Surety Bond News

The bond required of Georgia continuing care facilities now guarantees something new thanks to a new law. The new law is named SB 166 and states that the bond serves as financial assurance to guarantee the contractual obligations of the continuing care provider to the facility’s residents instead of just guaranteeing compliance with regulations alone.

The state of Georgia has enacted a new law affecting the Georgia Department of Transportation. The new law, which is named HB 137, terminates the $500,000 surety bond previously required of the Director of Planning for the Georgia Department of Transportation. The previous legislation set the bond requirement in order to guarantee that the responsibilities would be met by the Director of Planning.

Georgia pharmacy benefit managers may be affected by new rules that were recently presented. The Georgia Office of the Insurance Commissioner suggested a new law enacted under SB 310 (2010) that requires pharmacy benefit managers to obtain a $100,000 surety bond from a state licensed surety company. Additionally, a minimum $250,000 errors and omissions insurance policy or “other appropriate liability insurance” is required. The surety bond protects individuals doing business with pharmacy benefit managers from fraudulent dealings. The surety has the option of canceling the bond with 30 days written notice.

Legislators in the State of Georgia have implemented a new surety bond bill concerning driver training schools. The new bill, which is titled HB 269, raises the current surety bond required of driver training schools from $2,500 to $10,000 in order for them to stay legal with the state. The higher bond amount provides four times the protection for anyone using services or doing business with driver training schools should a school not follow the rules set by the state.

Individual mortgage loan originators in Georgia State no longer need to obtain a surety bond for themselves. A new law titled HB 239 gets rid of the requirement for individual mortgage loan originators which requires them to acquire a surety bond. In its place, the new law states that individual originators must be covered under a sponsoring mortgage broker or mortgage lender; so the individual bond is not necessary.