Maryland consumer reporting agency bonds.
From $1,000.
A consumer reporting agency registering or renewing in Maryland must file a surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit with the Commissioner of Financial Regulation under Commercial Law § 14-1217, submitted through NMLS. Premiums cost 1% of the bond amount.
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How much does a Maryland consumer reporting agency bond cost?
1% of the bond amount, from $1,000 at the $100,000 minimum. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Three steps. One sitting.
NMLS wants the bond attached to your registration or renewal filing, and the tier is fixed by your report volume, not negotiable. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
Your company details, the bond amount your COMAR tier requires, an effective date, and the credit consent that authorizes a soft pull. That is the application.
Issued
Most applications approve instantly. The credit consent authorizes a soft inquiry that never affects your score, and no hard inquiry ever runs on this bond.
Upload to NMLS
Your executed bond arrives by email as a PDF, ready to attach to your NMLS filing for the Commissioner of Financial Regulation. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the consumer reporting agency bond actually guarantees
Maryland requires a consumer reporting agency — a business that assembles, evaluates, or sells consumer credit or background reports — to register with the Commissioner of Financial Regulation and, for any new or renewal registration filed on or after June 1, 2019, to file a surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit under Commercial Law § 14-1217. The filing runs through the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS).
The bond names the Commissioner as obligee, for the benefit of the State and any consumer injured by a violation of the consumer reporting subtitle, or who suffers actual damages from a breach of the agency’s data security systems. Under COMAR 09.03.07.04, the required amount is tiered to the share of Maryland’s population covered by the reports you assembled, evaluated, or sold in the prior calendar year — from a $100,000 floor at up to 10% of the state’s population, rising in steps to $1,000,000 above 75%.
Liability on the bond continues for three years after the bond is cancelled or the agency deregisters, and the surety must be authorized to do business in Maryland and hold a certificate from the Maryland Insurance Commissioner. We price the bond from $1,000, and the application includes only a soft credit consent — never a hard inquiry.
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 term is set on the carrier’s application; the premium covers the period shown there.
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
Upload to NMLS. Your executed bond arrives by email as a PDF, ready to attach to your NMLS filing for the Commissioner of Financial Regulation. 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.
One soft credit pull, never a hard inquiry, and it never affects your score.
Where a check runs, it decides approval; the rate is the same for everyone approved.
One application, priced on the spot.
These are the actual NMLS-facing fields. The credit consent authorizes a soft pull only — a soft inquiry that never affects your score.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Maryland bonds.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
NMLS filing waiting on one bond.
1% of the bond amount. Enter your COMAR tier and upload the executed PDF to NMLS the same day. Free until issued.