Surety Bond News

SB 56 is a new study measure in the State of New Hampshire concerning the Commission to Study Issues Relative to Groundwater Withdrawals. SB 56 directs the Commission to Study Issues Relative to Groundwater Withdrawals to examine the amount of financial accountability that would be essential for hefty withdrawals of groundwater. The Commission must consider possible harm to the environment and adjacent wells, including unreasonable reductions in well capacity or contaminant migration from off-site sources. The bill initially stated that a financial instrument would have been required, including “bonding or insurance, in at least the quantity of $1 million.” The financial instruments would have been necessary to cover any environmental destruction, including groundwater corruption and unwarranted reductions in well capacity. The bill was transformed into a study measure in the Senate.

HB 1519 is new legislation which was enacted in the State of New Hampshire concerning meals and rentals operators. The new law rescinds the $5,000 surety bond requirement for meals and rentals operators. The surety bond was required to guarantee the payment of the applicable taxes. Initially the law would have instituted a risk assessment system for deciding whether a surety bond would be required; the SFAA believed this had unfavorable selection problems. The law was replaced for a full cancelation of the surety bond requirement, which also was under deliberation under other legislation. HB 1519 became active upon enactment.

The state of New Hampshire enacted new legislation concerning mortgage originators. The new law is labeled HB 610 and requires all mortgage originators to be licensed and to be covered under the license bond of the mortgage broker/banker of which the originator is a member of staff or an independent agent. The previous law required mortgage bankers to sustain a net worth and a $100,000 surety bond and asked mortgage brokers to acquire a $20,000 surety bond. HB 610 amplifies these quantities so that mortgage bankers must attain a surety bond no less than $100,000 and brokers must attain a surety bond of no less than $50,000. The amount of the surety bond has to be in a quantity that mirrors the dollar amount of the loans originated by the individual mortgage loan originators the mortgage banker/broker employs. The surety bond must also cover all the said originators.

On 06/26/2008, a new law titled SB 309 was enacted in New Hampshire. SB 309 is concerning the regulation of boxing, wrestling, mixed martial arts and kickboxing matches. The promoters of mixed martial arts and kickboxing events now must abide by the same bond requirements of boxing and wrestling promoters and post the same surety bond. The current law gives permission to the Boxing and Wrestling Commission to set the amount of the surety bond they require match promoters to post. SB 309 became active after it was enacted.

On 06/06/2008, a new law was enacted referred to as HB 1641 in the state of New Hampshire. HB 1641 was put in place concerning motor fuel distributors; it escalates the amount of the required surety bond for all motor fuel distributors from double the amount of the distributor’s monthly road toll liability to triple that amount. Existing law states that the surety bond cannot be less than $10,000, which HB 1641 does not alter. The new bill became active on the 1st of July, 2008.