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Texas lost title bonds.
From $125.
When you cannot prove ownership of a vehicle whose state record shows no lien, Texas lets you file a surety bond under Transportation Code § 501.053 and take a bonded title. Apply at a TxDMV Regional Service Center first; its Notice of Determination states the exact bond amount. Premiums cost 0.9% of the bond amount plus a $25 fee, $125 minimum.
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Three steps. One sitting.
Get the TxDMV notice first, then enter its amount, pay, and take the executed bond to your county tax office. Here is the whole thing:
Get your Notice of Determination
Send Form VTR-130-SOF, your evidence of ownership, photo ID and the $15 administrative fee to the TxDMV Regional Service Center that serves your county. If the paperwork is approved you get Form VTR-130-ND, stating the bond amount. You need that notice before you buy the bond.
Apply online & get issued
Enter the VIN, year, make, model and body style, your details, and the amount from the notice. No credit check up to $100,000, and most applicants are issued the moment they pay.
File at the county tax office
Take the original notice, the executed bond, Form 130-U and the rest of your step-one documents to your county tax assessor-collector within 30 days of buying the bond. We mail the wet-ink original signed by the surety, so it is ready for the counter.
Getting a bonded title in Texas, step by step.
Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) Regional Service Center, then your county tax assessor-collector handles it. The bond amount is 1.5 times the vehicle's value as TxDMV determines it. The bond lasts 3 years from the bond's effective date; the 'bonded' remark can be removed after that if no claim is pending.
Fill out the statement of fact
Complete Form VTR-130-SOF (Bonded Title Application or Tax Collector Hearing Statement of Fact), explaining how and from whom you got the vehicle. Gather any bill of sale or canceled check, your photo ID, and an original lien release or letter of no interest if a lien under 10 years old shows on the record.
Get a VIN inspection if needed
If the vehicle has no Texas record, have a law enforcement auto theft investigator complete Form VTR-68-A (Law Enforcement Identification Number Inspection). TxDMV does not perform these inspections.
File with a TxDMV Regional Service Center
Mail or bring the packet and the $15 fee to the Regional Service Center that serves your county. Mailed fees must be a check or money order; cash is taken only in person.
Get your Notice of Determination
If approved, TxDMV issues Form VTR-130-ND (Notice of Determination for a Bonded Title or Tax Assessor-Collector Hearing), which states the bond amount. TxDMV also mails notice to the owner and any lienholder of record.
Buy the bond for the notice amount
Buy a Certificate of Title Surety Bond (Form VTR-130-SB) for at least the amount on the notice, from an agency licensed to sell vehicle surety bonds in Texas. You have 1 year from the notice date; after that you need a new notice.
Apply at your county tax office
Within 30 days of the bond's effective date, take Form 130-U (Application for Texas Title and/or Registration), the original notice with its enclosures, the original bond and any power of attorney, proof of insurance and your photo ID to the county tax assessor-collector. Pay the title fee and any tax or registration fees there.
Who qualifies
- You must live in Texas or be military personnel stationed in Texas.
- The vehicle must be in your possession and complete (frame, body and motor; frame and motor for a motorcycle), though it does not need to run.
- Junked, nonrepairable or otherwise untitleable vehicles do not qualify.
- If the record shows a lien less than 10 years old, you need an original lien release or letter of no interest; without one, you need a court order awarding you ownership instead.
State fees
- Bonded title administrative fee (non-refundable)paid to TxDMV Regional Service Center
- $15
- Title application feepaid to County tax assessor-collector
- $33 in non-attainment counties; $28 in other counties
These are the state’s fees. The bond premium is separate and shown in the price card.
After the bond
File the original bond with your county tax assessor-collector within 30 days of its effective date; the title issues with a 'BONDED TITLE' remark that stays for the full 3 years, even if you sell the vehicle. After 3 years with no claim pending, ask a TxDMV Regional Service Center to remove the remark, then apply for an original title at the county and pay the title fee.
Checked on 22 October 2026 against TxDMV: Bought a vehicle with no title, TxDMV Form VTR-130-SOF (Rev 11/24), TxDMV Motor Vehicle Title Manual (August 2026), sections 3.6 and 8.3 and TxDMV adopted rules, 43 TAC 217.9 Bonded Titles. Rules and fees change; the agency’s own page has the final word.
What it is and who needs it.
What the bonded title actually does
When the ownership paperwork for a vehicle is missing, lost, or rejected, Transportation Code § 501.053 lets you take a title by filing a bond with the department instead of going through a § 501.052 hearing. The section opens three doors, and this bond is the first and cleanest of them: the vehicle is in your possession and there is no security interest on it. The other two are a lien at least ten years old, or a full release of all liens filed with the bond.
That distinction is the whole reason the state record matters. TxDMV is explicit that you are not eligible for a bonded title if a recorded lienholder of ten years or less exists and you cannot get a release of lien or a letter of no interest. When the record comes back clean, none of that applies — you go straight from the Notice of Determination to the bond to the county counter.
The bond runs to the department and is conditioned to indemnify all prior owners and lienholders, all later purchasers, anyone who takes a security interest, and their successors against loss, expense or damage — including reasonable attorney's fees — arising from the title being issued or from a defect in your right to the vehicle. Any interested person can sue on it, and the surety's total liability to everyone is capped at the bond amount. It expires on the third anniversary of its effective date; if nobody with a better claim surfaces in those three years, the brand comes off and a clean title issues. It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays, you repay the surety.
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 carrier issues this bond for a term it sets; the term cannot be changed 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 at the county tax office. Take the original notice, the executed bond, Form 130-U and the rest of your step-one documents to your county tax assessor-collector within 30 days of buying the bond. We mail the wet-ink original signed by the surety, so it is ready for the counter.
What sets the price
The premium is 0.9% of the bond amount plus a $25 fee, $125 minimum: the amount the obligee sets moves the price, not your business profile.
No credit check up to $100,000. Above that, the carrier may run a soft pull, which never affects your score.
Where a check runs, it decides approval; the rate is the same for everyone approved.
Get your TxDMV notice, then apply here.
Enter the bond amount from your Notice of Determination — your exact price is set at the application, most applicants are issued the moment they pay, and the wet-ink original is mailed for the county counter.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Texas bonds.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Bonded title, priced off your notice.
Enter the amount TxDMV printed on your Notice of Determination and see your exact price at the application. Free until issued.