Missouri vehicle & marine craft leasing bonds.
$1,000 flat.
A Missouri lease and rental fleet operator files a $100,000 surety bond with the Department of Revenue, submitted as an original with Form 901. Under § 144.070.6, RSMo, every applicant to be a registered fleet owner must furnish it. Ours is $1,000 flat.
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How much does a Missouri vehicle & marine craft leasing bond cost?
$1,000 at the $100,000 amount, the same for every applicant.
Three steps. One sitting.
The bond is the one piece of the Form 901 packet you can finish online today, while the sales tax license copy and the insurance policy copy come together. Here is the entire process:
Apply online
Company details, ownership, an effective date, and a term. Any credit screen on this bond is a soft pull that never shows up as a hard inquiry, and the price does not move either way.
Pay & e-sign
This bond is checkout-priced at $1,000 flat, so it issues the moment you pay — your executed bond and power of attorney generate on the spot.
File with the Motor Vehicle Bureau
The Department of Revenue wants the ORIGINAL bond in the Form 901 packet, so the wet-ink original goes in the mail to you the same day the PDF lands in your inbox. It is filed with the Lease/Rental Registration Desk in Jefferson City alongside your sales tax license copy, insurance policy copy, and fees.
What it is and who needs it.
What the fleet bond actually guarantees
Missouri does not want a leased vehicle taxed twice. A company that rents or leases motor vehicles, trailers, boats, or outboard motors exclusively for lease or rental purposes — never for resale — may apply to the Director of Revenue under § 144.070.5, RSMo for authority to operate as a leasing or rental company, and then elect to collect and remit sales tax on the amount charged under each lease or rental agreement instead of paying it up front at titling. That election is all-or-nothing across the units held for lease or rental. The permit application is Form 901, and § 144.010.1(7) defines a motor vehicle leasing company as one that holds it.
The $100,000 bond is a narrower requirement than the permit itself. Form 901 asks for a corporate surety bond or an irrevocable letter of credit only from the Lease and Rental Fleet class — the operators who take fleet plates instead of registering each unit individually. § 301.032.6(1) opens that door to a person, company, or corporation renting or leasing 3,500 or more motor vehicles used exclusively for rental or leasing and not for resale, and § 144.070.6 attaches the bond to the fleet-owner application. If you are filing Form 901 for plain lease or rental authority and not taking fleet plates, check the Type of Operation box before you buy — you may not need this bond at all.
It is a three-party instrument: you (the principal), the surety carrier, and the State of Missouri (the obligee), executed for the benefit of all aggrieved parties. The bond indemnifies any loss caused by acts that would be grounds to suspend or revoke the registered fleet owner license, and the Department releases proceeds only on receipt of a final judgment from a Missouri court of competent jurisdiction against you in an aggrieved party's favor — the surety's aggregate exposure never exceeds the penal sum. It is not insurance for you: if the surety pays, you repay the surety. Lease/rental permits expire December 31 on a two-year cycle, so we track the term 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 $100,000 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; a longer term is the same price per year, chosen 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 Motor Vehicle Bureau. The Department of Revenue wants the ORIGINAL bond in the Form 901 packet, so the wet-ink original goes in the mail to you the same day the PDF lands in your inbox. It is filed with the Lease/Rental Registration Desk in Jefferson City alongside your sales tax license copy, insurance policy copy, and fees.
What sets the price
The premium is fixed at $1,000 at the $100,000 amount for every applicant: the carrier’s rate book prices this bond by the form, not by your credit or 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, issued instantly.
These are the actual issuing fields — company details, ownership, an effective date, and a term. That is the application; any credit screen is a soft pull.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Missouri bonds.
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Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Finish your Form 901 packet today.
$1,000 flat, issued the moment you pay, soft pull only. Free until issued.