Who requires it
Vermont Department of Financial Regulation — Debt adjusters
License & permit · Vermont
Vermont Debt Adjuster Bond
Vermont debt adjusters must file a surety with the license application under 8 V.S.A. § 2755. The statute sets fifty thousand dollars as the starting amount—or such greater amount as the Commissioner decides the applicant’s business circumstances require—on a form and terms the Commissioner directs. The bond runs to the State for Vermont claimants and secures faithful performance of the licensee’s obligations. The Commissioner may raise the amount after a pattern of bona fide consumer-complaint misconduct, or may increase or decrease it based on financial condition, business plan, number of locations, and the actual or estimated aggregate payments and fees debtors pay under debt-adjustment contracts. DFR’s debt-adjuster licensing page lists the fifty-thousand-dollar bond among application prerequisites and routes new company filings through NMLS electronic surety bonds.
Common bond amount
≥ $50,000
Statutory starting face $50,000; Commissioner may require a greater amount or later increase/decrease under 8 V.S.A. § 2755.
How you file
File electronically through NMLS with the Department of Financial Regulation
Renewal
Maintain while licensed; face may be adjusted by Commissioner
Who requires it
Applicants for and holders of Vermont debt adjuster licenses under 8 V.S.A. chapter 83 filing with the Department of Financial Regulation through NMLS.
How much is required
Start at $50,000 under 8 V.S.A. § 2755 unless the Commissioner sets a higher amount for your circumstances—or later adjusts the amount based on complaints, finances, locations, or debtor payment volume.
How to get and file it
Arrange a Commissioner-directed surety for at least $50,000 in the exact licensee name and file it through the NMLS electronic surety bond process DFR requires. Keep the bond in force while licensed. Expect a possible face change if DFR reassesses your complaint history, finances, locations, or debtor payment volume.
Cost note
Fifty thousand dollars (or the Commissioner’s higher figure) is the required bond amount, not the premium you pay. See bond amount vs premium. Bond amount vs premium →
Requirement checklist
- Statutory starting face
- $50,000
- Commissioner discretion
- May require a greater initial amount or later increase/decrease
- Filing
- NMLS electronic surety bond for new company applications
Official sources
Related resources
Frequently asked questions
Is $50,000 always enough?
It is the statutory starting amount, but 8 V.S.A. § 2755 expressly lets the Commissioner require more based on business circumstances and later adjust the amount for complaints, finances, locations, or debtor payment volume.
Is this the same as a collection-agency bond?
No. This guide covers licensed debt adjusters under chapter 83. A separate statewide third-party collection-agency bond schedule is not published in this commercial-core set.
Related Vermont bond guides
Lender / Mortgage Broker Bond
$25,000–$150,000
Vermont licensed lenders, mortgage brokers, mortgage loan originators, and loan solicitation companies file sureties under 8 V.S.A. § 2203 before the Department of Financial Regulation issues the matching chapter 73 license. The Commissioner sets faces from Vermont loan-origination volume, subject to statutory floors: licensed lenders post at least fifty thousand, one hundred thousand, or one hundred fifty thousand dollars depending on annual originations; mortgage brokers post at least twenty-five, fifty, seventy-five, or one hundred thousand dollars on a separate volume ladder; and loan solicitation licensees maintain at least twenty-five thousand dollars unless the Commissioner requires more. A single bond may cover multiple offices for the same person. Employed mortgage loan originators may rely on the licensed lender’s or broker’s bond when that instrument covers each originator in the prescribed amount. Sureties must give sixty days’ written notice before terminating. After a claim action starts, the Commissioner may require a new bond, and any recovery triggers an immediate replacement. Lenders making only commercial loans fall outside this section. Separate liquid-asset showings apply to lender applicants and are not a substitute for the surety. The Commissioner may waive or modify bond or liquid-asset amounts in appropriate cases.
Money Transmitter Bond
$100,000–$2,000,000
Vermont money transmission licenses turn on security under 8 V.S.A. § 2541, added with the July 1, 2024 money-services rewrite. Applicants and licensees must keep a Commissioner-satisfactory surety—or, only with Commissioner approval, a qualifying deposit—payable to the State for Vermont claimants and authorized-delegate exposure. Size the device by taking the larger of one hundred thousand dollars and one hundred percent of average daily Vermont money transmission liability for the most recently completed three-month stretch, stopping at two million dollars. Companies already at that two-million-dollar ceiling need not keep recalculating average daily Vermont liability for this section. Claim coverage must remain effective at least five years after the licensee stops providing money services in Vermont, though the Commissioner may allow reductions as outstanding Vermont obligations shrink. File through NMLS on DFR’s money-services path.
Motor Vehicle Dealer Bond
$20,000–$35,000
Vermont will not issue a new or used motor vehicle dealer registration until the applicant posts financial security under 23 V.S.A. § 453(g). The statute accepts a surety bond, a letter of credit, or a certificate of deposit from an entity authorized to transact business in the same state, in an amount between twenty thousand and thirty-five thousand dollars based on units sold in the previous year on a schedule the Motor Vehicle Commissioner sets. Official Form VD-114 publishes that schedule: twenty thousand dollars for fewer than twenty-five vehicles, twenty-five thousand for twenty-five to one hundred, thirty thousand for one hundred one to two hundred fifty, and thirty-five thousand for two hundred fifty-one or more—or for any applicant who was not registered as a dealer in the immediately prior year. The security indemnifies the State and purchasers for fees or purchase-and-use tax the dealer collected but failed to remit. It must remain in force for the pending registration year and one year afterward, and surety liability is limited to the unremitted fees or tax. VD-114 requires claims within one year after the dealer ceases to be licensed or after cancellation, whichever comes first.
Surety basics (not repeated here)
Universal surety concepts explained once—linked here instead of repeated on every state or bond page.
Continue with a Vermont application
Vermont will be preselected. Choose your bond type in the application—we confirm the correct product against your agency form before anything is issued.
Last verified 2026-08-12. This guide is based on verified educational content and official sources.
Agents Ready to Help
Share your agency checklist or bond form and we will confirm the agency, amount, and filing steps before issuing.
Talk to the pro →