Arizona Motor Vehicle Title Bond

What a Arizona title bond does

When you hold a vehicle but cannot produce a properly assigned certificate of title, Arizona will not issue a new title on your word alone. Under A.R.S. § 28-2057, the state accepts a surety bond in place of the missing proof of ownership. The bond, which Arizona calls a bonded title, promises that anyone who later proves a better claim to the vehicle (a prior owner, a lienholder, a subsequent purchaser) will be paid their loss up to the bond amount. On the strength of that promise Arizona Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Division issues a title in your name. It is a real title: you can register, insure, drive and sell the vehicle. The only difference is a brand on the face of the title that lapses when the bond term runs without a claim.

Three parties sign on. You are the principal. Arizona Department of Transportation and every potential claimant are the obligees. Surety One, Inc. is the surety that guarantees your claim. If the surety ever pays, it looks to you under the indemnity agreement in the application, which is why we ask for evidence of how you came to possess the vehicle before issuing.

How much bond do you need in Arizona?

Arizona fixes the penal sum at 1.5× vehicle value. We round up to the next $1,000 because sureties issue in whole thousands and the DMV never objects to a bond that exceeds the requirement.

At $20 per $1,000 that $13,000 bond carries a premium of $260.00, plus the $85 administrative fee, for a total of $345.00 covering the full 3-year term. Nothing renews and nothing is refunded; the premium is fully earned when the bond is executed.

Where the value comes from. MVD determines the value. Form 40-1001 states the bond equals the vehicle's average value times 1.5, and MVD staff verify the vehicle through AAMVA and NMVTIS and set the bond amount.

How to get a bonded title in Arizona

1. Five steps: (1) a Level I inspection by a certified inspector at an MVD office, Authorized Third Party or law enforcement agency (a higher-level inspection if the VIN is altered or missing);
2. (2) the applicant's affidavit stating why no title is available (purchase or gift without title, improperly assigned title, homebuilt without receipts, other);
3. (3) owner and lienholder notification through a Motor Vehicle Record request; an unresolved lien or an unanswered out-of-state lienholder stops the process and becomes a judicial matter;
4. (4) purchase of the surety bond naming the applicant, VIN, year and make;
5. (5) submission for title.
6. An emissions test may apply.
7. Covers vehicles, trailers and mobile homes.
8. The applicant acknowledges that the vehicle may be awarded to a prior owner or lienholder.

Once the bond is in hand, file it with the title application at Arizona Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Division. The executed bond carries the surety's power of attorney, is signed and witnessed as the state requires, and matches the vehicle description on your application exactly. Any discrepancy between the bond and the application (a transposed VIN digit, a name that does not match your ID) is the most common reason a bonded title is rejected.

Arizona title bond FAQ

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Written and reviewed by C. Constantin Poindexter, MA, JD, CPCU, AFSB, ASLI, ARe, AINS, AIS, CPLP, founder of Surety One, Inc. and CEO of Janus Assurance Re, with more than thirty years of surety and reinsurance underwriting experience. Author of The Contractor's Guide to Surety Bonds. Reflects state law and DMV practice as of November 5, 2026. More about the author →