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Last updated: General Maine surety bond information — confirm current requirements with the licensing authority.
Maine Surety Bonds

Maine Surety BondsOne of the Least Bond-Heavy States

Maine requires fewer surety bonds than almost any other state, so the first question is usually whether you need one at all. The bonds Maine does mandate cluster in a few places: the tiered motor vehicle dealer bond ($25,000 to $100,000 by annual volume) and the MVT-18 bonded title, both filed with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles; court-set probate and fiduciary bonds under Title 18-C; and public works performance and payment bonds under Title 14 §871. The surety carriers behind all of them are licensed by the Maine Bureau of Insurance. Premiums typically run 1–3% of the bond amount for well-qualified applicants, and most approvals are same-day.

Good news for many Mainers: Maine has no statewide contractor license bond and no notary bond (dropped under RULONA, 4 M.R.S. ch. 39). Before you buy, check whether your obligation even exists — see what Maine dropped.

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Dealer, bonded title, probate, public works, and federal bonds

The Short List: What Maine Actually Requires

Many states run dozens of license-bond programs. Maine keeps its mandatory surety requirements narrow, and they are almost entirely tied to a specific obligee — the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, a probate court, a municipality, or a federal agency. Here is the honest, short list.

Motor Vehicle Dealer

$25,000 – $100,000

Tiered by annual sales volume. Form MVD-390, Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

Bonded Title

1.5× vehicle value

Form MVT-18. Check the 25-year exemption before you buy.

Probate / Fiduciary

Court-set amount

Under Title 18-C. Only when the will or judge requires it.

Public Works

= contract price

Title 14 §871, on contracts over $125,000.

Federal obligations still apply on top of state rules — the most common is the $75,000 freight broker (BMC-84) bond required by the FMCSA regardless of which state you operate from.

Official Maine Requirements

"No person shall engage in the business of buying, selling or exchanging vehicles... unless a bond has been filed with the Secretary of State conditioned upon the faithful compliance with the motor vehicle laws."
Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles (Secretary of State) • 29-A M.R.S. (Motor Vehicle Dealer licensing)

Maine Bonds, Organized by Who Requires Them

Because Maine has no single bonding agency, the fastest way to find your bond is to start with the obligee — the entity demanding it. Each card links to the full Maine guide for that bond, with statute citations and current pricing.

Bureau of Motor Vehicles

Secretary of State
  • Auto Dealer Bond — $25K–$100K, tiered by annual volume. Form MVD-390.
  • Bonded Title — 1.5× vehicle value on Form MVT-18. Watch the 25-year exemption.
Maine Dealer Bonds

Probate Courts

Title 18-C, county courts
Maine Probate Bonds

Towns & Public Owners

Municipal + Title 14 §871
Maine Contractor Bonds

Federal Agencies

FMCSA & Treasury Circular 570
  • Freight Broker Bond — $75,000 BMC-84, an FMCSA rule that applies no matter where in Maine you operate.
Maine Freight Broker Bonds

Other Bond Types

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All Bonds by State

Notary Bond

Not required in Maine

Maine commissions notaries under RULONA (4 M.R.S. ch. 39) with no bond requirement. Our Maine notary page explains why and what optional E&O coverage does instead.

Why Maine dropped it

The Dealer Bond Scales With Your Volume

Maine is unusual in tying the dealer bond to how many vehicles you actually sell rather than charging every dealer the same flat amount. A new dealer testing the market carries a much smaller bond than a high-volume lot. If your volume changes, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles can move you to a different tier at renewal, so it pays to bond to your real annual numbers.

Only the bond amount changes by tier — the premium rate you pay is driven by your credit and business history. See the full breakdown on our Maine auto dealer bond page, or estimate any bond's cost with our surety bond cost guide.

Save your money

Bonds Maine Dropped or Never Required

A surety agency that tells you which bonds you don't need is worth more than one that sells you every bond it can. These are the Maine bonds most commonly marketed — and the reason they don't apply.

Notary Bond

Maine adopted the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA), 4 M.R.S. ch. 39, and it carries no surety bond requirement. Notaries are commissioned by the Secretary of State without posting a bond.

Optional: private errors-and-omissions insurance, if an employer wants it.

Statewide Contractor Bond

There is no Maine general contractor license, so there is no statewide contractor license bond. Any bond you post is either municipal (like Portland's $25,000 excavation bond) or a project-specific public works bond.

Check your city and your specific contract, not a generic “Maine contractor bond.”

A Bond Below the $125K Line

Public construction contracts at or under $125,000 are not compelled to carry a bond under Title 14 §871. An individual awarding authority can still ask for one, so read the bid documents — but the statute does not force it.

Above $125,000, performance and payment bonds are mandatory.

Not sure whether your Maine obligation is real? Ask us before you buy — we would rather confirm you don't need a bond than sell you one you don't.

Maine's Little Miller Act

Public Works Bonds Under Title 14 §871

Maine's version of the federal Miller Act lives in Title 14 §871. When a state or municipal public construction contract exceeds $125,000, the prime contractor must furnish two separate bonds before work begins.

Performance Bond
Guarantees the project is finished to the contract terms. Generally written for the full contract price.
Payment Bond
Protects subcontractors and material suppliers who would otherwise have no lien rights against public property.
Bid Bond (project-specific)
Often required with the bid itself, typically 5–10% of the bid, guaranteeing you'll sign if you win.
Performance bond hub How contractor bonding differs by state

Where Contractor Bonding Comes From in Maine

State level

No general contractor license and no statewide license bond. Trade boards (electrical, plumbing) rely mainly on insurance.

Municipal level

Individual cities set their own bonds — Portland requires a $25,000 excavation/street-opening bond for work in the public way.

Project level

Public jobs over $125,000 trigger Title 14 §871 performance and payment bonds; private owners and lenders may require them by contract at any size.

Full Maine contractor bond guide

What a Maine Bond Actually Costs

You pay a premium — a percentage of the bond amount — not the full face value. For well-qualified applicants that premium runs about 1–3% a year; weaker credit or a claims history moves it higher. Below is a realistic picture using Maine's entry-tier $25,000 dealer bond as the example.

Smaller bonds, easier approvals

Because Maine's common bonds are modest, most are approved on credit alone with no collateral.

Court bonds may need collateral

Larger probate or fiduciary bonds can be collateral-secured when personal credit is thin.

Many small license bonds don’t require a credit check on some bonds

Bonded titles and the smallest bonds are frequently issued without a hard credit pull.

Know which Maine bond you need?

Tell us the obligee and the amount and we'll match Maine-authorized capacity, usually the same day.

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Maine Surety Bond Questions

Notary abolition, dealer tiers, bonded titles, probate under 18-C, and the $125K public-works line

Does Maine require a notary bond?
No. Maine is one of the states that does not require a surety bond for a notary public. Maine notaries are commissioned by the Secretary of State under the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA), codified at 4 M.R.S. ch. 39, and that framework carries no bonding requirement. If a surety website tries to sell you a "Maine notary bond," you do not need it. Some employers or title companies may voluntarily ask a notary to carry errors-and-omissions insurance, but that is private coverage, not a state-mandated bond.
How much is a Maine auto dealer bond?
Maine motor vehicle dealer bonds are tiered by annual sales volume rather than a single flat amount. The amount steps up by $25,000 for every additional 50 vehicles sold: dealers selling 1-50 vehicles a year post a $25,000 bond, 51-100 vehicles a $50,000 bond, 101-150 vehicles a $75,000 bond, and dealers moving 151 or more a year post the $100,000 maximum. The bond is filed on Form MVD-390 with the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles, a bureau within the Secretary of State’s office. Premium typically runs about 1-3% of the bond amount for well-qualified applicants, so a $25,000 bond commonly costs $250-$750 a year.
Does Maine have a statewide contractor license bond?
No. Maine does not license or bond general contractors at the state level, so there is no single "Maine contractor bond." Requirements are set locally or by project. The City of Portland, for example, requires a $25,000 excavation/street-opening bond for work in the public way. Separately, contractors bidding public construction post project-specific performance and payment bonds under Maine’s Little Miller Act (Title 14 §871) when the contract exceeds $125,000. Trade-specific licenses (such as electricians and plumbers) are handled by state licensing boards but generally rely on insurance rather than surety bonds.
When does a Maine public works contract require a bond?
Under Maine’s Little Miller Act, Title 14 §871, state and municipal public construction contracts that exceed $125,000 require the prime contractor to furnish a performance bond and a separate payment bond, each generally equal to the contract price. Below that $125,000 threshold the statute does not compel a bond, though an individual awarding authority can still require one in its bid documents. This is the state analog to the federal Miller Act and protects the public body and unpaid subcontractors and suppliers.
What is a Maine bonded title and when do I need one?
A bonded (surety) title lets you register and title a vehicle when you cannot produce a properly assigned certificate of title. Maine issues these on Form MVT-18 through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, and the bond amount is set at 1.5 times the vehicle’s value. Before you buy one, check Maine’s 25-year rule: vehicles that are 25 model years or older can fall outside standard titling entirely, which may mean you do not need a title — or a bond — at all. Our Maine bonded title page walks through the exemption and the MVT-18 process.
How are Maine probate (fiduciary) bonds set?
Probate and fiduciary bonds in Maine are governed by the Maine Probate Code, Title 18-C — the state’s adoption of the Uniform Probate Code that took effect in 2019. A personal representative, guardian, or conservator posts a bond only when the will, an interested party, or the judge requires it, and the amount is set by the probate court based on the value of the estate assets the fiduciary will handle. Because the amount is court-determined, there is no fixed statewide figure — we bond to whatever the court orders.
Who regulates surety bonds in Maine?
The surety companies that write bonds in Maine — and the producers who place them — are licensed and regulated by the Maine Bureau of Insurance. The Bureau does not set the individual bond amounts; those come from the obligee behind each bond (the Bureau of Motor Vehicles for dealer and title bonds, the probate courts for fiduciary bonds, municipalities and awarding authorities for public works). For federal bonds such as the freight broker BMC-84, capacity must come from a surety on the U.S. Treasury’s Circular 570 list.
Can I get a Maine surety bond with bad credit?
Yes. Because several of Maine’s most common bonds — the smaller auto dealer tier and bonded titles — are modest in size, they are usually approved on credit alone with no collateral. Applicants with strong credit pay roughly 1-3% of the bond amount; those with weaker credit or a claims history typically pay a higher rate, often 5-10%, through specialty markets. Court and probate bonds may be collateral-secured when credit is thin. We work with multiple Maine-authorized carriers so a low score rarely stops an approval.

Official Maine Resources

Primary state sources for Maine bond requirements and filings

Maine Bureau of Insurance

Licenses and regulates the surety companies and producers authorized to write bonds in Maine

Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles — Dealer Licensing

Motor vehicle dealer bond (Form MVD-390) tiers and bonded title (Form MVT-18) requirements

Maine Secretary of State — Notaries Public

RULONA commissioning process (4 M.R.S. ch. 39) — confirms no notary bond is required

Title 14 §871 — Public Works Bonds

Maine’s Little Miller Act: performance and payment bonds on public contracts over $125,000

Title 18-C — Maine Probate Code

Fiduciary and probate bonds set by the probate court for personal representatives, guardians, and conservators

U.S. Treasury Circular 570

Federal listing of certified sureties authorized for federal bonds such as the FMCSA freight broker BMC-84

Methodology: Bond amounts, statute citations, and agency assignments on this page were cross-checked against Maine state sources and the corresponding BuySuretyBonds Maine bond guides. Amounts shown as “court-set” or “= contract price” are correctly variable under the governing statute. See our editorial standards for our verification process.

Eric Drummond, Licensed Surety Producer
Reviewed by
Eric Drummond, Licensed Surety Producer
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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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Other Maine Bonds

Additional surety bonds available in Maine

Maine Notary Bond

Notary public bond

Maine Contractor License Bond

Contractor licensing

Maine Auto Dealer Bond

DMV dealer licensing

Maine Performance Bond

Construction & service contracts

Maine Probate Bond

Executors, administrators & guardians

Maine Freight Broker Bond

FMCSA broker authority

More Maine bond requirements

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Dealer bonds, bonded titles, probate, and public works — only the bonds Maine actually requires, placed with Maine-authorized carriers.

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Bond requirements in Maine by type

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