Posts Tagged ‘surety’

How many license bonds are there?

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

What is a License and permit bond ?

License and permit bonds are considered  surety bonds. A  municipality will require certain business or individuals to obtain these surety bonds. Theses bonds are required  in order to guarantee that the principal will carrier out their duties, laws as well as anything else that is in the bond form.  If the principal breaches the contract stipulated in the surety bond form and a  bond claim occurs the surety will reimburse the  obligee and than collect the funds from the principal.

How is a Surety bond underwritten ?

Surety license bonds are underwritten just like any other surety bond. The Surety will review your credit, personal financials as well as your business financials to determine surety credit.

How many license bonds are there, and who requires them?

It is  almost impossible to count how many license bonds are out there.  Each city has their own license bond requirements for certain business industries as well as individuals. A city can determine by their on accord if they want someone or business to 0btain a surety bond.  For instance the city of South Houston requires car dealers to obtain a $25,000 surety bond to sell cars even though there is already a bond requirement from the state.

Some cites require license and permit bonds to remodel your home or easements on your property. License bonds can also be required from the state as well.  Some of the most common license bonds required by the state are contractor license bonds.

The federal government also requires license bonds such as a ICC bond. If you are going to provide  construction services for the federal government they will require that you are bonded with the state and carrier your contractor license.  The other bond that they will require is a payment and performance bonds.

You can find out more about payment and performance bonds as well as other surety bonds on our surety bond blog

Maintenance Bonds another type of surety bond

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

A maintenance bond is also other part of surety bonds offered by the bonding companies. This maintenance bonds are used after the completion of the contract by the contractors. This maintenance bond is used to maintain the construction after the work is completed. Performance and payment bonds are used till the completion of the contract. After the completion of the contract this maintenance bonds is used to ensure proper maintenance of the construction.

This bond guarantees the performance of the contract. It covers the time after the building is completed. These types of bonds are called maintenance bonds. This bond stipulate the building stability and maintenance responsibility of the construction company after the building ha been completed.

These bonds have existence for at least one to two years even after the structure has been completed. Only certain construction will extend beyond the circumstances. This maintenance bonds are always issued before the construction begins in combination with the performance bonds.

We are the surety bonding company specialized in providing maintenance surety bonds. Our integrity bonding company will ensure you that we will provide affordable bonds to you and also ensures that we will guide you in every aspect needed. Our bonding company gives you guarantee that we will perform our obligation as per the terms and condition of the contract. If you have any queries, immediately contact our website Surety Bond from Integrity Bonds and available  the services provided by our company.

Getting Surety Bonds before there was Google

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

Before the Internet changed our lives by the way we do business, finding markets and a business that wrote or writes surety bonds was almost impossible. To find a broker we had to, sift though the phone book, and look though our business cards and rummage though are mailers hoping to find a company that could help us out. Just because they say they write surety bonds does not mean that they can help you.
Remember the good old days when we used rolodexes? Now we have bookmarks and email to keep our contacts in order. Now because of Google we can simple type in what we are looking for and find it in seconds whereas before it could take months.
Google has really changed our lives in the way we do business and find information. If you need to find a broker to write your surety bond it can take seconds. I can’t tell you how many times a client told me, it took months to find a market. With Google find brokers that write surety bonds is easy.

Most agents if they write bonds only write one or two a year where as a surety broker writes hundreds a day. Surety agents know the industry, markets and where to send them. Many brokers have agencies outside of you state and if you have a phone book it’s not going to help you.  Google has really opened doors that once were closed and made it easier for the surety business

Do Not Call Surety Bond

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

This do not call surety bond is also surety bond which is required by the state and federal government. This surety bond is imposed by the government in order to maintain the rules and regulation by the principal. It guarantees the services provided by the telephone solicitor. In this surety bond each have their separate surety bond form. The principal is also required to provide a separate surety bond form. For each surety bond the amount of surety will differ. You should be alert, while mentioning the amount in the surety bond application. If the contractor fails; this bond guarantees refund or reimbursement of the contract money. Sometimes this bond is also called as telemarketing bond. The claim can be covered, when there is delay in the services or the wrongful act of the principal as per the state law.

Surety bonds are vital for Business owners

Monday, May 18th, 2009

Surety bonds are vital for company owners to become compliant with state licensing  The practice of  obtaining the surety bonds dates back hundreds of years , when such agreements had the role of amplifying the safety and efficiency of long-distance trade. Nowadays surety bonds can take a mixture of forms, play a wide range of roles and are commonly used to secure the terms of major contracts.

Recently elaborate market investigations that are conducted in the US have revealed that over 60,000 contractors in the construction industry failed to respect their agreements over the last 10 years, canceling public and private sector construction projects worth more than 18 billion dollars. Normally surety bonds will be launching a temporary tripartite relationship between the obligee, the obligor and the surety. Two main categories of surety bonds available are contract surety bonds and commercial surety bonds. A popular subcategory of contract surety bonds is signified by bid bonds, and on the other hand, a popular subcategory of commercial surety bonds is represented by contractor license bonds. Whether you are interested in closing performance bonds, payment bonds , contractor license bonds, subdivision bonds, court bonds or various other types of surety bonds whatever it might be, it is very significant for appealing the services of a prominent, respectable and reliable surety bond-services offering agency. Surety bonds will continue to be a important rule in consumer protection.  In the next few years with more business being regulated there will be more surety bond required for different classes of business the newest surety bond requirement is the $50,000 Medicaid bond. I hope this helps you understand how surety bonds still play a vital role in today’s economy as well as protection for the consumer

Condition and state of the surety bond market

Friday, May 15th, 2009

The Condition and state of the surety bond market

Similar to the credit market at one time surety credit was like a raging river but now it has turned into a trickling creek. Well who turned off the faucet ?

There are many factors on why surety bonds are harder to get.

One factor is due to the influx of claims. Claims have been on the rise for the last two years, but now they have seemed to have bottomed out. So when will surety companies start writing more classes of business such as surety bonds for the trucking industry like ICC Bonds or financial guarantees like sales tax and utility bonds? Well no one really knows for sure as of yet but it will happen again one day but it will probably take place slowly over the next ten years. Many surety companies have suffered from loses do to the mortgage melt down as well as the construction industry and the car industry. It will take some time for them to recoup their losses from theses business.

Do to Underwriting changes, requirements have become more ridged. Companies that qualified for bonding a year ago or now facing the dilemma of closing there business because they can’t obtain surety bonding anymore.

Startup companies are also having this dilemma since surety bonding companies want to write established business. Surety Bond amounts are also coming into play since the majority of surety bond amounts have increased making it harder for business to qualify.

No business or personal credit is a factor as well the surety considers no credit to be hazardous since there is no established payment history

Surety Bond: Needed to start your business

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

There are many obstacles and hoops that you must jump though before starting your business. You have to find an office, get a sign, get a phone number, get a fax number, and get a website. Not to mention all of the state requirements you must meet. Such as filling you articles of incorporation with the state as well as setting up a business checking account.  Did you remember your business cards? Is there something else you might have forgotten?
What about the surety bond?
It should be easy to get right? It’s just a piece of paper nothing more isn’t it?  Your friend down the street obtained one without a problem it should be easy for you too?
What is a surety bond anyways?
A surety bond is an unsecured loan guaranteeing that your business and employees will abide by the laws, rules and statues set forth in the bond form.
Obtaining your surety bond is one of the final steps to starting or keeping your business. Without the bond the state will not grant you or your business, its license.
If you can’t get a surety bond you can’t go into business or if you can’t keep your bond you can’t stay in business. Lately more companies are facing this problem. So if you have a bond coming up for renewal in the next few months start working on it now, opposed to later. If you’re not writing your bond though us it may take you a while to find a surety bond market.

Surety Bond Cost

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

We must first understand what a surety bond does as well as the factors that are involved that will determine the rate as well as obtaining a surety bond approval. The surety company will evaluate your credit, experience, and financials. The process is very similar to apply for a business loan. Rates vary on a multitude of conditions such as which state is it for, what type of surety bond is needed, what is the financial outlook for the company or individual, how much experience does the business have and of course, which surety company is writing it.


Surety Bond: Detailed explanations

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009


The word Surety is a noun pronounced sur e ty, the definition of the word Surety is: a guarantor, which will assume responsibility of another person (principal) obligations if the principal cannot, or does not meet them.  The term Surety has existed for thousands of years.
Example of Surety
Have you ever heard the saying “don’t ever be anyone’s Surety”, what exactly does it mean?  You would guarantee that the obligations of the person you where acting as Surety for.  If you were acting as a Surety for a particular obligation of another (Principal) if the obligations where not met you would have to meet those obligations on the principals behave.  Surety has been around for thousands of years ago when someone would vouch for another for whatever circumstance.
How a Surety brings peace of mind
Let us suppose for a moment that you where an owner of a large piece of land and you wanted to develop it.  After years of research money and time, you decided you wanted to build a commercial building on that land you hire a contractor to complete the project.  At first, your contract is doing a great job and everything seems to be going smoothly.  After six months of construction, the project starts running behind schedule and you have failed inspection.  The inspector tells you that the foundation is not up to code and it needs to be completely redone on top of that, the contractor walks form the job because the project has become unprofitable.   That is where a Surety would come in if you made that one of your requirements for the contractor to obtain.  The Surety would do one of the following things they would hire a new contractor, reimburse you monetarily, or finish the project.  See the Surety would take up the obligations that the principal in this case contractor’s obligations.  After the Surety has settled the claim the Surety would than go after the principal for the loss to the Surety.


Different License Surety Bonds

Monday, May 4th, 2009

There are quite a few Different types of License Surety Bonds keep in mind that there are all considered surety bonds.

Surety bonds are an unsecured loan required by the government usually coinciding with a license like a contractor needing to become license and bonded. A surety bond is not a like insurance policy that will protect the business that is bonded but a reverse insurance policy that will protect depending on the bond form, but protect the customer transaction business with the bonded business.
Surety Bonded businesses help establish confidence to the consumer that they can be rest assured that if the contractor defaults they will have a easy vehicle to deal with to recoup their losses.

The surety is anticipating in the next few years that will be a higher demand for surety bonds as well as new surety bond requirements. The newest surety bond requirement this year has been the $50,000 Medicaid bond for suppliers. Currently in a few states the DMV is talking about raising some of their surety bond requirements for Car dealers these bonds are classified as a MVD bond. We will keep you posted with any changes
We have great programs for Car dealers as well as contractors. Whether you are a new business starting out or an established firm we can help you. We have programs and sources for clients that may have suffered credit issues in these tough times. So if you have an offer for a bond with collateral gives us a call so we can help you out.