Houston street vendor bonds.
$250 flat.
The City of Houston requires a $10,000 surety bond from anyone who sells, exhibits, or takes orders for merchandise from a vehicle, a vacant lot, or a space in a building under Chapter 22 of the Houston Code of Ordinances. Ours is $250 flat — the price you see is the checkout price. The application collects no credit information.
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Three steps. One sitting.
A street vendor permit bond is about the simplest thing in surety. Here's the entire process:
Apply online
Business details and an effective date. That's the application — no financials, no credit section.
Pay & e-sign
Vendor bonds like this are among the thousands of bond types that issue right after purchase. At most, 1–2 business days.
File with the Permitting Center
Your executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email, ready to file with your street vendor permit application at the Houston Permitting Center. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the vendor bond actually guarantees
Houston requires anyone conducting a temporary or transient business — selling, exhibiting, or taking orders for merchandise from a vehicle, a vacant lot, or leased space — to hold a street vendor permit, administered by the Houston Permitting Center under Chapter 22 of the city's Code of Ordinances. The permit is conditioned on a $10,000 surety bond that stays in effect for the life of the permit and for two years after it ends.
It's a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety carrier, and the City of Houston (the obligee), protecting the city and the public if a vendor fails to pay the taxes, fees, or fines the ordinance requires, or otherwise violates the permit conditions.
It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. Because Houston's vendor permit itself is short-lived — commonly renewed every 7 days — vendors keep this bond active for the full two-year tail the ordinance requires, and we track it so it never lapses mid-permit.
You need this bond if you're
One application, issued instantly.
These are the actual issuing fields — no credit section, because this application doesn't collect credit information.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Texas bonds.
Finish your Houston vendor permit today.
$250 flat, no credit review, bond often issued in the same sitting. Free until issued.