Does Your State Require a Real Estate Broker Bond?
Usually, no. Most states protect real estate consumers through a recovery fund built from license fees, not a bond you buy yourself. Only a few states condition the broker license on an individual surety bond — we have confirmed two directly from statute: Massachusetts ($5,000, Mass. Gen. Laws c.112 §87TT) and New Hampshire ($25,000 minimum, RSA 331-A:14).
If you're licensed in Massachusetts or New Hampshire, this bond is a hard requirement before your license issues — start with the form to the right. If you're licensed elsewhere, keep reading; the table below tells you what your state actually does instead, so you don't buy something no regulator asked for.
- Massachusetts and New Hampshire bonds issued fast, often same-day
- Every state row cites the actual statute or regulator page we checked
- Not sure what your state needs? Tell us and we'll confirm before quoting anything
*Instant quotes for qualifying credit profiles; all applicants considered.
Bond, Recovery Fund, or Neither — By State
We only publish a state's requirement here once we've read it ourselves in the statute or on the regulator's own site. That's a shorter table than most bond sites run — it's also one you can trust.
Real Estate Broker Financial-Security Requirements, Verified
Direct from statute text or the state regulator — not aggregated from third-party lists
| State | Mechanism | Amount / Detail | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | Surety bond (broker only) | $5,000 flat | M.G.L. c.112 §87TT |
| New Hampshire | Surety bond (principal/managing broker) | $25,000 minimum | RSA 331-A:14 |
| California | Recovery fund — no bond | $50K/transaction, $250K/licensee cap | DRE Consumer Recovery Account |
| Texas | Recovery fund — no bond | Real Estate Recovery Trust Account | TREC |
| Alabama | Recovery fund — no bond | No individual broker bond | Alabama Real Estate Commission |
| West Virginia | No individual broker bond | No broker bond required | W. Va. Code Ch. 30, Art. 40 |
| Florida | Recovery fund | $50K/transaction, $150K/licensee cap | Fla. Stat. §475.484 |
| Georgia | Recovery fund | Statutory $1M minimum fund balance | Georgia Real Estate Commission |
| Oregon | Recovery fund (brokers) — bond for escrow agents & marketing orgs only | No individual broker bond | ORS 696.495; 696.525; 696.606 |
States not listed have not been independently verified for this page — tell us your state on the form and we'll confirm before quoting.
Sources: malegislature.gov, gc.nh.gov, dre.ca.gov, trec.texas.gov, flsenate.gov, grec.state.ga.us, oregon.public.law. Last verified August 2026.
On West Virginia: several bond directories list a nonresident real estate broker bond for West Virginia, but the West Virginia Real Estate License Act (W. Va. Code Ch. 30, Art. 40) does not impose an individual broker surety bond. Our West Virginia real estate broker bond page walks through what the Commission actually requires so you don't buy a bond no regulator asked for. Alabama runs the same recovery-fund model — see the Alabama broker bond page.
Why Real Estate Doesn't Bond Like Notaries or Auto Dealers
On most license-bond pages on this site — notary bonds, auto dealer bonds, mortgage broker bonds — the majority of states require an individual surety bond. Real estate broker licensing inverted that pattern decades ago. Starting in the 1960s and 70s, most state legislatures moved consumer protection for real estate fraud into a centralized recovery fund: every licensee's renewal fee includes a small assessment that feeds a state-held account, and defrauded consumers file a claim against that account after winning a civil judgment — no individual broker has to buy anything.
Massachusetts and New Hampshire never made that switch. Both states still run the older model: the broker (not the salesperson working under them) personally posts a surety bond as a precondition of licensure, conditioned on faithfully accounting for client funds. That is a meaningfully different instrument from a recovery fund — a bond is underwritten against your personal credit, and if a claim is paid, you owe the surety company back dollar-for-dollar. A recovery fund has no individual underwriting step at all; you simply pay it through your license fee.
The upshot for anyone searching "real estate broker bond": check which model your state actually uses before assuming you need to buy one. Getting this wrong wastes money in a recovery-fund state and creates a licensing gap in a bond state.
Massachusetts Real Estate Broker Bond
Official Massachusetts Requirements
"No broker's license shall be issued or renewed until the applicant gives to the board a bond in the form approved by said board in the sum of five thousand dollars... conditioned upon the faithful accounting by the broker for all funds entrusted to him."Massachusetts General Laws • Mass. Gen. Laws c.112 §87TT
Who needs it
Brokers only — both new applicants and every renewal. Salespersons working under a licensed broker are not separately bonded.
What it covers
Faithful accounting of client funds. Liability to all claimants is capped at the $5,000 bond total, not $5,000 per claim.
New Hampshire: The Larger, Lesser-Known Broker Bond
New Hampshire's requirement gets far less search volume than Massachusetts's, but it's the larger bond of the two. RSA 331-A:14 sets it at not less than $25,000 — five times Massachusetts's flat $5,000 — and, like Massachusetts, applies to the principal or managing broker, not every individual salesperson in the office. The bond runs to the State of New Hampshire "for the benefit of any person aggrieved" and is conditioned on the broker's faithful accounting for entrusted funds — nearly identical language to the Massachusetts statute, despite the very different dollar figure.
If you manage or own a New Hampshire brokerage, this bond is a renewal-blocking requirement, the same as in Massachusetts. Larger bond amount generally means a higher premium than the $5,000 Massachusetts bond, though pricing still comes down mainly to personal credit rather than the brokerage's financials.
The full New Hampshire real estate broker bond guide walks through RSA 331-A:14, who the $25,000 bond applies to, and current pricing. Or request a New Hampshire broker bond quote with your role and we'll confirm the exact bond form the Commission currently accepts.
What These Bonds Cost
Real estate broker bonds are small, fixed-penalty bonds compared to the contract or fiduciary bonds carriers underwrite hardest — that keeps pricing simple and approval fast. You pay an annual premium, not the full bond amount, and the premium is driven almost entirely by personal credit rather than the brokerage's financial statements.
Massachusetts — $5,000 bond
Good-to-excellent credit typically prices well under $150/year given the small penal sum. Applicants with credit challenges still qualify — see our bad credit surety bonds options — at a higher but still modest rate given the low $5,000 cap.
New Hampshire — $25,000+ bond
Five times the Massachusetts penal sum, so the premium scales up accordingly, but underwriting stays credit-driven rather than financial-statement-driven — this is not the same underwriting lift as a six-figure performance bond.
For the general mechanics of how credit score maps to premium across license bonds, see our surety bond cost guide.
Real Estate Broker Bond FAQs
What your state actually requires, and how it differs from a recovery fund
Does every state require a real estate broker bond?
Why does Massachusetts require a $5,000 bond when most states don't?
What is the difference between a broker bond and a real estate recovery fund?
I'm licensed in California, Texas, Florida, or Georgia — do I need to buy a bond?
Does a real estate broker bond replace my errors and omissions (E&O) insurance?
How much does a Massachusetts or New Hampshire real estate broker bond cost?
What if my state isn't listed here — how do I find out if I need a bond?
Licensed in Massachusetts or New Hampshire?
Get your bond issued now — most qualifying applications are submitted same-day.
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All content is researched from official state and federal sources (.gov). BuySuretyBonds.com works with Treasury-listed surety carriers.
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