond amount is At least 2 times the vehicle's reasonable value, from a dealer appraisal, Kelley Blue Book or NADA.
Get a Certified VIN Inspection
A P.O.S.T. certified inspector completes Form DR 2704; your county motor vehicle office can refer you to one. The inspection cannot be more than 1 year old when you apply.
Request a title record search
File Form DR 2489A, Motor Vehicle Requestor Release Affidavit of Intended Use, with a copy of the VIN inspection, or request the search on myDMV. If Colorado has no record, you also need a national title and lien search.
Write to every owner and lienholder
Send a certified or registered letter to each owner and lienholder the search shows, giving the vehicle's year, make and VIN, what you plan to do with it, and how to reach you. Keep the mailing receipt or proof of delivery.
Clear any active lien
Get a lien release on the lienholder's letterhead, or proof that your letter to the lienholder came back undeliverable. Without one, you will need a court order.
Set the vehicle's value
Get a signed appraisal from a Colorado licensed dealer, or print the current Kelley Blue Book or NADA retail value and add Form DR 2444, Statement of Fact. Manufactured homes use the County Assessor's value.
Buy the bond for twice the value
Buy a surety bond for at least 2 times that value showing the vehicle's year, make and VIN, or use a qualifying savings account or certificate of deposit instead. Then complete Form DR 2394, Bond Statement Guide & In Lieu of Bond Affidavit.
Apply at your county motor vehicle office
Bring every item above, identification that meets Form DR 2841 and the title fee to the office in the county where you live. For model year 2011 and newer, record the mileage on secure Form DR 2173, Motor Vehicle Bill of Sale.
Who qualifies
- You must have the vehicle, and it must be physically in Colorado.
- The process is for vehicles whose ownership papers are missing or wrong.
- Vehicles 25 years old or older can skip the bond with a VIN inspection, a record search, the DR 2394 affidavit and a bill of sale presented within 24 months of the sale (checklist DR 2462).
- Trailers of 2,000 lb or less can skip the bond with Forms DR 2697 and DR 2908.
- If the record search shows the vehicle is or was salvage, extra salvage forms apply, including DR 2415, DR 2424 and DR 2710.
State fees
- Title feepaid to County motor vehicle office
- $7.20
- Title record search (DR 2489A), per VINpaid to Colorado DMV
- $2.25
These are the state’s fees. The bond premium is separate and shown in the price card.
After the bond
Take the signed bond and Form DR 2394 with the rest of your papers to the county motor vehicle office where you live; the title is issued once every requirement is met. If the title is denied, you can ask in writing for a hearing within 60 days of the denial notice.
Checked on 22 October 2026 against Colorado DMV DR 2922: Title or Salvage Title Established by Surety Bond (06/25/25), Colorado DMV DR 2394: Bond Statement Guide & In Lieu of Bond Affidavit (03/26/25), Colorado DMV DR 2462: In Lieu of Bond for Motor Vehicles 25 Years Old or Older (06/04/25) and 1 CCR 204-10, Rule 19: Bonding for Colorado Certificate of Title. Rules and fees change; the agency’s own page has the final word.
What it is and who needs it.
What the bonded title actually does
When you buy or inherit a vehicle and the paperwork is missing, lost, or defective, Colorado lets you establish ownership with a bonded title under C.R.S. 42-6-115. You post a surety bond, the DMV issues a certificate of title in your name, and the bond protects anyone who later proves a superior claim to the vehicle.
The bond amount is two times the vehicle’s current appraised value. You establish value with a Kelley Blue Book or NADA printout, or a written appraisal from a Colorado-licensed motor vehicle dealer — and the DMV also wants a Statement of Fact (DR 2444) and a certified VIN inspection (DR 2704).
If someone with a better claim comes forward and is harmed, they can recover against the bond — and if the surety pays, you repay the surety. The bond is filed on form DR 2922 and typically runs a three-year term, after which a clean title issues.
You need this bond if you are
Claims, renewal, filing, and what sets the price.
If a claim is made
A claim comes from the party the bond protects, the obligee named on the form, when the duty the bond guarantees is not met.
The surety investigates and pays a valid claim, up to the bond amount. You then repay the surety: a surety bond is a guarantee of your performance, not insurance for you.
Renewal and term
The carrier issues this bond for a single three-year term; the term cannot be changed at checkout.
Renew before the expiry date to keep the bond in force: the license, permit or contract it backs expects continuous coverage.
How to file it
File with the DMV. Take the executed bond (form DR 2922), your appraisal, and a VIN inspection to the DMV to get your bonded title. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the office insists.
What sets the price
The premium is 0.9% of the bond amount, $100 minimum: the amount the obligee sets moves the price, not your business profile.
No credit check up to $100,000. Above that, the carrier may run a soft pull, which never affects your score.
Where a check runs, it decides approval; the rate is the same for everyone approved.
One application, priced fast.
Submit the application with your bond amount (twice the vehicle’s value) — your exact price is confirmed there, and the executed title bond is generated as soon as you pay.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Colorado bonds.
The same bond in nearby states.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Bonded title, issued today.
Pricing from $100. Enter your amount and take it to the DMV the same day.