New Hampshire Motor Vehicle Title Bond

What a New Hampshire title bond does

When you hold a vehicle but cannot produce a properly assigned certificate of title, New Hampshire will not issue a new title on your word alone. Under RSA 261:10, the state accepts a surety bond in place of the missing proof of ownership. The bond, which New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire Department of Safety, Division of Motor Vehicles, Title Bureau 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. New Hampshire Department of Safety 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 New Hampshire?

New Hampshire 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. The current NADA retail value as published by the National Automobile Dealers Association (Saf-C 1924.01).

How to get a bonded title in New Hampshire

1. Security may be cash, a certified check, a bank passbook with withdrawal slip, or a surety bond, each equal to 1.5 times NADA retail.
2. The bond document must show the surety's name and address, the amount, the vehicle description, the bond number, the liability and return terms, and the principal's and surety's names and signatures.
3. Vehicles with a model year before 2000 (and trailers under 3,001 lbs) are exempt from titling under RSA 261:3, so bonded titles apply only to model year 2000 and newer vehicles.

Once the bond is in hand, file it with the title application at New Hampshire Department of Safety, Division of Motor Vehicles, Title Bureau. 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.

New Hampshire 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 →