A startup company with net worth of $115,000 needs approximately 20
surety bonds for mortgage broker licensing with an aggregate bond
amount of approximately $700,000.  Company lost $121,000 in 2003 while
doing test marketing and securing licenses.  Need to find a surety
bond insurance company that will provide the bonds and NOT require a
personal guarantee from the owners (i.e. no bond insurance company
indemnity requirement on the part of the company owners).  To answer
this question you must provide the name and phone number of a company
or companies that will issue the necessary surety bonds with the requirements above.

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Request for Question Clarification by nancylynn-ga on 12 May 2004 06:32 PDT

I'm working on your question and it would help me to know what kind of
company this is -- what kinds of products or services does your
company market?

Also, is this strictly a brick & mortar company, or will you be
selling products via a company Web site, or via online auctions?

Thanks,
nancylynn-ga
Google Answers Researcher

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Request for Question Clarification by nancylynn-ga on 12 May 2004 06:33 PDT

P.S. In which state are you located?

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Clarification of Question by vagraces-ga on 12 May 2004 07:58 PDT

The company is a mortgage broker that has a brick and mortar presence
in Virginia but will be operating via direct marketing through the
Internet and other means nationally.

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Request for Question Clarification by nancylynn-ga on 12 May 2004 12:05 PDT

I've contacted several companies and, so far, I'm striking out. The
concensus seems to be that only large, publicly traded companies are
exempt from personal indemnity.

Personal indemnity appears to be pretty much a standard requirement
for any startup company.

Should I stumble onto an insurance company that's willing to go forego
a personal guarantee, I'll be sure to let you know.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 12 May 2004 12:23 PDT

You might want to try contacting the Surety Bond Guarantee Program at
the US Small Business Administration:

http://www.sba.gov/osg/faqs.html

Although the program is designed primarily for contractors, they may
be able to work in some sort of eligibility for your business.  Even
if they can't, they're likely to be the best sources of information as
to what your options are.

The link for contact information is here:

http://www.sba.gov/osg/contacts.html

Let me know if this is helpful to your situation.

pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by vagraces-ga on 13 May 2004 06:00 PDT

Thanks for trying but I checked with the SBA and here's what they said:

-----Original Message-----
From: Swilling, Pam H. [mailto:Pam.Swilling@sba.gov]
Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2004 6:09 AM
To: 
Subject: RE: 

SBA does not guarantee mortgage broker licensing.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 13 May 2004 06:22 PDT

Sorry to hear that.  But I hope you spoke with an SBA rep in person,
rather than by email.

I've dealt with SBA on a number of occasions, and have always found
them to be service-oriented, very knowledgable, and willing to go the
extra mile when an obvious solution doesn't present itself at first.

These are hard qualities to take advantage via an email communication,
but get one of their reps on the phone, and they may be able to offer
some creative approaches to your situation.

If you need help finding an SBA rep to talk to on this, let me know
where you're located (state/city) and I'll post some contact info.

Good luck.

pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by vagraces-ga on 13 May 2004 07:33 PDT

I'd be happy to call the SBA, we're located in Virginia

There is probably not an answer to your question, but there may
solutions to your problem.  Please list:

1) Required states for operation.
3) Existing volume and state(s) of operation  
2) Main method of marketing
3) Reason for multi-state operations 
4) Please confirm this is a retail operation

EZdesk - Tools for Mortgage Professionals

Here's the answers to your questions:

1. States, License Types and Bond Amounts are as Follows:

AR  Mortgage Loan Co. 50,000 
CA  Finance Lender    25,000 
CT  1st Mtg Broker    40,000 
DC  Mtg. Broker       12,500 
DE  Mtg. Broker       25,000 
IA  Mtg. Broker       15,000 
IL  Resid. Loan       20,000 
IN  Loan Broker       50,000 
KS  Mtg Broker       100,000 
MD  Mtg Lender 15,000-75,000 
MS  Mtg. Broker       25,000 
NC  Mtg. Broker       50,000 
ND  Money Broker      25,000 
NH  1ST Mtg Broker    20,000 
NY  Mtg Broker        10,000
OH  Mtg Broker        50,000 
RI  Mtg Broker        10,000 
TN  Mtg Broker        90,000 
UT  Mtg Broker        25,000 
VA  Mtg Broker        25,000 
VT  Mtg Broker        10,000 
WA  Mtg Broker 20,000-60,000

2. Existing volume is zero, this is a startup, currently licensed only in FL

3. Main method of marketing - various methods will be used

4. Reason for multi-state operations - integral part of business plan

5. This is a retail residential operation