How to fill out Connecticut H-113

The last resort, and it is expensive. Where the commissioner is not satisfied that you own the car - or that there is no hidden lien on it - section 14-176 offers two outcomes: no certificate at all until you produce better documents, or a certificate against a bond. The bond is not for the value of the vehicle. It is for twice the value of the vehicle, it runs for five years, and this form is the instrument that creates it.

Written against H-113 (Rev 9-2018), issued under Conn. Gen. Stat. s. 14-176, withholding of certificate and bond requirement, with a bond filing fee under s. 14-192(a)(11). The number in the amount box is the one to check before anything else. Twice the value of the vehicle as determined by the commissioner is not the same as twice what you paid, and it is not negotiable at the counter - so establish the figure before you approach a surety, and expect the premium to be quoted against it.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank H-113 from the portal.ct.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank H-113 — Surety Bond - Certificate of Title PDF at portal.ct.gov · new tab

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual H-113, rendered from the PDF the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles publishes and completed end to end: letterhead, every field, and the blocks at the foot.

Amber — you write it
Grey — not yours to fill
Numbered — explained below

A completed Connecticut Surety Bond - Certificate of Title, form H-113. The amount of bond is 7,400.00 with a bond number and an effective date of 20 August 2026. The vehicle information row shows the year 2002, the make Subaru and the model Forester L, with the vehicle identification number column left empty. The principal is Camille R. Devereux of 44 Slater Street, New Britain, CT 06051 and the surety company block names a company organised under the laws of Connecticut. The witness and signature boxes for the principal and the attorney-in-fact are completed at the foot. — Filled in on a car the commissioner valued at $3,700, which is why the bond reads $7,400 - the statute sets it at twice the value. Rendered from the department's own PDF, whose rectangles were read off the rules it draws rather than measured. Every name, number and company here is invented for the sample.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
Amount of Bond
Twice the value of the vehicle, as determined by the commissioner rather than by you or the surety.
Watch out: Establish this figure with the department first. A surety will quote a premium against it, and quoting the wrong number wastes the application.
2
Somebody else fills this in
Surety Bond No. and Effective Date
Issued by the surety company. Not yours to invent.
Watch out: The effective date matters because the five-year clock in the conditions paragraph runs from it.
3
You fill this in
Year, Make, Model, Vehicle Identification Number
The vehicle the bond is attached to. A bond follows one car and one VIN.
Watch out: The VIN column on this form is the one cell the department ruled no line under, which is why it is empty in the sample above rather than filled - write it in by hand. It also appears on the title legend the department will print, so a mistyped one protects nobody.
4
You fill this in
Full Name of Principal, and Address
You - the applicant for the certificate. The bond binds you jointly and severally with the surety.
Watch out: Jointly and severally means the state can come to you for the whole amount. This is not a fee, it is an obligation.
5
Somebody else fills this in
Surety Company Information
The company's full name, address, and the state under whose laws it is organised and existing.
Watch out: It has to be authorised to write bonds in Connecticut. A surety licensed elsewhere and not here does not satisfy the paragraph above the signatures.
6
You fill this in
Signature of Principal, with two witnesses
Your signature and your printed name, each attested by two witness signatures.
Watch out: This is one of only two places in the Connecticut seller set where a signature needs anybody else present - the other is the A-83, which needs a notary as well.
7
Somebody else fills this in
Signature of Attorney-in-Fact, with two witnesses
The surety's side of the same block, with the printed name of the attorney-in-fact and the name of the surety.
Watch out: A current power of attorney for that attorney-in-fact has to be attached. A bond arriving without one is incomplete on the face of the form.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
Amount of Bond	The figure the commissioner sets. The obligation paragraph explains how: a bond in the amount equal to twice the value of the vehicle above specified as determined by the commissioner.
Surety Bond No., and Effective Date of Bond	Two boxes from the surety company that issues it.
Vehicle Information: Year, Make, Model, Vehicle Identification Number	Four boxes identifying the car the bond is attached to.
Principal Information: Full Name of Principal, and Address	You. The word principal means the person applying for the title, and the bond binds you as well as the surety.
Surety Company Information: Full Name of Surety Company, Address, and State under whose laws the corporation is organized and existing	The company standing behind the bond, and where it is incorporated.
The obligation paragraph	The above Surety, as duly authorized to become surety on bonds in the State of Connecticut, and the above Principal are held and firmly bound unto the State of Connecticut in the sum specified above ... jointly and severally.
The conditions paragraph	Conditioned to indemnify any prior owner and lienholder and any subsequent purchaser of the vehicle above specified or person acquiring any security interest in it, and their respective successors in interest, against any expense, loss or damage, including reasonable attorney's fees, by reason of the issuance of the certificate of title of the vehicle or on account of any defect in or undisclosed security interest on the right, title and interest of the applicant.
The five-year clause	The bond, and any deposit accompanying it, shall be returned at the end of five years or prior thereto if the vehicle is no longer registered in this state and the currently valid certificate of title is surrendered to the commissioner, unless the commissioner has been notified of the pendency of an action to recover on the bond.
Principal and Witnesses Signatures	Signature of witness of principal, signature of second witness of principal, name of principal and signature of principal - four boxes. The form's own instruction above them: the Signature of Principal and Surety must be witnessed.
Attorney-in-Fact and Witnesses Signatures (Surety Company)	The same again on the surety's side, with the printed name of the attorney-in-fact and the name of the surety.
The power of attorney requirement	If executed by a Surety Company, a current Power of Attorney for the Surety's attorney-in-fact must be attached to this bond.

What gets this one rejected

•A bond written for the value of the vehicle rather than twice it. The statute and the form both say twice, and a bond written short is not a bond that satisfies s. 14-176.
•Signatures that are not witnessed. The instruction is printed in its own paragraph above the signature block, and it applies to the principal and the surety alike.
•A surety company bond with no power of attorney attached. The form requires a current one for the attorney-in-fact.
•A surety not authorised to write bonds in Connecticut. The obligation paragraph describes the surety as duly authorized to become surety on bonds in the State of Connecticut.
•Treating it as a way round a missing lien release. A bond indemnifies against an undisclosed security interest; it does not release a known one.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•Two outcomes, and the commissioner chooses. Section 14-176 lets the commissioner either withhold issuance until the applicant presents documents reasonably sufficient to satisfy him, or require the bond as a condition of issuing. The bond is the second-best outcome, not the default.
•A cash deposit is an alternative to a corporate surety. The statute allows the bond to be accompanied by the deposit of cash with the commissioner, or executed by a person authorised to conduct a surety business in this state.
•Anyone injured can sue on it. Any such interested person has a right of action to recover on the bond for any breach of its conditions - though the surety's aggregate liability to everyone is capped at the amount of the bond.
•The title says so, permanently. The department's list of title legends includes Bond posted under section 14-176 C.G.S.: customer did not have necessary documents for proof of ownership and a surety bond was required to protect the State of Connecticut against any ownership claims. That legend follows the car.
•The bond has a filing fee of its own. Section 14-192(a)(11), quoted as the statute writes it: for a bond filing under section 14-176, twenty-five dollars - separate from the title fee and from whatever the surety charges for the bond itself.

Every line here was read off H-113 (Rev 9-2018) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles pages. This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ, theirs governs.

Back to all Connecticut seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Connecticut involves.

How to fill out Connecticut H-113

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Amount of Bond

Surety Bond No. and Effective Date

Year, Make, Model, Vehicle Identification Number

Full Name of Principal, and Address

Surety Company Information

Signature of Principal, with two witnesses

Signature of Attorney-in-Fact, with two witnesses

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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