Surety Bond Professionals is a family-owned and operated bonding agency with over 30 years of experience. With access to a broad range of surety markets, our expert agents are ready to assist with all of your Utah title bond needs.
What Are They?
Utah has a process for titling vehicles for which no valid certificate of title is available. In many cases, that process involves purchasing a Utah title bond (also known as a defective title bond or insufficient evidence of ownership bond).
With a Utah title bond, you can obtain a bonded vehicle title that will allow you to insure, register, sell, or otherwise transfer ownership of a vehicle, just as you could with a standard certificate of title.
A Utah title bond has a seven-year term. During the seven years that it is in force, the bond indemnifies the state against liability for having issued a bonded title if another party can prove ownership of the vehicle in question. It also provides a source of funds for compensating that rightful owner and/or a subsequent buyer who purchased the vehicle during those seven years.
If the seven years pass with no claims against the bond, the bonded title can be replaced with a standard title.
Who Needs Them?
Common situations in which a Utah title bond may be required include:
- The seller did not provide a title for the vehicle at the time it was purchased.
- The seller gave the buyer a title that was improperly assigned or damaged.
- The seller gave the buyer a title that was lost or stolen before the buyer could register the vehicle in his or her own name.
A Utah title bond is required only if the current appraised value of the vehicle is more than $1,000. The required bond amount (the bond’s “penal sum”) must be equal to twice the vehicle’s fair market value.
Speak with a Surety Bond Professionals agent today to discuss your bonding needs.
How Do They Work?
A Utah title bond is a legally binding contract between three parties
- The Utah State Tax Commission requiring the bond (the “obligee”).
- The vehicle owner purchasing the bond (the “principal”).
- The bonding company underwriting and approving the bond (the “surety”).
The principal is legally obligated to pay any valid claim for damages submitted by:
- Someone with a proven prior ownership interest in the vehicle.
- Someone who purchased the vehicle during the seven years that the Utah title bond is in force.
Even though the principal is legally obligated to pay valid claims, in practice, the surety usually makes payment to the claimant on behalf of the principal. The surety effectively extends credit to the principal to cover the amount of the claim. By law, the principal must repay that debt to the surety.
What Do They Cost?
Utah title bonds with a penal sum of $25,000 or less do not have to go through the underwriting process. The surety charges a fixed rate for these bonds that can be as low as $100 for the bond’s entire seven-year term.
Bonds for more than $25,000 are subject to underwriting, with a premium that is based on the surety’s assessment of the risk that extending credit to the principal entails. For a principal with a high credit score, the premium rate can be as low as 1% of the bond’s penal sum.
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Our surety bond professionals will get you the Utah title bond you need at a competitive rate.