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Last reviewed: Next review due: Reflects current mortgage broker bond requirements
✓ 2026 Requirements Verified

Mortgage Broker Bond Cost by State — NMLS Tiers

Every NMLS-licensed state sorts into one of three bond cost tiers. The NMLS state-by-state schedule shows where your state lands — and that single fact decides whether your annual premium is $200, $2,000, or $9,000.

Tier 1 — under $25K

Low-bond NMLS states

Florida $10K broker (FL OFR), New York $10K broker (NY DFS), and a handful of mid-Atlantic / mountain states sit in the lowest band. Annual premium runs $100–$375 at standard credit.

  • Bond fixed by license class, not volume.
  • Best fit for new brokers and DBA-only operations.
  • Lender upgrade often pushes into Tier 2.
Tier 2 — $25K to $100K

Mid-tier NMLS states

California $25K–$200K (CA DFPI, volume-tiered), Texas $50K flat (TX SML), Ohio $50K (OH DOC), Virginia $25K–$150K (VA SCC). Annual premium $375–$3,000.

  • Most U.S. states fall in this band for a standard broker license.
  • Volume-tier states (CA, FL, NY) step up at NMLS renewal.
  • Lender + servicer authorities push into Tier 3.
Tier 3 — over $100K

High-bond NMLS states

New Jersey $150K–$300K (NJ DOBI), Massachusetts $75K–$200K (MA DOB), Tennessee $200K flat (TN DFI), Maryland $750K servicer (MD OFR). Annual premium $2,250–$9,000+.

  • Servicing authority is the single biggest cost driver.
  • NJ and MA broker-only entries are the most expensive in their tier.
  • Tier 3 carriers underwrite tighter — credit, net worth, and NMLS history all scored.
Calculate Your NMLS Bond Cost →All State Mortgage Broker Bond Pages

NMLS-filed

Electronic surety bond, all states

3-state-tier model

Tier 1 under $25K → Tier 3 over $100K

Loan-volume tiered

CA, NJ, NY, FL, MD, WI, NV, CT

Annual renewal

Reprices at NMLS renewal each year

Mortgage broker bond cost is a percentage of the NMLS-mandated bond amount, not the bond amount itself. Standard-credit licensees pay 1.5% – 3% annually: a $50,000 Texas or Ohio mortgage broker bond runs $750 – $1,500/yr; a $25,000 California broker bond at low-volume tier runs $375 – $750/yr; a $150,000 New Jersey lender bond runs $2,250 – $4,500/yr. With preferred credit (700+ FICO), the same bonds drop to 0.75% – 1.5%. Eight states — California, New Jersey, New York, Florida, Maryland, Wisconsin, Nevada, Connecticut — tier the bond amount by prior-year mortgage origination dollar volume, so a high-volume lender will see the bond amount step up before the premium rate ever does.

Verified May 2026 against the NMLS Resource Center state-by-state Mortgage License Surety Bond Schedule and each state mortgage regulator’s .gov source.

Worked example

Same NMLS-licensed entity, three states — what the math actually produces

Hypothetical: a residential mortgage company with a 680 FICO control person (mid-credit, ~1.5% filed rate) and roughly $75 million in prior-year originations. Same operator, same credit, same volume — here’s the year-1 annual premium across three NMLS pricing models, each cited to its state mortgage regulator and the NMLS state license schedule:

California (volume-tier)

$750/yr

$50,000 mid-tier CA DFPI CRMLA bond × 1.5% = $750. Bond scales $25K–$200K with prior-year volume per the NMLS-filed CA mortgage license schedule.

New Jersey (high-tier)

$4,500/yr

$300,000 high-tier NJ DOBI Residential Mortgage Lender bond × 1.5% = $4,500. NJ’s schedule tops out at $300K for high-volume lenders/servicers under the Residential Mortgage Lending Act.

Texas (flat)

$750/yr

$50,000 flat TX SML Mortgage Banker / Broker bond × 1.5% = $750. Texas Finance Code Ch. 156/157 fixes the bond at $50K regardless of volume — no tiering at renewal.

Math is illustrative: 1.5% is a plausible mid-credit rate inside the SFAA-filed band, not a carrier-specific quote. The carrier rate filings indicate this is the band most NMLS bonds actually price into for standard credit. Statutes verified May 2026 against each state mortgage regulator’s .gov source. Your actual premium depends on the underwriting carrier’s filed rate, your indemnitor structure, and any open NMLS history.

NMLS Mortgage Broker Bond Schedule — Verified May 2026

The NMLS state-by-state schedule shows the bond required at each license class plus any volume-tier rules triggered at NMLS renewal. The documented pattern from NMLS license filings: states sort cleanly into flat, license-tier, and volume-tier pricing logics — with Tier 3 dominated by the Northeast and Tier 1 by the Southeast. The table below pulls the 16 highest-search-volume NMLS jurisdictions and cites the source regulator on each row.

What a $50,000 mortgage broker bond costs by credit band

$50K is the modal bond amount across NMLS — it’s the Texas flat, the Ohio flat, the California mid-volume tier, and the New York mid-tier lender amount. The carrier rate filings indicate the band below is what most $50K NMLS bonds actually quote into.

NMLS Mortgage Broker Bond Cost Calculator
State + license type + (where applicable) prior-year origination volume + credit band → rate band and annual premium estimate.

Estimates use carrier rate bands current as of May 2026 and NMLS state license schedules verified against each regulator’s .gov source. Final premium is set by the underwriting surety at application based on credit, NMLS history, and carrier appetite.

Underwriting Notes: How NMLS Volume-Tier States Drive Renewal Surprise
The single most common NMLS bond cost question at renewal — and where the surprise comes from.

The documented pattern from NMLS license filings: a mortgage broker passes the company’s first $50M, $100M, or $250M in prior-year originations, files the next NMLS Mortgage Call Report on schedule, and at renewal the state mortgage regulator pulls the higher tier from the licensee’s own MCR filing. The bond amount steps up automatically — the carrier issues a bond rider at the new amount, and the premium recalculates against the new face value.

Where the surprise lives: the rate didn’t change. The bond amount did. A California broker who paid $375/yr at the $25K Tier 1 ($25K × 1.5%) and crosses into the $50K tier at renewal pays $750/yr the next year — double the premium for the same rate. Cross into $100K and it’s $1,500. Cross into the $200K servicer cap and it’s $3,000. Same carrier, same rate, same credit — all of the price increase comes from the bond amount stepping up under the state’s NMLS-filed schedule.

The mechanic mirrors what auto dealers see in volume-tier states like Maryland and New York — see the parallel discussion in the auto dealer bond cost by state guide for the same logic in a different bond line. The fix is the same in both: forecast next year’s volume before renewal, not after, and budget the higher bond against the higher production.

Volume-tier states verified May 2026: California, New Jersey, New York, Florida, Maryland, Wisconsin, Nevada, Connecticut. The remaining NMLS-licensed states use either flat-rate (Texas, Ohio, Tennessee) or license-class-tiered (Georgia, Illinois, Virginia, North Carolina, Massachusetts) pricing where the bond amount is set by license type, not prior-year volume.

Verify your NMLS bond requirement before you file
State mortgage regulators publish the bond amount publicly — here’s the four-step path to confirm it yourself before pulling a quote.
  1. Locate your state’s NMLS-listed mortgage regulator. Each state lists the regulating agency on its NMLS state license page — CA DFPI for California Residential Mortgage Lending Act licensees, NJ DOBI for New Jersey, TX SML for Texas, NY DFS for New York, FL OFR for Florida. Pull up the agency’s mortgage-licensing webpage and confirm the surety-bond rule cite.
  2. Confirm the current bond amount and any volume tiers tied to prior-year loan volume. The state’s mortgage license rule typically publishes a schedule cross-walked by license class (broker / lender / servicer) and prior-year residential mortgage origination dollar volume. Pin down exactly which tier your entity falls into based on last year’s NMLS Mortgage Call Report.
  3. Pull your NMLS account record for any prior bond filings. Log into NMLS and review the company record — an open or closed prior bond, a paid claim, or a non-renewed bond all show up there and all affect the new carrier’s underwriting at the next ESB filing. A clean transition at renewal needs the prior bond record matched to the new carrier.
  4. Pull a quote from a Treasury-listed surety + verify NMLS-acceptance. Not every surety files for NMLS electronic surety bonds in every state — confirm the carrier appears on the NMLS-approved surety list for your state before locking the quote. Treasury Listing 570 confirms the carrier is federally rated; NMLS state acceptance confirms the bond will actually clear in the electronic filing.

Verify yourself, then quote in under 10 minutes

We won’t guess your NMLS bond requirement. Here’s exactly what we deliver against the state-filed schedule:

  • 1The exact bond amount the NMLS state-by-state schedule shows for your license type and prior-year volume tier — not an estimate.
  • 2A firm rate quote from a Treasury-listed, NMLS-approved surety filed for your state — not the average of the band.
  • 3The ESB filed directly into your NMLS company record — no paper bond, no manual upload, no broker-of-record confusion.
Get my NMLS bond quote →Run the calculator first

Or call 1-844-810-BOND (2663) and a producer will pull your NMLS filing live.

Mortgage Broker Bond Cost FAQs — NMLS, State Tiers, Renewal
The six questions that drive the bulk of NMLS mortgage broker bond pricing decisions, answered against the state-by-state schedule.

How do NMLS and state mortgage licensing relate to the bond requirement?

NMLS (Nationwide Multistate Licensing System) is the unified electronic licensing platform — but the bond itself is required by each state’s mortgage regulator under that state’s mortgage licensing statute. The NMLS Resource Center publishes the state-by-state Mortgage License Surety Bond Schedule that consolidates each state’s required amount, license class, and electronic surety bond (ESB) filing rules. The carrier files the bond directly into NMLS as an electronic bond — paper bonds are no longer accepted in any state.

Why is New Jersey the most expensive state for mortgage broker bonds?

New Jersey requires a $150,000 minimum Residential Mortgage Lender bond under the NJ Residential Mortgage Lending Act, scaling up to $300,000 for high-volume lenders and servicers per NJ DOBI rules. At a 1.5% mid-credit rate, that puts annual premium at $2,250 (broker minimum) to $4,500 (high-tier servicer) — multiples of what brokers pay in flat-rate states like Texas ($50K) or Ohio ($50K). NJ also requires both lender and servicer bonds when a single entity holds both authorities, layering bond cost on top of the high statutory amount.

When does a mortgage lender bond replace the broker bond?

When a mortgage broker upgrades to a lender authority on NMLS — meaning the entity originates loans on its own warehouse line or table-funds rather than only brokering to third-party lenders — the state bond requirement steps from the broker schedule to the lender schedule. In states like California, Florida, and New York, that step is significant: NY broker is $10K, but NY lender starts at $50K and scales to $250K with volume. The NMLS amendment to add lender authority triggers a fresh ESB filing at the new amount — the carrier issues a bond rider, and the renewal premium rebases against the new face value at the next NMLS renewal cycle.

What triggers a renewal repricing on a mortgage broker bond?

Three things trigger repricing at NMLS license renewal: (1) crossing a volume tier in a volume-tiered state (CA, NJ, NY, FL, MD, WI, NV, CT) — prior-year reported originations push the bond to a higher band; (2) a credit-event on the control person or owner — a delinquency, judgment, or bankruptcy on the indemnitor pulls the rate band from preferred to standard or standard to subprime; (3) a paid claim on the existing bond — even a single paid loss usually pushes the renewal rate to the upper end of the carrier’s filed band or triggers a non-renewal. See the related contractor license bond cost guide for how the same renewal mechanic plays out in a different bond line.

What counts as “loan volume” for the volume-tier bond states?

Volume-tier states use prior-calendar-year residential mortgage loan dollar volume as reported on the NMLS Mortgage Call Report (MCR). For brokers, this is the unpaid principal balance of loans brokered. For lenders, it is loans originated and funded. For servicers, it is the average annual unpaid principal balance of the serviced portfolio. The MCR is filed quarterly through NMLS, and the licensee’s own filings determine the bond tier — the regulator does not pull volume from a separate source. The state mortgage regulators require the MCR to match the bond filing at NMLS renewal.

Does broker-of-record vs DBA structure affect the mortgage broker bond?

Yes. The bond is filed against the legal entity that holds the NMLS company license — not the DBA. If a corporation holds the license and operates under a DBA, one bond covers the legal entity. But each separately licensed legal entity (a parent company plus a separately licensed subsidiary, or a sponsoring broker plus a separately licensed branch) needs its own ESB filing. Branch licenses in some states (notably Massachusetts and Illinois) require a branch-level bond on top of the company bond — verify at the state regulator before filing.

Continue from here
The NMLS state pages, tools, and cost references that pair with this page

Highest-search NMLS state pages

California mortgage broker bond ($25K–$200K) →New Jersey RML bond ($150K–$300K) →Texas mortgage broker bond ($50K) →Georgia mortgage broker bond ($150K) →Maryland mortgage broker bond →

Tier 3 high-bond states

Massachusetts ($75K / $200K) →Tennessee ($200K flat) →North Carolina ($75K – $250K) →Wisconsin ($120K – $300K) →Nevada ($75K – $200K) →

Tools & cost references

Full mortgage broker bond calculator →All surety bond cost guide →All NMLS mortgage broker bond states →Auto dealer bond cost (volume-tier parallel) →Contractor license bond cost →
Methodology, sources, and YMYL disclaimer
Citations to the originating .gov authority for each NMLS bond amount live on the corresponding state page (linked throughout above) and in the table’s regulator column.

Methodology — Verified May 2026. Bond amounts and license-class rules verified against the NMLS Resource Center state-by-state Mortgage License Surety Bond Schedule, plus each state mortgage regulator’s .gov source: CA DFPI, NJ DOBI, TX SML, NY DFS, and FL OFR. Premium ranges reflect carrier rate filings with state insurance departments (filed under SFAA mortgage-license-bond product lines) cross-referenced against publicly quoted bonds across the BuySuretyBonds.com network. NMLS bond amounts and electronic surety bond rules are subject to legislative and regulatory change — verified May 2026; always verify the bond amount on the linked .gov source and the NMLS Resource Center before filing.

YMYL disclaimer: This page is a research compilation, not legal or financial advice. Final bond requirements are set by the licensing state mortgage regulator. Final premium is set by the underwriting surety at the time of application based on credit, NMLS history, indemnitor structure, and the carrier’s appetite. Mortgage broker, lender, and servicer surety bonds protect the consumer borrower and the state, not the licensee.