Bought a Car Without a Title: What to Do Now

First, make sure you actually need a bond

A bond is for a title that was never put in your name. If the seller is still reachable, the cheapest fix is to have them request a duplicate title from their state and assign it to you. Most states issue a duplicate to the owner of record for a small fee within a few weeks. A bond only becomes the answer when the seller has vanished, refuses, is deceased, or never had the title either.

Two other situations look like this one but are not. If you bought from a licensed dealer, the dealer is obligated to deliver title and your state's dealer licensing board is the remedy. If the vehicle was towed, stored or repaired and the shop wants to sell it, that is a possessory lien sale with its own procedure, and most states (North Carolina, Illinois, Arkansas, Alaska among them) refuse to bond those vehicles.

What the bonded title does

A certificate of title surety bond promises the state and anyone with a better claim that they will be paid if your ownership turns out to be defective. With that bond on file, the DMV issues a title in your name with a brand on it for the statutory term (three years in most states, four in Georgia, five in Connecticut and Wisconsin). When the term runs with no claim, the brand drops and you hold a clean title. You can register, insure, drive and sell the vehicle the whole time. The how it works page covers the mechanics.

The order of operations

1. Get something in writing from the seller now. A signed bill of sale with the VIN, price and date is the single most persuasive document on the file, and several states (Texas, Arkansas, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, Vermont, Wyoming) list it among the documents the DMV wants. If the seller is already gone, gather what you have: a canceled check, a money order stub, texts negotiating the price, the old registration.
2. Run the title history. Most states query NMVTIS before issuing a bonded title and several require you to produce the report (Georgia, Colorado, New Jersey). If the record shows a lien, the lienholder has to release it or the state will not bond; if it shows a salvage or junk brand, most states will not bond at all.
3. Do the state's pre-bond steps. Usually a law enforcement VIN inspection, an affidavit of facts explaining how you came by the vehicle, and in some states certified letters to the prior owner with a waiting period (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, Washington, Wyoming). Each state page lists the forms in order.
4. Establish the value, or let the DMV set it. Texas uses its Standard Presumptive Value; Florida wants a Kelley Blue Book private party value for your ZIP; North Carolina uses the DMV Value Schedule; Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Minnesota write to you with the amount. Do not buy the bond before you know the number.
5. Buy the bond and file. The bond is value × the state multiplier (1×, 1.5× or 2×), rounded up to the next $1,000. Quote it here, pay by card, and the executed bond with the surety's power of attorney goes out the same business day. File it with the title application and the DMV issues the bonded title.

If your state does not bond titles

16 jurisdictions have no bonded title: Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia. Their routes are a court order (Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Indiana), a sworn ownership affidavit with your own indemnity (South Carolina, Virginia, North Dakota, Oklahoma), or notice and newspaper publication (New Jersey). The comparison page walks through the differences. If the vehicle was last titled in a bonded-title state, bonding it there and surrendering that title to your state is often faster; see out-of-state vehicles.

What it costs

A $6,000 car in a 1.5× state needs a $9,000 bond; the premium is $180.00 plus the $85 administrative fee, $265.00 all in for the full term. The same car in a 2× state needs $12,000 of bond and costs $325.00. The cost page has every state.

Frequently asked

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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 →