Who is eligible
A person may file a bond as an alternative to a hearing where the vehicle is in their possession and one of three things is true:
- No lien on the recordThe department’s record shows no security interest, or the department has no previous motor vehicle record at all.
- Or the lien is oldThe record indicates a lien that is ten or more years old.
- Or you have the releasesThe record indicates a lien less than ten years old and the applicant provides a release of all liens together with the bond.
Tex. Transp. Code § 501.053 · 43 Tex. Admin. Code § 217.9.
The amount, and how the value is found
The department determines that value from Standard Presumptive Value or a national reference guide, and where neither gives a value the applicant may have the vehicle appraised by a licensed motor vehicle dealer or an insurance adjuster. For a vehicle 25 years old or more the owner may elect an appraisal instead of a reference guide — which is the usual route for older equipment that the guides do not carry.
One and a half times, against Georgia’s double with a floor. Georgia title bond →
Tex. Transp. Code § 501.053 · 43 Tex. Admin. Code § 217.9.
The three steps, and the two clocks
| 1. Apply | File the Bonded Title Application, Form VTR-130-SOF, with supporting documents and the department’s administrative fee, at a TxDMV Regional Service Center. |
| 2. The Notice of Determination | If approved, TxDMV issues Form VTR-130-ND stating the bond amount. You have one year from the date of the notice to buy the surety bond. |
| 3. File | Within 30 days of purchasing the bond, submit the original notice and the Application for Texas Title and/or Registration (Form 130-U) to the county tax office. |
An out-of-state vehicle also needs a law enforcement identification number inspection, Form VTR-68-A. Form VTR-125 is the optional appraisal.
Miss the 30-day window and the bond is bought but unfiled. It is the shorter of the two clocks and the easier one to lose.
TxDMV, Bought a Vehicle Without a Title; 43 Tex. Admin. Code § 217.9.
The term, and what it covers
“A bond under this section expires on the third anniversary of the date the bond became effective.” It is conditioned to indemnify “all prior owners and lienholders and all subsequent purchasers of the vehicle or persons who acquire a security interest in the vehicle, and their successors in interest”.
Three years in Texas; four in Georgia. Same idea, different clock.
Tex. Transp. Code § 501.053.
What is excluded
TxDMV states the same thing in its own words, listing vehicles “considered junked, nonrepairable, or otherwise ineligible for a title” as outside the process.
This is the sharpest difference from Georgia, which bars a bonded application over a lien but not over damage. A wrecked truck with no title is a different problem in each state, and neither answer can be guessed from the other.
Tex. Transp. Code § 501.053(f); TxDMV, Bought a Vehicle Without a Title.
Forms and the current fee
Current as of 14 September 2026. This page describes rules, not your situation, and it is information rather than legal advice. Rules change; the linked official source is always the current one.