New Jersey key facts
- Bonded title: not issued
- What New Jersey uses instead: Improper Evidence of Ownership Procedure
- Authority: N.J.S.A. 39:10-11 (no bond provision); MVC Improper Evidence of Ownership Procedure (OS/SS-142)
- Forms: OS/SS-142 Improper Evidence of Ownership packet; DO-22 Title/Lien Search Request; OS/SS-145 Notice of Intent; OS/SS-150 Buyer's Declaration; OS/SS-UTA Universal Title Application
- Agency: New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, Special Titles, Trenton
Why there is no New Jersey 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. New Jersey 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 New Jersey-titled vehicle.
What New Jersey does instead
- No surety bond.
- New Jersey uses a notice-and-publication procedure: proof of purchase, an NMVTIS search and a certified search of the last titling state, certified-mail Notice of Intent to the owner and lienholder, a notarized Buyer's Declaration indemnifying the State, VIN photographs or tracings, newspaper publication three times over two weeks with a 10-day objection period, and the Universal Title Application with fees and sales tax.
- Mail-only, New Jersey residents, businesses or dealers only.
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 New Jersey. 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 New Jersey is the only state in its record, the New Jersey route above is the only one.
New Jersey FAQ
Can I get a bonded title in New Jersey?
What does New Jersey do instead of a title bond?
Why do some websites sell a New Jersey lost title bond?
When might a title bond still help a New Jersey resident?
Primary sources
- N.J.S.A. 39:10-11 (no bond provision); MVC Improper Evidence of Ownership Procedure (OS/SS-142)
- Official form: OS/SS-142 Improper Evidence of Ownership packet
- New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, Special Titles, Trenton
Content last reviewed November 5, 2026. Confidence that New Jersey issues no bonded title: high. If New Jersey 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 New Jersey 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.