IL credit services organization bonds.
$1,500 flat.
Illinois requires a credit services organization — a business selling credit repair, credit improvement, or credit-obtaining assistance to consumers — to maintain a $100,000 surety bond in favor of the State under 815 ILCS 605/5, with a copy filed with the Secretary of State before doing business. Ours is $1,500 flat, the price you see is the checkout price, and the bond issues the moment you pay. Any credit screen is a soft pull only — it never affects your score.
Trusted by industry leaders
Three steps. One sitting.
The CSO bond is a straightforward Secretary of State filing. Here's the entire process:
Apply online
Business and owner details, an effective date, and a term. That is the entire application — and any credit screen is a soft pull that never shows as a hard inquiry.
Pay & e-sign
This bond is checkout-priced at $1,500 flat, so it issues the moment you pay — your executed bond and power of attorney generate on the spot.
File with the Secretary of State
A copy of your executed bond files with the Office of the Secretary of State before you begin doing business. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the bond actually guarantees
The Credit Services Organizations Act, 815 ILCS 605, covers businesses that charge consumers for improving a credit record, obtaining credit, or advising on either. Section 5 requires the organization to maintain a surety bond in the principal sum of $100,000, issued by a bonding company authorized to do business in Illinois, with a copy filed with the Office of the Secretary of State.
It's a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety carrier, and the State of Illinois (the obligee). The bond runs in favor of the State for the benefit of any person damaged by a violation of the Act — the contract, disclosure, and no-advance-fee rules that protect credit repair customers. The surety answers for actual damages, capped at the bond amount.
It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. The Act requires the bond to be maintained for 2 years after the organization ceases operations, so plan for a tail; we track the term and send renewal notices 60 and 30 days out.
You need this bond if you're
One application, issued instantly.
These are the actual issuing fields — business and owner details, an effective date, and a term. That is the entire application.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Illinois bonds.
Get your CSO bond filed today.
$1,500 flat, issued the moment you pay, soft pull only. Free until issued.