Virginia key facts
- Bonded title: not issued
- What Virginia uses instead: Application in Lieu of Title Certificate
- Authority: Va. Code §§ 46.2-632 and 46.2-621.1; no bond-in-lieu-of-ownership provision in Title 46.2, Ch. 6, Art. 2
- Forms: VSA 12 Application in Lieu of Title Certificate (notarized, with owner indemnification of DMV), with VSA 17A
- Agency: Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (Titling Work Center)
Why there is no Virginia 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. Virginia 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 Virginia-titled vehicle.
What Virginia does instead
- No surety bond.
- The owner certifies under penalty of perjury why the title is unavailable, the efforts made to obtain it, and the chain of ownership, and submits the VSA 12 and VSA 17A with fees and sales and use tax; the DMV investigates.
- Separate abandoned-vehicle and mechanic's and storage lien processes exist.
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 Virginia. 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 Virginia is the only state in its record, the Virginia route above is the only one.
Virginia FAQ
Can I get a bonded title in Virginia?
What does Virginia do instead of a title bond?
Why do some websites sell a Virginia lost title bond?
When might a title bond still help a Virginia resident?
Primary sources
- Va. Code §§ 46.2-632 and 46.2-621.1; no bond-in-lieu-of-ownership provision in Title 46.2, Ch. 6, Art. 2
- Official form: VSA 12 Application in Lieu of Title Certificate (notarized, with owner indemnification of DMV), with VSA 17A
- Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (Titling Work Center)
Content last reviewed November 5, 2026. Confidence that Virginia issues no bonded title: medium-high. If Virginia 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 Virginia 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.