IA motor vehicle dealer bonds.
$2,250 flat. Soft pull.
Iowa requires every licensed motor vehicle dealer to file a $75,000 bond with the Iowa DOT under Iowa Code 322.4. Ours is $2,250 flat — 3% of the bond amount, identical for every dealer. One soft credit pull, e-signed in 1–2 business days.
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Three steps to licensed.
Your dealer license is waiting on this bond. Here's the entire process — no broker phone tag:
Apply once, online
Business details, owner information, effective date. That is the application — the only extra step is a one-time consent to a soft credit pull.
Reviewed & approved
Most of these clear quickly; if underwriting needs anything, you hear from an underwriter within 48 hours. The credit check is a soft pull that never affects your score.
E-sign & file with the Iowa DOT
Pay online and receive the executed bond ready to file with your dealer license application through the Iowa DOT’s Office of Vehicle & Motor Carrier Services. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the state insists.
The whole pricing page.
$75,000 bond × 3% = $2,250, one-time per term. Fixed amount, fixed price, multi-year if you want it.
What it is and who needs it.
What the bond actually guarantees
Iowa licenses motor vehicle dealers through the Iowa Department of Transportation, and conditions the license on a $75,000 surety bond under Iowa Code 322.4. The bond runs to the State of Iowa and is a consumer-and-public-protection guarantee standing behind clear title and the dealer’s compliance with Iowa’s motor vehicle sales laws.
It protects purchasers, sellers, financing agencies, and government agencies from monetary loss caused by a dealer’s fraud or fraudulent representation, failure to comply with the licensing law, or failure to pay required taxes and fees. The obligee is the Iowa DOT.
Iowa dealer licenses run on a biennial cycle (expiring December 31 of even-numbered years), and the bond must stay continuous across it. It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. Dealers who deliver clean title and keep good records treat the bond as a license formality.
You need this bond if you're
Five minutes. The whole thing.
These are the actual underwriting fields, including a one-time consent to a soft credit pull. Submit once and your bond is typically issued within 1–2 business days.
Start the application →Common questions.
If yours isn't here, the bond team can usually answer within the hour.
Do I pay the $75,000? +
Who requires this bond? +
What does the bond guarantee? +
Is there a credit check? +
When does it renew? +
Other New York bonds.
The Iowa DOT is waiting on one document.
$2,250 flat, five-minute application, e-signed bond in 1–2 business days. Free until issued.