Hawaii key facts
- Bonded title: not issued
- What Hawaii uses instead: See below
- Authority: No bonded title provision in HRS ch. 286; SB 2079 (2026) would create one but is not enacted
- Forms: None
- Agency: County Directors of Finance (for example, the City and County of Honolulu Department of Customer Services, Motor Vehicle Registration)
Why there is no Hawaii title bond
Thirty-five states have adopted some form of the Uniform Motor Vehicle Certificate of Title and Anti-Theft Act's bond provision, which lets an applicant who cannot prove ownership post a surety bond and receive a branded title. Hawaii has not. Its vehicle code requires the titling agency to be satisfied as to ownership before a title issues, and gives the applicant an administrative or judicial route when the paper trail is broken. A surety bond that the agency has no authority to accept does not help, and we will not sell you one for a Hawaii-titled vehicle.
What Hawaii does instead
- The counties issue duplicate titles only to registered owners and no surety bond or bonded title process exists.
- Applicants without a title must obtain the prior owner's signature or pursue a court remedy.
- A 2026 bill (SB 2079) proposing a two-times-retail-value, three-year temporary bonded title has not been enacted.
When a title bond may still apply
If the vehicle was last titled in a state that does bond titles, the fastest path is often to obtain a bonded title there and surrender it to Hawaii. Oregon's DMV manual, for example, expressly accepts other states' bonded titles and issues a clean Oregon title against them, and most non-bond states take the same view because the surrendered bonded title is a valid certificate of title from the issuing state. The catch is that the bonding state will usually require you to be its resident or to have the vehicle physically inside its borders. Our underwriters can read the prior-state record and tell you whether that route is open.
If the vehicle has never been titled anywhere, or Hawaii is the only state in its record, the Hawaii route above is the only one.
Hawaii FAQ
Can I get a bonded title in Hawaii?
What does Hawaii do instead of a title bond?
Why do some websites sell a Hawaii lost title bond?
When might a title bond still help a Hawaii resident?
Primary sources
- No bonded title provision in HRS ch. 286; SB 2079 (2026) would create one but is not enacted
- County Directors of Finance (for example, the City and County of Honolulu Department of Customer Services, Motor Vehicle Registration)
Content last reviewed November 5, 2026. Confidence that Hawaii issues no bonded title: high. If Hawaii adopts a bond provision, this page will change.
States that do bond titles
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 →
Vehicle last titled elsewhere?
Tell an underwriter where the vehicle was last titled and we will say whether a bonded title in that state will get you a clean Hawaii title.
Quote a bond in another state
Pick the state, enter the vehicle's value, and the statutory multiplier does the rest. Rounded up to the next $1,000.