Illinois consumer installment loan bonds.
From $100.
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Illinois licenses consumer installment lenders through the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, with applications filed through NMLS. The Consumer Installment Loan Act requires every applicant and licensee to keep a $25,000 surety bond, more if the Director requires it. The premium is 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum.
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How much does an Illinois consumer installment loan bond cost?
1% of the bond amount, from $100. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Three steps. One sitting.
Enter your amount, pay, and upload to your NMLS record. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
Business details, the bond amount, an effective date, and a term. No credit check up to $25,000.
Pay & e-sign
The premium is 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum — a $25,000 bond prices at $250 — and the bond issues the moment you pay, executed bond and power of attorney on the spot.
File with your NMLS application
Submit the executed bond with your Consumer Installment Loan License record so IDFPR can complete its review. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the bond actually guarantees
The Consumer Installment Loan Act, 205 ILCS 670, governs Illinois lenders making consumer installment loans outside the banking system. The Act requires every applicant and licensee to maintain a surety bond in the principal sum of $25,000, issued by a bonding company authorized to do business in Illinois and approved by the Director — filed and maintained through the license's NMLS record.
It's a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety carrier, and the Director of the Division of Financial Institutions (the obligee). The bond runs to the Director for the benefit of any consumer who incurs damages from a violation of the Act or its rules — the rate caps, disclosure duties, and servicing rules at the heart of the license.
It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. If the Director finds the bond insufficient, insecure, or exhausted, an additional bond must be filed within 30 days of written demand; we issue whatever amount your license requires and send renewal notices 60 and 30 days out.
You need this bond if you're
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 premium covers a one-year term from the effective date you choose.
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 your NMLS application. Submit the executed bond with your Consumer Installment Loan License record so IDFPR can complete its review. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What sets the price
The premium is 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum: the amount the obligee sets moves the price, not your business profile.
No credit check up to $25,000. 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, issued instantly.
These are the actual issuing fields — business details, your bond amount, an effective date, and a term. That is the application.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Illinois bonds.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
CILA bond, issued today.
1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum, issued the moment you pay. Free until issued.