In
finance
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...
, a surety , surety bond or guaranty involves a promise by one party to assume responsibility for the
debt
Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...
obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults. Usually, a surety bond or surety is a promise by a surety or guarantor to pay one party (the ''obligee'') a certain amount if a second party (the ''principal'') fails to meet some obligation, such as fulfilling the terms of a contract. The surety bond protects the obligee against losses resulting from the principal's failure to meet the obligation. The person or company providing the promise is also known as a "surety" or as a "guarantor".
Overview
A surety bond is defined as a
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...
among at least three parties:
* the ''obligee'': the party who is the recipient of an obligation
* the ''principal'': the primary party who will perform the contractual obligation
* the ''surety'': who assures the obligee that the principal can perform the task
European surety bonds can be issued by banks and surety companies. If issued by banks they are called "Bank Guaranties" in English and ''Cautions'' in French, if issued by a surety company they are called surety / bonds. They pay out cash to the limit of guaranty in the event of the default of the Principal to uphold his obligations to the Obligee, without reference by the Obligee to the Principal and against the Obligee's sole verified statement of claim to the bank.
Through a surety bond, the surety agrees to uphold—for the benefit of the obligee—the contractual promises (obligations) made by the principal if the principal fails to uphold its promises to the obligee. The contract is formed so as to induce the obligee to contract with the principal, i.e., to demonstrate the credibility of the principal and guarantee performance and completion per the terms of the agreement.
The principal will pay a premium (usually annually) in exchange for the bonding company's financial strength to extend surety credit. In the event of a claim, the surety will investigate it. If it turns out to be a valid claim, the surety will pay and then turn to the principal for reimbursement of the amount paid on the claim and any legal fees incurred. In some cases, the principal has a
cause of action
A cause of action or right of action, in law, is a set of facts sufficient to justify suing to obtain money or property, or to justify the enforcement of a legal right against another party. The term also refers to the legal theory upon which a p ...
against another party for the principal's loss, and the surety will have a right of
subrogation
Subrogation is the assumption by a third party (such as a second creditor or an insurance company) of another party's legal right to collect a debt or damages. It is a legal doctrine whereby one person is entitled to enforce the subsisting or reviv ...
"step into the shoes of" the principal and recover damages to make up for the payment to the principal.
If the principal defaults and the surety turns out to be
insolvent
In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company (debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet inso ...
, the purpose of the bond is rendered nugatory. Thus, the surety on a bond is usually an
insurance company
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
whose solvency is verified by private audit, governmental regulation, or both.
A key term in nearly every surety bond is the ''penal sum''. This is a specified amount of money which is the maximum amount that the surety will be required to pay in the event of the principal's default. This allows the surety to assess the risk involved in giving the bond; the
premium
Premium may refer to:
Marketing
* Premium (marketing), a promotional item that can be received for a small fee when redeeming proofs of purchase that come with or on retail products
* Premium segment, high-price brands or services in marketing, ...
charged is determined accordingly.
Surety bonds also occur in other situations, for example, to secure the proper performance of
fiduciary
A fiduciary is a person who holds a legal or ethical relationship of trust with one or more other parties (person or group of persons). Typically, a fiduciary prudently takes care of money or other assets for another person. One party, for exampl ...
duties by persons in positions of private or public trust.
Reason for having a guarantor
A surety most typically requires a guarantor when the ability of the primary obligor, or ''
principal'', to perform its obligations to the obligee (counterparty) under a
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...
is in question or when there is some public or private interest that requires protection from the consequences of the principal's default or delinquency. In most
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
jurisdictions, a contract of suretyship is subject to the
Statute of Frauds
The Statute of Frauds (29 Car 2 c 3) (1677) was an Act of the Parliament of England. It required that certain types of contracts, wills, and grants, and assignment or surrender of leases or interest in real property must be in writing and sign ...
(or its equivalent local laws) and is unenforceable unless it is recorded in writing and signed by the surety and by the principal.
United States industry
The SFAA published US and Canadian H1 surety results on September 5, 2019. Direct written premium totaled $3.5 billion and a direct loss ratio of 18.2%, highlighting strong profitability in the surety industry. The industry remains highly fragmented with over 100 companies directly writing surety bonds with new market entrants entering or reentering on a fairly common basis.
annual US surety bond premiums amounted to approximately $3.5 billion. State
insurance commissioner
An insurance commissioner (or commissioner of insurance) is a public official in the executive branch of a state or territory in the United States who, along with his or her office, regulate the insurance industry. The powers granted to the office ...
s are responsible for regulating corporate surety activities within their jurisdictions. The commissioners also license and regulate brokers or agents who sell the bonds. These are known as producers; the National Association of Surety Bond Producers (NASBP) is a trade association which represents this group.
In 2008, the New York Times wrote "posting
bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.
In some countries ...
for people accused of crimes in exchange for a fee, is all but unknown in the rest of the world".
Miller Act
The
Miller Act
The Miller Act (ch. 642, Sec. 1-3, 49 stat. 793,794, codified as amended in Title 40 of the United States Code) requires prime contractors on some government construction contracts to post bonds guaranteeing both the performance of their contrac ...
may require a
surety bond
In finance, a surety , surety bond or guaranty involves a promise by one party to assume responsibility for the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults. Usually, a surety bond or surety is a promise by a surety or guarantor to pay ...
for contractors on certain federal construction projects; in addition, many states have adopted their own "Little Miller Acts".
The surety transaction will typically involve a producer; the
National Association of Surety Bond Producers
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
(NASBP) is a
trade association
A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific Industry (economics), industry. An industry tra ...
that represents such producers.
Right of subrogation
If the surety is required to pay or perform due to the principal's failure to do so, the law will usually give the surety a right of
subrogation
Subrogation is the assumption by a third party (such as a second creditor or an insurance company) of another party's legal right to collect a debt or damages. It is a legal doctrine whereby one person is entitled to enforce the subsisting or reviv ...
, allowing the surety to "step into the shoes of" the principal and use the surety's contractual rights to recover the cost of making payment or performing on the principal's behalf, even in the absence of an express agreement to that effect between the surety and the principal.
Distinction between a suretyship arrangement and a guaranty
Traditionally, a distinction was made between a suretyship arrangement and that of a guaranty. In both cases, the lender gained the ability to collect from another person in the event of a default by the principal. However, the surety's liability was joint and primary with the principal: the creditor could attempt to collect the debt from either party independently of the other. The guarantor's liability was ancillary and derivative: the creditor first had to attempt to collect the debt from the debtor before looking to the guarantor for payment. Many jurisdictions have abolished that distinction, in effect putting all guarantors in the position of the surety.
Contract surety bonds
Contract bonds, used heavily in the
construction
Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...
industry by
general contractor
A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...
s as a part of
construction law
Construction law is a branch of law that deals with matters relating to building construction, engineering, and related fields. It is in essence an amalgam of contract law, commercial law, planning law, employment law and tort. Construction law cov ...
, are a guaranty from a surety to a project's owner (obligee) that a general contractor (principal) will adhere to the provisions of a contract. The
, a United States trade association, provides some information for their members on these bonds. Contract bonds are not the same thing as contractor's
license bonds, which may be required as part of a license.
Included in this category are
bid bond A bid bond is issued as part of a supply bidding process by the contractor to the project owner, to provide guarantee, that the winning bidder will undertake the contract under the terms at which they bid.
The cash deposit is subject to full or p ...
s (guaranty that a contractor will enter into a contract if awarded the bid);
performance bond
A performance bond, also known as a contract bond, is a surety bond issued by an insurance company or a bank to guarantee satisfactory completion of a project by a contractor. The term is also used to denote a collateral deposit of good faith mon ...
s (guaranty that a contractor will perform the work as specified by the contract);
payment bond
A payment bond is a surety bond posted by a contractor to guarantee that its subcontractors and material suppliers on the project will be paid. They are required in contracts over $35,000 with the Federal Government and must be 100% of the contra ...
s (guaranty that a contractor will pay for services, particularly
subcontractor
A subcontractor is an individual or (in many cases) a business that signs a contract to perform part or all of the obligations of another's contract.
Put simply the role of a subcontractor is to execute the job they are hired by the contractor f ...
s and materials and particularly for federal projects where a
mechanic's lien
A mechanic's lien is a security interest in the title to property for the benefit of those who have supplied labor or materials that improve the property. The lien exists for both real property and personal property. In the realm of real property, ...
is not available); and
maintenance bonds (guaranty that a contractor will provide facility repair and upkeep for a specified period of time). There are also miscellaneous contract bonds that do not fall within the categories above, the most common of which are
subdivision
Subdivision may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Subdivision (metre), in music
* ''Subdivision'' (film), 2009
* "Subdivision", an episode of ''Prison Break'' (season 2)
* ''Subdivisions'' (EP), by Sinch, 2005
* "Subdivisions" (song), by Rus ...
and supply bonds. Bonds are typically required for federal government projects by the
Miller Act
The Miller Act (ch. 642, Sec. 1-3, 49 stat. 793,794, codified as amended in Title 40 of the United States Code) requires prime contractors on some government construction contracts to post bonds guaranteeing both the performance of their contrac ...
and state projects under "little Miller Acts".
[Dan Donohue and George Thomas. (1996)]
Construction Surety Bonds In Plain English
In federal government, the contract language is determined by the government. In private contracts the parties may freely contract the language and requirements.
Standard form contract
A standard form contract (sometimes referred to as a ''contract of adhesion,'' a ''leonine contract'', a ''take-it-or-leave-it contract'', or a '' boilerplate contract'') is a contract between two parties, where the terms and conditions of the co ...
s provided by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) make bonding optional.
[ If the parties agree to require bonding, additional forms such as the performance bond contract AIA Document 311 provide common terms.][
Losses arise when contractors do not complete their contracts, which often arises when the contractor goes out of business. Contractors often go out of business; for example, a study by BizMiner found that of 853,372 contracts in the United States in 2002, 28.5% had exited business by 2004. The average failure rate of contractors in the United States from 1989 to 2002 was 14% versus 12% for other industries.
Prices are as a percentage of the penal sum (the maximum that the surety is liable for) ranging from around 1% to 5%, with the most credit-worthy contracts paying the least.][Donohue D., Thomas G. (1996)]
"How Surety Bonds Work"
Archived a
The bond typically includes an indemnity agreement whereby the principal contractor or others agree to indemnify the surety if there is a loss.[ In the United States, the ]Small Business Administration
The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and stren ...
may guaranty surety bonds; in 2013 the eligible contract tripled to $6.5 million.
Commercial surety bonds
Commercial bonds represent the broad range of bond types that do not fit the classification of contract. They are generally divided into four sub-types: license and permit, court, public official, and miscellaneous.
License and permit bonds
License and permit bonds are required by certain federal, state, or municipal governments as prerequisites to receiving a license
A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
or permit to engage in certain business activities. These bonds function as a guaranty from a Surety to a government and its constituents (obligee) that a company (principal) will comply with an underlying statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...
, state law State law refers to the law of a federated state, as distinguished from the law of the federation of which it is a part. It is used when the constituent components of a federation are themselves called states. Federations made up of provinces, cant ...
, municipal ordinance, or regulation
Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...
.
Specific examples include:
* Contractor's license bonds, which assure that a contractor (such as a plumber, electrician, or general contractor) complies with laws relating to his field. In the United States, bonding requirements may be at federal, state, or local level.
* Customs bonds, including importer entry bonds, which assure compliance with all relevant laws, as well as payment of import duties
A duty (from "due" meaning "that which is owing"; fro, deu, did, past participle of ''devoir''; la, debere, debitum, whence "debt") is a commitment or expectation to perform some action in general or if certain circumstances arise. A duty may ...
and tax
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...
es.
* Tax bonds, which assure that a business owner will comply with laws relating to the remittance of sales
Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale.
The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...
or other taxes.
* Reclamation
Reclaim, reclaimed, reclaimer, reclaiming or reclamation means "to get something back".
It may refer to:
* Land reclamation, creating new land from oceans, riverbeds, or lake beds
* Dedesertification, reversing of the land degradation in arid ...
and environmental protection bonds
* Broker's bonds, including insurance, mortgage, and title agency bonds
* ERISA
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) (, codified in part at ) is a U.S. federal tax and labor law that establishes minimum standards for pension plans in private industry. It contains rules on the federal income tax eff ...
(Employee Retirement Income Security Act) bonds
* Motor vehicle dealer bonds
* Freight broker bond
A freight broker bond must be obtained by freight brokers and freight forwarders in the United States in order to obtain or renew their license.
In the United States, freight broker surety bonds are required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety A ...
s
* Money transmitter
In the legal code of the United States, a money transmitter or money transfer service is a business entity that provides money transfer services or payment instruments. Money transmitters in the US are part of a larger group of entities called mo ...
bonds
* Health spa bonds, which assure that a health spa will comply with local laws relating to their field, as well as refund dues for any prepaid services in the event the spa closes.
Court bonds
Court bonds are those bonds prescribed by statute and relate to the courts. They are further broken down into judicial bonds and fiduciary bonds. Judicial bonds arise out of litigation and are posted by parties seeking court remedies or defending against legal actions seeking court remedies. Fiduciary
A fiduciary is a person who holds a legal or ethical relationship of trust with one or more other parties (person or group of persons). Typically, a fiduciary prudently takes care of money or other assets for another person. One party, for exampl ...
, or probate
Probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased, or whereby the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy in the sta ...
, bonds are filed in probate court
A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the Administration of an estate on death, administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts ma ...
s and courts that exercise equitable jurisdiction; they guaranty that persons whom such courts have entrusted with the care of others' property will perform their specified duties faithfully.
Examples of judicial bonds include appeal
In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...
bonds, supersedeas bonds, attachment bonds, replevin
Replevin () or claim and delivery (sometimes called revendication) is a legal remedy, which enables a person to recover personal property taken wrongfully or unlawfully, and to obtain compensation for resulting losses.
Etymology
The word "replevi ...
bonds, injunction
An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in pa ...
bonds, mechanic's lien
A mechanic's lien is a security interest in the title to property for the benefit of those who have supplied labor or materials that improve the property. The lien exists for both real property and personal property. In the realm of real property, ...
bonds, and bail bond
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.
In some countries ...
s. Examples of fiduciary bonds include administrator, guardian
Guardian usually refers to:
* Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another
* ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper
(The) Guardian(s) may also refer to:
Places
* Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...
, and trustee
Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...
bonds.
Public official bonds
Public official
An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...
bonds guarantee the honesty and faithful performance of those people who are elected or appointed to positions of public trust. Examples of officials sometimes requiring bonds include: notaries public, treasurers, commissioners, judges, town clerks, law enforcement officers, and credit union volunteers.
Miscellaneous bonds
Miscellaneous bonds are those that do not fit well under the other commercial surety bond classifications. They often support private relationships and unique business needs. Examples of significant miscellaneous bonds include: lost securities
A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any for ...
bonds, hazardous waste removal bonds, credit enhancement financial guaranty bonds, self–insured workers compensation guaranty bonds, and wage and welfare/fringe benefit (trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
) bonds.
Business service bonds
Business service bonds are surety bonds which seek to safeguard a bonded entity's clients from theft. These bonds are common for home health care, janitorial service, and other companies who routinely enter their homes or businesses. While these bonds are often confused with fidelity bonds, they are much different. A business service bond allows the bonded entity's client to claim on the surety bond when the client's property has been stolen by the bonded entity. However, the claim is only valid if the bonded entity's employee is convicted of the crime in a court of law. Additionally, if the surety company pays a claim on the bond, they would seek to be reimbursed by the bonded entity for all costs and expenses incurred as a result of the claim. This differs from a traditional fidelity bond where the insured (bonded entity) would be responsible for paying the deductible only in the case of covered claim up to the policy limit.
Penal bonds
The penal bond
A penal bond is a written instrument executed between an obligor and an obligee designed to secure the performance of a legal obligation through the '' in terrorem'' effect of the threat of a penalty for nonperformance.
Types of bonds
At its s ...
is another type of the bond that was historically used to assure the performance of a contract. They are to be distinguished from surety bonds in that they did not require any party to act as surety—having an obligee and obligor sufficed. One historically significant type of penal bond, the penal bond with conditional defeasance, printed the bond (the obligation to pay) on the front of the document and the condition which would nullify that promise to pay (referred to as the indenture of defeasance—essentially, the contractual obligation) on the back of the document. The penal bond, although an artifact of historical interest, fell out of use by the early part of the nineteenth century in the United States.
Electronic surety bonds
In certain situations, an electronic surety bond (ESB) can be used in lieu of a traditional paper surety bond. In 2016, the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry (NMLS) initiated a system for the issuance, tracking, and maintenance of ESBs in support of some licenses being managed through the NMLS. This new online system speeds bond issuance and decreases paperwork, among other potential benefits.
Timeline
The NMLS ESB initiative began on January 25, 2016, when surety bond companies and providers were able to begin the account creation process. The second phase began on September 12, 2016, when an initial group of nine state regulatory agencies began accepting ESBs for certain license types. This initial rollout included agencies in Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Texas, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
On January 23, 2017, another group of twelve state agencies were added to allow ESB capability for certain license types. This group included agencies in Alaska, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and South Dakota. Minor upgrades were also completed early in 2017. The types of licenses transitioning to ESBs and the implementation timelines vary by licensing agency. The NMLS plans to roll out additional state agencies and update the system with added functionality over time.
History
Individual surety bonds represent the original form of suretyship. The earliest known record of a contract of suretyship is a Mesopotamian tablet written around 2750 BC. Evidence of individual surety bonds exists in the Code of Hammurabi and in Babylon, Persia, Assyria, Rome, Carthage, among the ancient Hebrews, and (later) in England.
The Code of Hammurabi
The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organised, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian, purportedly by Hamm ...
, written around 1790 BC, provides the earliest surviving known mention of suretyship in a written legal code.
Suretyship was not always accomplished through the execution of a bond. Frankpledge
Frankpledge was a system of joint suretyship common in England throughout the Early Middle Ages and High Middle Ages. The essential characteristic was the compulsory sharing of responsibility among persons connected in tithings. This unit, under ...
, for example, was a system of joint suretyship prevalent in Medieval England which did not rely upon the execution of bonds.
The first corporate surety, the Guarantee Society of London (whose insurance business ultimately merged into Aviva
Aviva plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It has about 18 million customers across its core markets of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. In the United Kingdom, Aviva is the largest general ...
), dates from 1840.
In 1865, the Fidelity Insurance Company became the first US corporate surety company, but the venture soon failed.
In 1894 congress passed the Heard Act which required surety bonds on all federally funded projects. In 1908 the Surety Association of America, now the Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA), was formed to regulate the industry, promote public understanding of and confidence in the surety industry, and to provide a forum for the discussion of problems of common interest to its members. SFAA is a licensed rating or advisory organization in all states and is designated by state insurance departments as a statistical agent for the reporting of fidelity and surety experience. The SFAA is a trade association consisting of companies that collectively write the majority of surety and fidelity bonds in the United States. Then in 1935 the Miller Act
The Miller Act (ch. 642, Sec. 1-3, 49 stat. 793,794, codified as amended in Title 40 of the United States Code) requires prime contractors on some government construction contracts to post bonds guaranteeing both the performance of their contrac ...
was passed, replacing the Heard Act. The Miller Act is the current federal law mandating the use of surety bonds on federally funded projects.
See also
* Co-signing
A loan guarantee, in finance, is a promise by one party (the guarantor) to assume the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults. A guarantee can be limited or unlimited, making the guarantor liable for only a portion or all of the ...
* Demand guarantee
* Estreat Estreat (French language, French , Latin language, Latin ) means, originally, a true copy or duplicate of some original writing or record; since the 1900s used only with reference to the enforcement of a forfeited recognizance. At one time it was th ...
* Fidelity bond
A fidelity bond or fidelity guarantee is a form of insurance protection that covers policyholders for losses that they incur as a result of fraudulent acts by specified individuals. It usually insures a business for losses caused by the dishonest a ...
* Fiduciary
A fiduciary is a person who holds a legal or ethical relationship of trust with one or more other parties (person or group of persons). Typically, a fiduciary prudently takes care of money or other assets for another person. One party, for exampl ...
* Guarantee
Guarantee is a legal term more comprehensive and of higher import than either warranty or "security". It most commonly designates a private transaction by means of which one person, to obtain some trust, confidence or credit for another, engages ...
* Indemnity
In contract law, an indemnity is a contractual obligation of one party (the ''indemnitor'') to compensate the loss incurred by another party (the ''indemnitee'') due to the relevant acts of the indemnitor or any other party. The duty to indemni ...
* Insurance
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
* Lien waiver
In the mechanics lien process, a lien waiver is a document from a contractor, subcontractor, materials supplier, equipment lessor or other party to the construction project (the claimant) stating they have received payment and waive any future li ...
* Loan guarantee
A loan guarantee, in finance, is a promise by one party (the guarantor) to assume the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults. A guarantee can be limited or unlimited, making the guarantor liable for only a portion or all of the d ...
* Negotiable Instrument
A negotiable instrument is a document guaranteeing the payment of a specific amount of money, either on demand, or at a set time, whose payer is usually named on the document. More specifically, it is a document contemplated by or consisting of a ...
* Penal bond
A penal bond is a written instrument executed between an obligor and an obligee designed to secure the performance of a legal obligation through the '' in terrorem'' effect of the threat of a penalty for nonperformance.
Types of bonds
At its s ...
* Performance bond
A performance bond, also known as a contract bond, is a surety bond issued by an insurance company or a bank to guarantee satisfactory completion of a project by a contractor. The term is also used to denote a collateral deposit of good faith mon ...
* Personal guarantee A personal guarantee is a promise made by a person or an organization (the guarantor) to accept responsibility for some other party's debt (the debtor) if the debtor fails to pay it. In the case of a personal guarantee made by an individual on behal ...
* Shop drawing
A shop drawing is a drawing or set of drawings produced by the contractor, supplier, manufacturer, subcontractor, consultants, or fabricator. Shop drawings are typically required for prefabricated components. Examples of these include: elev ...
* Submittals (construction)
* Testator
A testator () is a person who has written and executed a Will (law), last will and testament that is in effect at the time of their death. It is any "person who makes a will."Gordon Brown, ''Administration of Wills, Trusts, and Estates'', 3d ed. (2 ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Sureties
Legal terminology