Maine Bonded Title

Yes — but only after two things are true: your vehicle is new enough to need a title at all, and the BMV isn’t satisfied you own it free and clear. Under 29-A M.R.S. §659, if the Secretary of State “is not satisfied as to ownership of the vehicle or the absence of security interests,” it can require you to file a bond instead of withholding the title outright. That bond is documented on Form MVT-18, “Motor Vehicle Title Surety Bond.” A lot of vehicle owners searching for this assume Maine has no bond option because the process isn’t as heavily advertised as Texas’s or Florida’s — it exists, it’s just triggered by a documentation gap rather than a standing public program you apply to on your own schedule.

Check this before anything else. Under 29-A M.R.S. §652(13), vehicles more than 25 years old are exempt from Maine’s title requirement — the cutoff is a rolling model-year window that advances every January 1st, not a fixed year. As of the 2026 registration cycle, vehicles model year 2000 and older don’t need a title (the cutoff moves to model year 2001 on January 1, 2027). If your vehicle falls in the exempt window, you register it with your bill of sale and prior registration — no title, no bond, no MVT-18. The Secretary of State can still choose to issue a warranty title to an exempt vehicle under §651(3) when it serves the state’s and the applicant’s interest, but that’s discretionary, not something you can be forced into.

You still file a standard title application (Form MVT-2, available only at a BMV branch or town office — it’s a carbon-copy form, not downloadable) under 29-A M.R.S. §654. If your documentation doesn’t satisfy the Division of Title Services — no assigned title from the seller, no bill of sale chain, an unreachable prior owner — the BMV can invoke §659 instead of simply denying the application. At that point you’re told the vehicle’s BMV-determined value, and you purchase a bond at 1.5 times that figure from a surety authorized to write bonds in Maine, executed on Form MVT-18.

The statute is explicit that value is “as determined by the Secretary of State” — not a number you set yourself. In practice the Division of Title Services works from KBB or NADA retail figures, and MVT-18 leaves the dollar amount blank for the BMV and surety to fill in once that’s settled, rather than a self-reported figure the applicant writes in. If you think the BMV’s figure is off, bring your own dealer appraisal or a printed KBB/NADA valuation before the bond is finalized — it’s far easier to resolve before the number is locked into the bond than after.

29-A M.R.S. §659(3) sets the term at 3 years: the bond “must be returned at the end of 3 years or earlier, if the vehicle is no longer registered in this State and the current certificate of title…is surrendered.” If nobody files a claim and the BMV isn’t notified of a pending action against the bond, it’s returned at the 3-year mark and your title stands clean going forward — you don’t reapply for a new title. If a prior owner or undisclosed lienholder does file a claim during those 3 years, §659(2) lets them recover against the bond for a breach of its conditions, up to the bond amount, and you’re responsible for reimbursing the surety.

Different form, same underlying bond authority. Manufactured homes (model year 2007+) and tiny homes (model year 2020+) title through Form MVT-2 MH rather than MVT-2, and the fee is $100 instead of $33. If documentation is short on one of those, the Division of Title Services can still apply §659 — the same 1.5x-value, 3-year bond mechanics — but confirm with the Division directly, since the manufactured-housing title track has its own paperwork sequence separate from the standard vehicle process this page covers.