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Last updated: General Washington mortgage broker bond information — confirm current requirements with the licensing authority.
Washington DFI · WAC 208-660-175

Washington Mortgage Broker Bond

$20,000 to start. $40,000 or $60,000 once your Washington loan volume grows into it.

Under WAC 208-660-175, Washington is the rare state that sizes a mortgage broker bond off last year's Washington-only loan origination volume, not a fixed license fee or a one-time class pick. Every new applicant starts at $20,000. Once you're producing $20-40 million a year in Washington business, DFI requires $40,000. Cross $40 million, and you're at the statutory ceiling of $60,000. Your tier gets re-checked once a year against your Q4 Mortgage Call Report, with the updated bond rider due in NMLS by March 31.

$20,000
Under $20M / new
$40,000
$20M-$40M volume
$60,000
$40M+ volume
Quick answer
Washington sizes a mortgage broker bond off last year’s Washington-only loan origination volume, and re-checks your tier once a year. You pay a premium that is a small percentage of the bond amount, not the full amount (any cost here is an estimate; the surety sets the final price).
  • Who requires it: Washington DFI, under WAC 208-660-175.
  • Amount: $20,000 for new applicants and under $20 million of volume, $40,000 for $20 million to $40 million, and $60,000 above $40 million.
  • Typical cost (estimate): about $150 to $400 a year on the $20,000 tier with excellent credit (700+). The surety sets the final price.
  • Timing: Same-day submission; most quotes within one business day.
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Every Washington DFI Bond Tier, Side by Side

WAC 208-660-175 sets five outcomes total -- three volume bands, plus a new-applicant floor and a loan-modification carve-out. Find the row that matches your business and that's your bond amount; there's no license-class choice to make, unlike states such as Michigan or Illinois that size the bond by what you're licensed to do rather than how much you originate.

Your Tier Is Set Once a Year, Off Last Year's Numbers

DFI doesn't track your loan volume in real time and adjust your bond as you go. The tier is checked annually: after you file your Q4 Mortgage Call Report (due February 14), you determine which band your prior-year Washington-only origination volume falls into, and your surety provider delivers a rider adjusting the ESB amount in NMLS by March 31. That means the bond amount you're carrying through most of any given year reflects last year's business, not this year's -- a broker whose volume is climbing from $18 million toward $30 million stays at $20,000 until the next annual reset, even mid-surge.

Practical read: track your trailing Washington-only volume yourself well before Q4 closes. If you're approaching a threshold, you'll know your March bond increase is coming instead of being surprised by a rider request from your surety provider.

Official Washington Requirements

"Each applicant for a mortgage broker's license shall file and maintain a surety bond in an amount which the director deems adequate to protect the public interest under the circumstances. The bonding requirement as established by the director shall take the form of a range of bond amounts which vary according to the annual dollar amount of loans originated by the licensee. The bond shall run to the state of Washington as obligee, and shall run first to the benefit of borrowers and then to the benefit of the state and any other person or persons who suffer loss by reason of the violation."
Washington Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), Division of Consumer Services • RCW 19.146.205(6); implementing rule WAC 208-660-175

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What Each Washington Tier Actually Costs

Because the bond scales in fixed steps -- $20,000, $40,000, $60,000 -- your premium roughly scales with it. Credit still moves the rate within a tier, but crossing from the $20,000 band into the $40,000 or $60,000 band is what moves the dollar cost the most.

The Five Steps From Application to Your First March 31 Rider

Washington's ESB process, start to the annual volume recheck

1

Determine Your Washington-Only Volume

New applicant, under $20M, $20-40M, or $40M+ -- based on prior-year Washington origination, not national production. This single number is your entire bond decision.

2

Set Up Your NMLS ESB Access

A surety provider must maintain an NMLS account and be granted access to your company record -- paper bonds are no longer accepted for Washington mortgage broker licensing.

3

Purchase the Electronic Surety Bond

The provider issues the bond directly through NMLS in the amount matching your tier, running to the state of Washington as obligee under RCW 19.146.205(6).

4

File Your Q4 Mortgage Call Report by Feb 14

This report is what your next bond-tier determination is based on -- get it filed on time so your rider request isn't rushed against the March 31 deadline.

5

Deliver the Bond Rider to DFI by March 31

If your volume moved you into a new tier, your surety provider issues a rider adjusting the ESB amount in NMLS, due to DFI every year by March 31.

Right Tier, Every Renewal

We track your Washington volume band with you so the March 31 rider is never a scramble.

All Three Tiers Underwritten

From the $20,000 base bond to the $60,000 ceiling, our carriers cover the full WAC 208-660-175 range.

NMLS ESB Filing

Filed directly as an NMLS Electronic Surety Bond -- Washington no longer accepts paper certificates.

What Washington Brokers Ask About the Volume-Tier System

How does DFI actually calculate which Washington bond tier I fall into?
DFI uses your Washington-only annual loan origination volume, not your national volume. New applicants have no origination history, so they start at the $20,000 tier by default under WAC 208-660-175. After your first year, DFI looks at the volume you reported on your Q4 Mortgage Call Report (due February 14) and requires you to deliver a rider adjusting the bond amount in NMLS by March 31. So the tier you carry for most of a given year was actually set by the prior year's Washington business -- not a live, real-time volume count.
What happens if my origination volume crosses a tier threshold mid-year?
Nothing happens mid-year. The tier check runs once a year, tied to your Q4 Mortgage Call Report and the March 31 rider deadline. If you cross from, say, $18 million to $25 million during the year, you keep your current bond amount until the next annual cycle, then file the rider bumping your ESB to the new tier by March 31. The exception is a brand-new license: DFI can require a higher initial bond if your projected volume clearly puts you above the base tier, so don't assume every new applicant automatically gets $20,000.
Do loans I originate outside Washington count toward my bond tier?
No. WAC 208-660-175 ties the bond tier to loan origination volume specifically within Washington state, not your company's national production. A broker doing $200 million a year nationally but only $15 million in Washington still sits in the under-$20-million tier and carries a $20,000 bond. This is a common point of confusion for multi-state brokers sizing their WA bond off their overall production numbers instead of the state-specific figure DFI actually asks for.
Can I file a paper bond instead of an Electronic Surety Bond?
No. Since DFI moved to Electronic Surety Bond functionality through NMLS, paper bonds are no longer accepted for Washington mortgage broker licensing. Your bond provider issues the ESB directly inside your NMLS account, you grant the provider access to your record, and the bond attaches electronically -- there's no physical certificate to mail or file with the department.
What if I only handle loan modifications and never originate loans?
WAC 208-660-175 carves out a flat $20,000 bond for licensees who exclusively offer residential mortgage loan modification services -- that figure doesn't move with volume the way the origination tiers do. If your license covers both modifications and originations, though, you're back on the standard $20,000/$40,000/$60,000 volume scale, and the modification-only carve-out doesn't apply.
What happens if I miss the March 31 rider deadline?
Missing the deadline to deliver your bond-amount rider in NMLS after your Q4 Mortgage Call Report puts your license out of compliance with WAC 208-660-175's annual verification requirement, which can trigger licensing action from DFI. Because the rider has to be issued by your surety provider and routed through NMLS, it's worth starting the request well before March 31 rather than waiting until the deadline week, when provider processing queues get backed up across every Washington-licensed broker at once.

Verify the Bond Tiers Directly With DFI

DFI Division of Consumer Services

Phone: 1-877-746-4334

Website: dfi.wa.gov/mortgage-brokers

NMLS Resource Center: mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org

Legal Authority

Licensing act: Mortgage Broker Practices Act, RCW 19.146

Bond authorization: RCW 19.146.205(6)

Bond tiers & amounts: WAC 208-660-175

View Full Statute Text

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Eric Drummond, Licensed Surety Producer
Reviewed by
Eric Drummond, Licensed Surety Producer
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Skip the Rider Scramble -- Bond the Right Tier Now

$20,000 to $60,000 by loan volume -- we place the full WAC 208-660-175 range.

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