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Last updated: General Michigan mortgage broker bond information — confirm current requirements with the licensing authority.
Michigan DIFS · MCL 445.1654

Michigan Mortgage Broker Bond

$25,000 for a broker or broker/lender. $125,000 the moment you add servicing.

Under MCL 445.1654 (1987 PA 173), Michigan sizes your bond to your license class, not your loan volume. A 1st Mortgage Broker license and a combined Broker/Lender license both carry a flat $25,000 bond payable to the DIFS commissioner. Add servicing to that license -- collecting payments after closing -- and the requirement jumps straight to $125,000. There's no ramp in between, which is exactly where applicants over-bond (paying for servicing they don't do) or under-bond (servicing loans on a broker/lender bond that no longer matches their business).

$25,000
Broker or Broker/Lender
$125,000
Broker/Lender/Servicer
Quick answer
Michigan sizes your bond to your license class, not your loan volume, and the requirement jumps when you add servicing. You pay a premium that is a small percentage of the bond amount, not the full amount; the surety sets the final price.
  • Who requires it: Michigan DIFS, payable to the commissioner, under MCL 445.1654.
  • Amount: $25,000 for a 1st Mortgage Broker or a combined Broker/Lender license; $125,000 once you add servicing.
  • Timing: Same-day submission; most quotes within one business day.
Get a Michigan mortgage broker bond quote

Pick Your License Class First -- It's the Whole Bond Decision

Michigan's 1st Mortgage Broker, Lender, and Servicer Licensing Act recognizes three license classes through NMLS, and MCL 445.1654 assigns a bond figure to each. Everything else -- your annual loan volume, staff count, number of branches -- is irrelevant to the bond amount. Only the class you're licensed for matters.

Why Michigan Applicants Get This Wrong in Both Directions

Because the jump from $25,000 to $125,000 is a single yes/no switch -- not a gradual scale -- it's easy to land on the wrong side of it.

Over-Bonding: Buying Servicing You Don't Use

Some applicants request the broker/lender/servicer bundle by default, assuming the broadest license is the "safe" choice. That decision alone raises the required bond from $25,000 to $125,000 -- five times the coverage, and a materially higher premium and net-worth obligation -- for a servicing function they may never actually perform. If you're not collecting borrower payments after closing, the broker or broker/lender class covers you at the $25,000 tier.

Under-Bonding: Servicing on a Broker/Lender Bond

The opposite mistake shows up later: a company licensed and bonded at $25,000 as a broker/lender starts servicing loans -- often by taking over payment collection on loans it originated -- without amending its DIFS license class or upgrading its bond. That leaves the company operating a servicer function on a bond sized for a business that doesn't service loans, which is a licensing compliance gap, not just a pricing one.

Official Michigan Requirements

"At the time of filing an application for a license or renewal of a license, the applicant shall provide proof of financial responsibility in the amount of $25,000.00 for an applicant licensed as a mortgage broker or mortgage lender, or $125,000.00 for an applicant licensed as a mortgage broker, mortgage lender, and mortgage servicer. Proof of financial responsibility may be met by a corporate surety bond payable to the commissioner, executed by a surety company authorized to transact business in this state, and expiring no earlier than the date the license expires."
Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) • MCL 445.1654 (1987 PA 173, Sec. 4)

Who MCL 445.1652 Actually Requires to License and Bond

MCL 445.1652 sets the underlying rule: a person shall not act as a mortgage broker, mortgage lender, or mortgage servicer in Michigan without first obtaining a license under the Act or qualifying for registration, unless a specific exemption applies. Individual loan officers generally aren't separately bonded -- they're required to be licensed as mortgage loan originators and to work for a single sponsoring licensee, whose company-level bond is what MCL 445.1654 sizes. Exemptions include loan officers employed by one licensed entity, Class I licensees under the Consumer Financial Services Act, and certain professional-employer-organization arrangements -- narrow carve-outs, not a general opt-out from bonding.

Practical read: the bond obligation attaches to your company's DIFS license class, and every loan officer working under that license is covered by it -- you don't file a separate bond per originator the way a handful of other states require.

Know your license class? Get your Michigan bond quote in about two minutes.

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What the Michigan Bond Costs, by Credit Score

Because both tiers are flat penal sums -- not scaled to volume -- your credit profile is the main lever on premium.

Applying for the $125,000 servicer bundle? Get an exact quote rather than estimating -- servicer-tier underwriting also weighs your net-worth filing.

Filing Your Michigan Bond Through NMLS

What DIFS and the NMLS Electronic Surety Bond process require

1

Confirm Your License Class

Broker, Broker & Lender, or Broker, Lender & Servicer. This single decision sets your bond at $25,000 or $125,000 -- get it right before you apply, not after.

2

Line Up Your Net Worth Documentation

DIFS checks net worth separately from the bond: $25,000 for broker/lender classes, up to $100,000 (DIFS-determined) for the servicer class. Have current financials ready alongside your bond.

3

Purchase the Bond From a Michigan-Authorized Surety

The bond must be a corporate surety bond payable to the DIFS commissioner, issued by a surety company authorized to transact business in Michigan, expiring no earlier than your license expiration date.

4

File Electronically Through NMLS

Michigan requires the bond to be submitted as an NMLS Electronic Surety Bond (ESB) alongside your license application or renewal -- the same legal instrument as a paper bond, filed digitally with power of attorney attached.

5

Consider the CD Alternative If You Have Idle Capital

MCL 445.1654 allows a 3-year-or-shorter certificate of deposit, in an amount at least equal to the required bond, deposited with the state treasurer, in place of a surety bond -- worth pricing against an annual premium if you have the capital sitting available.

Right Class, Right Bond

We help you confirm your license class before quoting, so you're never over- or under-bonded.

Both Tiers Underwritten

From the $25,000 broker/lender bond to the full $125,000 servicer bond, our carriers cover the entire MCL 445.1654 scale.

NMLS ESB Filing

Filed directly as an NMLS Electronic Surety Bond with power of attorney attached -- no paper certificate to track down.

Michigan Mortgage Bond Questions We Get Asked

Do Michigan mortgage brokers and mortgage lenders really post the same $25,000 bond?
Yes. MCL 445.1654 sets one financial-responsibility figure — $25,000 — for a 1st Mortgage Broker license and for a combined 1st Mortgage Broker/Lender license. Michigan doesn't charge lenders more than brokers the way many states do. The only jump in the statute is triggered by adding servicing, not by whether you fund loans yourself. A broker-only shop and a broker/lender shop file the identical $25,000 bond, so there's no cost advantage to under-declaring your license class to DIFS.
What actually pushes my Michigan bond from $25,000 to $125,000?
Only one thing: adding the servicer function to your license. Under MCL 445.1654, proof of financial responsibility is $25,000 for a mortgage broker and/or mortgage lender, and $125,000 for a mortgage broker, lender, and servicer license. Loan volume, number of branches, and credit score don't change which tier you fall into — only whether your company will collect payments on mortgage loans after closing does. That's a 5x jump for one added function, which is why getting the class right before you apply matters more in Michigan than in states with gradual volume-based tiers.
I only occasionally service a loan I originated. Do I still need the $125,000 bond?
If servicing is part of your DIFS license at all, yes — the $125,000 figure attaches to the license class, not to volume or frequency. This is exactly where applicants over- or under-bond: some pick the broker/lender/servicer bundle "to be safe" even though they never plan to service a loan, and pay for $100,000 of bond coverage they don't need. Others start as a $25,000 broker/lender, quietly begin servicing loans without amending their license, and end up out of compliance with a bond that no longer matches what their business actually does. If servicing isn't core to your near-term business plan, the $25,000 broker/lender class is usually the right starting point — you can add servicing and re-bond later.
Does this $25,000 / $125,000 bond cover second mortgages and home equity loans too?
No. MCL 445.1654 sits inside the Mortgage Brokers, Lenders, and Servicers Licensing Act (1987 PA 173), which governs 1st mortgages. Michigan regulates secondary mortgage loans under a separate law, the Secondary Mortgage Loan Act (1981 PA 125, MCL 493.51 et seq.), with its own registration and its own bond obligation through DIFS. If your business only originates or services 2nd mortgages or home equity lines, the figures on this page don't apply to you — check with DIFS about the secondary-mortgage registration instead of assuming the 1st-mortgage bond covers both.
What net worth does Michigan require on top of the bond?
A licensee acting as a mortgage broker who receives borrower funds before closing, or as a mortgage lender, must maintain a net worth of at least $25,000 under MCL 445.1654 — separate from and in addition to the $25,000 surety bond. A licensee acting as a mortgage servicer must maintain net worth in an amount DIFS determines, up to $100,000. Both are ongoing requirements, not one-time application checks, and DIFS can request updated financials at any time.
How do I actually file the Michigan mortgage bond — paper or NMLS?
Electronically, through the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System. Michigan requires the surety bond to be a corporate surety bond payable to the commissioner (the DIFS director), executed by a surety authorized to transact business in Michigan, and set to expire no earlier than your license expiration date. In place of the bond, MCL 445.1654 also allows a certificate of deposit with a maturity of three years or less, in an amount at least equal to the required bond, deposited with the state treasurer — an option worth asking about if you already hold idle capital and want to avoid an annual bond premium.

Official Michigan Mortgage Regulator Resources

DIFS Consumer Finance Division

Phone: (877) 999-6442

Address: 530 W Allegan St, 7th Floor, Lansing, MI 48933

Website: michigan.gov/difs

NMLS Resource Center: mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org

Legal Authority

Licensing act: Mortgage Brokers, Lenders, and Servicers Licensing Act, 1987 PA 173 (MCL 445.1651-445.1684)

Licensing requirement: MCL 445.1652

Bond & net worth amounts: MCL 445.1654

View Full Statute Text

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Eric Drummond, Licensed Surety Producer
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Eric Drummond, Licensed Surety Producer
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Get Your Michigan Mortgage Bond -- Right Class, First Try

$25,000 broker/lender or $125,000 broker/lender/servicer -- we place both tiers under MCL 445.1654.

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