How to fill out Utah TC-824

A surety bond in favour of the State of Utah and the Tax Commission, standing behind a title issued to somebody who could not produce one. It is not filled in at a kitchen table: the principal is you, the surety is a bonding company, and the amount is fixed by the form's own words as being double the reasonable value of said vehicle. It runs for seven years and it is the only document in the Utah seller's set that has a notary block on it, on the surety's side rather than yours.

Written against TC-824 (Rev 4/18), issued under Utah Code 41-1a-509(3). Read the penal sum sentence before you agree a premium with a broker. The bond is written for double the reasonable value of the vehicle, so the sum insured on a car worth four thousand dollars is eight thousand, and the premium is quoted against the larger figure.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank TC-824 from the files.tax.utah.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank TC-824 — Insufficient Evidence of Ownership Bond (Surety Bond) PDF at files.tax.utah.gov · new tab

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual TC-824, rendered from the PDF the Utah State Tax Commission, Motor Vehicle Division 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

Utah form TC-824 filled in: Rosalie T. Ipsen of Moab as Principal, a bonding company as Surety, a penal sum written out in words and figures, and the vehicle recital naming a 1998 Ford F-150 with identification number 1FTZF1725WNA45109, executed in Grand County with the bond number and local agent recorded. — The blanks inside the running text are the whole form. The affidavit of qualification and the notary block at the foot belong to the surety company, not to the applicant.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
Principal, and where you live
Your name and your city, in the two blanks in the opening sentence.
Watch out: The Principal is the person applying for the title. If two people will be on the title, ask the surety how it wants both named before writing anything.
2
Somebody else fills this in
Surety
The bonding company's legal name, in the blank after the word and.
Watch out: This is a company, not a person. The affidavit at the foot only makes sense if the name here is an insurer authorised to act as sole surety in Utah.
3
Somebody else fills this in
The penal sum
The amount written out in words, then repeated in figures in the bracket.
Watch out: The sentence it sits in defines it as double the reasonable value of the vehicle, so the two halves have to agree with each other and with the value on the ownership statement.
4
You fill this in
The vehicle recital
Year, make, model, body type and identification number, in the five short blanks inside the paragraph.
Watch out: Copy the identification number from the inspection certificate rather than from memory. It is the only thing tying this bond to a particular vehicle.
5
You fill this in
Executed at, and the date
The place and the day, month and year of execution.
Watch out: The seven years run from this date, so an old bond found in a drawer may already be worth less than it looks.
6
Somebody else fills this in
The signatures and the seal
Principal's signature, then the surety signing through its agent and applying its seal, with the bond number and the local agent's name and address.
Watch out: The agent's block and the affidavit of qualification are the surety's work. A bond arriving without the seal or without the affidavit is incomplete on the form's own terms.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
The instruction above everything	This surety bond must be completed in its entirety. When a power of attorney form is used, it must be attached to the surety bond. Photo copies of the bond form will not be accepted.
KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that ___, of ___, as Principal	The applicant and where they live. The Principal is the person who wants the title.
and ___, as Surety	The bonding company. A private individual does not go here.
the penal sum of ___ Dollars ($___)	Written out in words and again in figures, and the form defines it in the same sentence: being double the reasonable value of said vehicle.
The purpose clause	Indemnifying any person or persons who might subsequently establish legal ownership or interest to the vehicle hereinafter described.
The vehicle recital: Year, Make, Model, Body type, Vehicle identification number	Five short blanks inside the running text rather than in a table.
The reason clause	That the Principal has not been able to furnish a prior certificate of title, or evidence of the ownership sufficient to clearly establish his right and title thereto, or clear evidence as to the existence or release of any lien or encumbrance thereon.
The seven-year condition	The obligation stays in full force and effect for a period ending seven years from date hereof, unless the Principal indemnifies anyone who establishes ownership in the meantime.
Executed at ___, this ___ day of ___, 20___	Place and date of execution, on the line above the signatures.
Principal, By ___	The applicant's signature block.
Surety, By ___ Agent, with a Surety Seal	The bonding company signs through an agent and applies its seal.
Bonding Company's Bond Number, Local agent's name, Agent's address	The identifiers that make the bond traceable to a company the state can pursue.
Affidavit of Qualification For Surety Companies	A separate sworn block at the foot: an officer or agent of the company deposes that they are duly authorized to execute and deliver the foregoing obligations and that the company has complied in all respects with the laws of Utah in reference to becoming sole surety, with a notary stamp and a residence line.

What gets this one rejected

•A photocopy. The instruction at the top says photo copies of the bond form will not be accepted, and it is the first sentence on the page for a reason.
•A partially completed sheet. The same instruction requires it to be completed in its entirety, including the affidavit of qualification at the foot.
•An amount that is not double the value. The penal sum is defined inside the bond's own text, so a figure that matches the vehicle's value rather than twice it contradicts the sentence it sits in.
•A friend or relative signing as surety. The affidavit at the foot is written for a company authorised under the laws of Utah to act as sole surety.
•A power of attorney referred to but not attached. The instruction says that where one is used, it must be attached to the surety bond.
•The vehicle recital left partly blank. Five details identify the vehicle the bond is about, and a bond about an unidentified vehicle secures nothing.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•It is required by value, not by circumstance. The trigger is on the ownership statement rather than on this sheet, which sets a fair market value above which a surety bond may be required and caps it at twice that value. Nothing on the bond itself decides whether one is needed.
•Seven years is the exposure. The condition on the face of the bond runs to seven years from the date of execution, which is longer than most people keep the vehicle it was bought for.

Every line here was read off TC-824 (Rev 4/18) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Utah State Tax Commission, Motor Vehicle Division 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 Utah seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Utah involves.

How to fill out Utah TC-824

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Principal, and where you live

Surety

The penal sum

The vehicle recital

Executed at, and the date

The signatures and the seal

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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