Florida Motor Vehicle Title Bond

What a Florida title bond does

When you hold a vehicle but cannot produce a properly assigned certificate of title, Florida will not issue a new title on your word alone. Under Fla. Stat. § 319.23(7), the state accepts a surety bond in place of the missing proof of ownership. The bond, which Florida calls a title surety bond, 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 Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Division of Motorist Services 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. Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 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 Florida?

Florida fixes the penal sum at 2.0× 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 $17,000 bond carries a premium of $340.00, plus the $85 administrative fee, for a total of $425.00 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. Twice the value of the vehicle as determined by the department. Procedure TL-70 uses the Kelley Blue Book private party value for the applicant's residential ZIP code, mileage, options, color and a condition of at least Good, with a screenshot attached; trade-in values, other ZIP codes or lower conditions are rejected.

How to get a bonded title in Florida

1. Under TL-70, bonded titles are limited to private sales for money between the buyer and the owner-seller.
2. Eligible: automobiles, trucks under 8,000 lbs net weight and motorcycles.
3. Not eligible: vessels, mobile homes, RVs, off-highway vehicles, trucks of 8,000 lbs or more, electronic titles, out-of-state titles, non-Florida NMVTIS records, and transfers by gift, inheritance, divorce or trade.
4. The vehicle must have a current Florida paper title with no liens, and no lien may be placed on a bonded title.
5. The current procedure limits eligibility to model year 2010 or older vehicles that are not more than 29 years old as of January 1.
6. The applicant must be a Florida resident or Florida-based business.
7. The county tax collector scans the package to FLHSMV for pre-approval (within 5 business days) before fees are collected.
8. A bill of sale cannot replace the KBB value.
9. An out-of-state surety is acceptable if licensed in Florida.

Once the bond is in hand, file it with the title application at Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Division of Motorist Services. 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.

Florida 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 →