Delaware has no bonded-title program

No. Delaware Code Title 21, Chapter 23 — the chapter that governs certificates of title — has no bond-in-lieu-of-title mechanism. The operative statute is § 2309, and it runs entirely on the Division of Motor Vehicles being satisfied with your paperwork, not on a surety instrument. If a company quotes you a premium for a "Delaware bonded title," they’re either describing a different state’s product or mistaken about how Delaware actually works.

File Form MV213 (Application for Duplicate Title) with the DMV. Every listed owner signs it and provides a driver license number; if you’re mailing it in, include a copy of your ID. The fee is $50. Under § 2309, once the loss is "accounted for to the satisfaction of the Department," DMV issues a duplicate directly — there’s no waiting period tied to a bond term, no claim window, and no "BONDED" notation on the new title.

This is the situation where other states sell you a bond — Delaware doesn’t have that option. DMV’s out-of-state and transfer procedures require an actual certificate of title or manufacturer’s certificate of origin with a proper assignment; there’s no administrative substitute. If the seller won’t sign or can’t be found, your route is a civil replevin action in Justice of the Peace Court to establish your ownership, under 10 Del. C. § 9301 (JP Court civil jurisdiction, claims up to $25,000). The filing fee for a replevin action is $55 per the JP Court fee schedule under 10 Del. C. § 9801. A signed court judgment then goes to DMV in place of the missing title.

That runs through Delaware’s garagekeeper’s lien statute, 25 Del. C. Chapter 39 (§§ 3901–3910) — not a bonded-title process. A licensed garage, tow yard, or storage business unpaid for 30+ days can petition the Justice of the Peace Court in the county where the business sits for authorization to sell the vehicle at a lien sale. The JP Court garagekeeper filing fee is $45. DMV will not issue a new title or salvage certificate to the buyer until a disposition-of-proceeds form is filed with the court, so the paperwork order matters — file with the court first, not DMV.

It won’t get you around Delaware’s requirements, and it can create real legal exposure. Most bonded-title states tie their program to in-state residency, registration, or a vehicle-value determination made by that state’s own agency — using a Delaware address to get a Maryland bond, or vice versa, on a vehicle that isn’t actually being kept there is misrepresentation to that state’s DMV. And it doesn’t solve your Delaware problem: DMV still requires an actual certificate of title or manufacturer’s certificate of origin with a valid assignment to title the vehicle here — a bonded title from another state isn’t on that list. On top of that, Delaware’s own § 2315 makes a knowingly false statement on a DMV application an unclassified misdemeanor ($100–$1,000 fine or 60 days to 1 year), and § 2316 makes altering, forging, or knowingly using a falsified title document a Class E felony.

For the most common case — you own the car and just lost the paper — it’s easier and cheaper: $50 and an MV213 form, versus a bond premium that runs $150–$450+ in a state like North Carolina or Tennessee, held against a 3-year claim window. Where Delaware gets harder is the case bonded-title states are actually built for: you have the vehicle but never got a valid title from the seller. Bonded-title states let you buy your way to a title in that scenario; Delaware sends you to Justice of the Peace Court instead. It’s not more expensive ($55 filing fee vs. a bond premium), but it takes longer and requires you to actually litigate the ownership question rather than post security against it.