Tennessee credit services business bonds.
$1,000.
Tennessee requires a credit services business, anyone who sells help improving a consumer's credit, to file a $100,000 surety bond with the Department of Commerce & Insurance under the Credit Services Businesses Act. The premium is 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum, which is $1,000 on the statutory $100,000 penal sum.
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How much does a Tennessee credit services business bond cost?
$1,000 for the $100,000 bond: 1% of the bond amount.
Three steps. One sitting.
Credit services registration bonds are among the simplest filings in surety. Here is the entire process:
Apply online
Business details, owner information, an effective date, and a term. One soft credit pull, never a hard inquiry, and it never affects your score.
Pay & e-sign
The rate is fixed at 1% of the bond amount, so the bond issues the moment you pay — your executed bond and power of attorney generate on the spot.
File with Commerce & Insurance
Your executed bond arrives by email, ready to file with your credit services business registration at the Department of Commerce & Insurance. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the bond actually guarantees
Tennessee regulates credit services businesses under Part 10 of the Consumer Protection Act. A credit services business sells, provides, or performs services it represents will improve a buyer's credit record, history, or rating — or gives advice about doing so. Before it does business in Tennessee, it must register and file a $100,000 surety bond with the Department of Commerce & Insurance.
It is a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety carrier, and the State of Tennessee (the obligee), with buyers of your services as the protected parties. A consumer who wins damages in a private action under Part 10 can make a claim against the bond, and the Attorney General can ask that bond proceeds go to consumer restitution or civil penalties.
It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. The bond has to stay continuously on file for as long as you are registered, 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 Commerce & Insurance. Your executed bond arrives by email, ready to file with your credit services business registration at the Department of Commerce & Insurance. 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, issued instantly.
These are the actual issuing fields — business details, owner information, an effective date, and a term.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Tennessee bonds.
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Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Finish your credit services registration today.
1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum, issued the moment you pay. Free until issued.