Procuring Bonded Titles for Vehicles

Been a while since I've blogged (ok two years) but I had a buddy ask about how to go about getting a bonded title for a vehicle and thought I would share the story of how I did it for this scooter.
Step One: Make sure the title-less vehicle is not stolen. I just called Brenham PD and found out the last owner's name and made sure the scooter had never been reported stolen.
Step Two: Go down to your local vehicle registration tax office and request a bonded title form (VTR 130 or 270). If the vehicle is operational and you want to drive it in the mean time you can acquire a 30 day registration sticker which I recommend over getting a ticket. This maybe cost $20.
Step Three: Mail the forms to Austin and wait for paperwork revealing the bonded value of the vehicle (in my case the scooter was valued at $300) and showing the proper information to show the bonding agent.
Step Four: Find the closest bonding agent to you. The auto tax office will have this info on file so just as them. As for Brenham, the guy to see is the Allstate rep on Blue Bell Road. I went there with all my paperwork and left them a check for $100 and they turned the paperwork into the bond company: CNA Surety.
What you want to note here is that for vehicles valued at less than $6,000 you are only responsible to pay $100 for a bonded title. Not bad unless your vehicle is only valued at $300 then it would be nicer if it were considerably less.
Step Five: Take the purchased surety bond back to the county registration office and submit the request for a legit title, and pick up license plates and registration sticker.
Step Six: Within a few weeks you should receive your bonded title in the mail. The title will remain "bonded" for three years which means that the vehicle is susceptible to a title holder on the vehicle claiming it was stolen. Once the three years is complete the title will be listed as a regular one. You can still sell a vehicle with a bonded title but it may cause uneasiness in a buyer from the unknown history of the vehicle.