TN motor vehicle dealer bonds.
$1,500 flat. Soft pull.
Tennessee requires every licensed motor vehicle dealer to maintain a $50,000 surety bond under Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-17-111. Ours is $1,500 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, the county where the dealership sits, and an effective date. 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 Motor Vehicle Commission
Pay online and receive the executed bond ready to file with your dealer license application. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the state insists.
The whole pricing page.
$50,000 bond × 3% = $1,500, 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
Tennessee licenses motor vehicle dealers through the Motor Vehicle Commission and conditions the license on a $50,000 surety bond. The bond is a consumer-protection guarantee: it stands behind clear title on the vehicles you sell and the proper handling of a customer's prepaid title, registration, and tax money.
It's a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety carrier standing behind you, and the State of Tennessee together with harmed buyers (the protected parties). If a dealer fails to deliver a clean title free of prior liens, or fails to remit a customer's prepaid fees and taxes, the harmed party can recover against the bond.
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, not a risk.
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 $50,000? +
Who requires this bond? +
What does the bond guarantee? +
Is there a credit check? +
When does it renew? +
Other New York bonds.
The Motor Vehicle Commission is waiting on one document.
$1,500 flat, five-minute application, e-signed bond in 1–2 business days. Free until issued.