How to fill out Mississippi 78-016

The money half of a bonded title: a surety company binds itself alongside you, as Principal, to the State of Mississippi as Obligee, so that anyone the missing paperwork later injures - any prior owner and lienholder and any subsequent purchaser - can be made whole. The Department requires it before issuing the applied-for certificate; the FAQ sets its size at one and a half times the vehicle's average trade-in value; the bond's own text runs it three years and voids the deal if it is filed late.

Written against 78-016 (09/17), issued under Miss. Code Ann. Section 63-21-23, which the bond's own text cites. The three-year term is also the answer to the question every bonded-title holder asks eventually: when does the title become ordinary? No liability accrues after the period expires - which is why buyers discount bonded titles young and stop caring once the bond has aged out.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank 78-016 from the dor.ms.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our 78-016 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank 78-016 — Certificate of Title Bond PDF at dor.ms.gov · new tab Step 2 · how to fill it in Our filled-in 78-016 guide PDF · print and keep beside you

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual 78-016, rendered from the PDF the Mississippi Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Services 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 Mississippi Form 78-016 Certificate of Title Bond filled in: penal sum $8,850.00, bond number CTB-4471208, Principal Harmon T. Leflore of Florence, Mississippi, Surety Yalobusha Guaranty & Surety Company incorporated under the laws of Mississippi, covering a 2013 Chevrolet Silverado, VIN 3GCPKSE74DG318294, eight cylinders, used, effective 12 August 2026, executed by the insurance agency and by the surety's attorney-in-fact with the principal's signature. — The actual 78-016, executed for the same estate-sale truck as the affidavit of ownership - the two halves of one bonded-title file. The penal sum is one and a half times the truck's average trade-in value per the Department's requirement, and the effective date at the foot is the fuse: by the bond's own text it must reach the Department within thirty days of that date or it will not be accepted.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
Somebody else fills this in
The sum and the parties
The surety's agent enters the penal sum, the bond number, your name and town as Principal, and the surety's name and state of incorporation.
Watch out: Bring the valuation printout to the agent - the sum is one and a half times average trade-in, and writing it from a guess is the commonest reason a bond gets re-issued.
2
You fill this in
The vehicle, exactly as the affidavit has it
Make and year, model, VIN, body type, cylinders, new or used.
Watch out: Copy from the 78-013, character for character. Three documents, one description - the examiner diffs them.
3
You fill this in
Read the conditions once, properly
The indemnity paragraph - who can claim, for what, for how long.
Watch out: This is the paragraph that explains the premium: prior owners, lienholders and later purchasers can all reach the bond, and the surety can then reach you.
4
You fill this in
Effective date and signatures
The effective date, the insurance company and agent lines, your signature as Principal, the surety's by attorney-in-fact.
Watch out: Date it when your file is ready to move. The thirty-day acceptance window runs from this line, and a bond that expires unfiled is a premium spent twice.
5
You fill this in
File the whole kit together
Bond, sworn affidavit of ownership, bill of sale - and the MVCT-59 inspection form if the vehicle is ten model years or less - submitted to the Department.
Watch out: One envelope, one file. The bond is the piece with a fuse on it, so it goes in last-bought and first-tracked.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
The parties and the penal sum	The dollar amount and bond number at the top, then the Principal (you) of a named Mississippi place, and the Surety - a corporation incorporated under the laws of a named state - held and firmly bound unto the State of Mississippi in the sum stated.
The vehicle	Make and year, model, identification number, type body, number of cylinders, and new or used - the description the bond attaches to.
The statutory recital	The WHEREAS paragraph: application has been made for a certificate of title, and under Section 63-21-23 - the bond names Senate Bill 1688, Laws of 1968, the Mississippi Motor Vehicle Title Act - the Department is requiring this bond before issuing it.
The conditions	Who the bond protects and from what: indemnify any prior owner and lienholder and any subsequent purchaser of said vehicle 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 or any defect in or undisclosed security interest upon the applicant's title.
The clock, twice	Said bond shall run and be in full force and effect for a period of three (3) years from the effective date, with no liability accruing after - and the sentence that catches people: this bond will not be accepted by the Department of Revenue if it is not filed within thirty (30) days of its effective date.
The execution block	Effective date, the insurance company's name, the agent's signature and mailing address with phone, the Principal's signature, and the Surety's signature by its Attorney-in-Fact.

What gets this one rejected

•A bond bought and then left in a drawer. Thirty days from its effective date, unfiled, it is waste paper by its own terms - buy the bond when the rest of the file is ready, not before.
•A penal sum from your own arithmetic. The Department's figure is one and a half times the average trade-in value; a bond written light gets the whole file returned.
•A surety not authorized in Mississippi. The FAQ's first requirement is a surety bond from a surety company authorized to do business in this state - an out-of-state bond form from an unadmitted carrier fails at the door.
•A vehicle description that drifts from the affidavit. Bond, affidavit and bill of sale describe one vehicle identically - the examiner reads all three against the same VIN.
•Signing only one line. The Principal signs and the Surety signs by its attorney-in-fact; a bond executed by one party binds nobody.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•What you are actually buying. Not insurance for you - protection for everyone else. If the rightful owner of the vehicle surfaces inside the three years, the bond pays them and the surety comes to you for reimbursement. The premium is the fee for the state taking that risk on your paperwork's word.
•Where the bond comes from. Any Mississippi-admitted surety writes these against the Department's own form - the agent fills the penal sum from the trade-in valuation, and the effective date is the day to plan the filing around, because the thirty-day acceptance window starts there, not at purchase.

Every line here was read off 78-016 (09/17) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Mississippi Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Services 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 Mississippi seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Mississippi involves.

How to fill out Mississippi 78-016

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

The sum and the parties

The vehicle, exactly as the affidavit has it

Read the conditions once, properly

Effective date and signatures

File the whole kit together

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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