A Puerto Rico non-resident cost bond (fianza de no residentes) is required of every plaintiff bringing a civil suit in the courts of the Commonwealth. The penal sum is minimal but failure to file is a fatal defect that operates as adjudication on the merits per Priolo v. El San Juan Towers Hotel, 575 F. Supp. 208 (D.P.R. 1983). We write Puerto Rico non-resident cost bonds same-day from our San Juan office.
Puerto Rico's non-resident plaintiff cost bond — fianza de no residentes — is one of the most procedurally consequential cost bonds in U.S. practice. Unlike most state cost bond statutes that apply on defendant's motion, the Puerto Rico bond is required of every non-resident plaintiff at the time of filing. The bond penalty is modest, but failure to file is a fatal defect.
In Priolo v. El San Juan Towers Hotel, 575 F. Supp. 208 (D.P.R. 1983), the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico affirmed that "a dismissal for failure to comply with a non-resident bond order operates under Puerto Rico law as an adjudication on the merits, unless the trial court otherwise specifies." The procedural consequences of non-compliance are therefore severe: a plaintiff who fails to post may be barred from refiling on the same cause.
Our Surety One San Juan office handles Puerto Rico non-resident cost bonds as a routine same-day practice. The application is brief, the penal sum is minimal, the procedural impact is significant.
Puerto Rico's plaintiff cost bond requirement is codified at P.R. Rule of Civil Procedure 69.5. The bond is required on defendant's motion (in most cases) and the bond penalty is set by statute or court discretion. We underwrite to the controlling statute and draft each bond on the form the Puerto Rico court will accept.
Puerto Rico non-resident cost bonds are written same-day on a one-page application without collateral. The penal sum is modest; the underwriting is routine; our San Juan office handles the practice in volume.
One document starts the file: the demanda (complaint) or notice of intent to file. The principal's non-resident status is established on the application form. We deliver bonds in PDF for filing with the Tribunal de Primera Instancia (Court of First Instance) of the relevant Puerto Rico judicial region.
For matters proceeding in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico (federal court), the Puerto Rico non-resident cost bond rule applies as an Erie matter where the case proceeds on Puerto Rico law. Our underwriters are familiar with both the state and federal practice contexts.
Send the complaint or the defendant's motion for cost bond. Same-day issuance for qualified files.