Surety Bond – Contractor License Bond Requirements

California contractors are required to maintain a contractor license bond in the amount or $12,500 where as the Oregon contractors bond amount varies for which type of trade they will be performing Always check with the contractor licensing board to verify the correct requirements.

Performance and payment bonds are another type of bond that are sometimes required. If you are going to get involved with government projects such as building a road or any other type of construction they will require you to maintain a performance bond. A performance bond will insure that the tax dollars being spent will not be wasted if the contractor defaults on the job.

The State or Federal government will only hire contractors that are licensed with the state and meet the proper bonding and insurance requirements.

Surety Bond:What makes it hard to place ?

The surety industry considers a hard to place surety bond other wise known as a bad credit surety bond clients that have derogatory credit or financial’s.

New businesses or businesses with no credit or little credit can be placed in this category as well.
The type of bond can come into play too. ARC Bonds as well as some MVD Bonds for certain States are now considered to be hard to place bonds due to claims. Markets have tightened and many businesses are finding to harder to obtain bonding even for small utility bonds or sales tax bonds do to their bond type

Surety Bond Should Not Be Used As a Investment Like a Finance Bond

A Surety Bond is not a Financial Bond or a Treasury Bond.

A surety bond is considered an insurance policy not a financial investment that the principal will gain profit from. They are regulated by the Department of Insurance; whereas the SEC regulates Treasury bonds.

What is a Treasury Bond?

Taken from Wikipedia
“in finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay interest (the coupon) and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity. It is a formal contract to repay borrowed money with interest at fixed intervals”

Unlike a Finance Bond a surety bond is more of an investment for the obligee since if a claim occurs the obilgee will be able to recoup their losses though the Surety. The principal does not profit or obtains any compensation or set interest from the bond.

What happens if a Claim occurs?

If a claim occurs by defaulting of a contract the client “Principal ” must pay back the surety company for the claim as well as fees involved like court costs and lawyer fees.

Surety Bonds do have a set expiration date but when the expiration date takes place no money is paid out unlike a financial bond. When the bond matures the client has the option to renew it if the obligations have not been meet or the entity is still requiring them to carrier it.

Surety Bond types can be confusing you can learn more about Surety Bonds at our Surety Bond blog

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Bows

Surety Bond Definition explained

Surety Bond Definition explained

What exactly does surety mean? Surety is a noun the definition of the word surety is: a guarantor who binds themselves to another’s obligations and pledges that their obligations will be met in case the principal is in default of a contract.

Posted using ShareThis

Surety bond necessary for consumer protection

Surety bond necessary for consumer protection

Surety bonds are necessary for consumer protection.  They safeguard the consumer from breach of contract, payment of certain items as well as any other state statue written into the bond. Without surety bonds the only other option for the client would be to sue them. If a claim that turns out to be true the surety company will reimburse the consumer/obligee for the claim.

Posted using ShareThis

Posting collateral for a licnese and permit surety bond

With surety credit drying up more clients are being required to post collateral for a license and permit surety bond

The problem of posting collateral with the state is that the state may not return your cash collateral for 7 years or longer.

The purpose of a license bond is generally to safeguard the public from fraud or breach of contracts. These bonds can also benefit laborers, suppliers, and taxing authorities, as well as persons having contracts with the contractor. Always check the surety bond form since each obligee has the bond covering other things.

There still are special programs that can help clients obtain surety bonds for clients without collateral

Tax Day get a Surety Bond than go to the tea party

Tax Day get a Surety Bond than go to the tea party

Posted using ShareThis

Medicaid Surety bond Who needs it

Medicaid Surety bond Who needs it

Posted using ShareThis

Why a MVD bond is needed

Why a MVD bond is needed

A MVD Bond is necessary to attain your dealer license for the state in which your dealership is in. It does not protect you or your business; but it gives protection for consumer or state from fraud, falsification or any other state statue referenced in the bond form. The bond amount will vary from state to state. The dealership can’t lower or raise the surety bond amount since it is set by the state. Applying for a motor vehicle Bond or Dealer Bond with any surety company is very similar to applying for a loan. The surety then obtains a credit report, review business financials and personal financials. The cause for this is that the surety needs to make sure that if a loss occur and the surety pays out on a claim that you would be able to pay back the surety for the incurred loss. Not like insurance where the insurance company is indemnifying you and restore you to the monetary position you once where at, you are indemnifying the Surety Company. There are a lot of names for this bond some common names are Auto dealer bond and used car dealer bond they are all same MVD bonds just in different terms.

Why the surety requires updated paperwork

Depending on how long you purchased you bond for or depending on when your license expires the surety bonding company usually requires updated financials.

The reason why the surety requires updated paperwork is that a surety bond is a unsecured loan.
What I mean by this is that if you have a claim you must pay back the surety company. So each year the surety will evaluate the risk to insure that you will have the ability to pay back a claim