To apply, you must:
10 Maryland Dealer License Requirements
The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA), through its Business Licensing and Consumer Services Division, issues the Dealer's License. This page covers Maryland's 6 Dealer License types, their requirements, bond size, costs, and how to apply.
Name your Dealership
Your company name is the first step, because you'll use it through the entire Dealer License process.
Maryland's Dealer application (Form CS-042) accepts 5 business types: Individual Owner, Partnership, Corporation, Close Corporation, and LLC. An LLC keeps your business separate from your personal life and adds trust to the name.
Add everyone you want on the license before you file. Maryland issues the Dealer's License to the owners, partners, or officers you list, not to the company as such (§15-303). Each of them signs the application personally.
A Maryland LLC or corporation must also have a principal office in the state and a resident agent (Corporations and Associations §4A-210, §2-108). The application packet asks for the Department of Assessments and Taxation letter showing the company is registered in Maryland.
Choose your Dealer License Type
Maryland issues 6 Dealer License classes on one application, Form CS-042, and you can hold several under one dealership name (COMAR 11.12.01.02E). Most people start with Wholesale Dealer because the MVA allows a home office for that class.
| License Type | What It Lets You Do |
|---|---|
| Wholesale DealerWholesaler | Buy and sell with licensed Dealers and at dealer auctions, never with retail customers, at any location. The MVA allows a home office for this class. |
| Used Vehicle DealerRetail | Sell used cars and trucks to the public and to Dealers. Requires a retail location that faces a public street with room to display 10 vehicles. Motorcycles, trailers, and emergency vehicles need their own class. |
| New Vehicle DealerFranchise | Sell new vehicles under a manufacturer franchise. The manufacturer must already hold its own MVA license before its franchise can support your application. |
| Motorcycle Dealer | Sell motorcycles. They are their own class, with their own Class 1B dealer plates. |
| Trailer DealerBoat trailers, under 15 feet, and 15 feet or longer | Sell trailers. The MVA prices the license in 3 sub-classes by trailer type and length, and the bond follows the same split. |
| Emergency Vehicle Dealer | Sell only fire, rescue, and emergency medical motor vehicles (COMAR 11.12.01.05A). |
Get your Dealer Bond (Surety Bond)
A Maryland Dealer License requires a surety bond filed with the MVA after your application is approved and before the license is issued (§15-308(a)). The bond covers your customer if you break a dealer law, and the state can claim against it.
The amount is tiered by license class and by how many vehicles you sold in the preceding license year. A first-time applicant posts the class floor: $15,000 for Used, Wholesale, or trailers over 15 feet, $50,000 for New (§15-308(c)). A $15,000 bond costs only $112.50 a year after a credit check.
Bond amounts by class and prior-year sales (§15-308(b)):
- New Vehicle Dealer. $50,000 for 1 to 500 vehicles, $75,000 for 501 to 1,000, $100,000 for 1,001 to 2,500, and $300,000 over 2,500.
- Used Vehicle Dealer, Wholesale Dealer, and trailers over 15 feet. $15,000 for 1 to 250 vehicles, $25,000 for 251 to 500, and $35,000 for 501 to 1,000. Then $50,000 for 1,001 to 2,500, and $150,000 over 2,500.
- Boat trailers of any size, and trailers 15 feet and under. $5,000, with no sales tiers.
You file it with the MVA on its form, Surety Bond of Vehicle or Trailer Dealer (CS-067A), from the Business Licensing Packet.
| License Type | You Pay | Bond Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Wholesale DealerFirst-year floor shown. Maryland - Motor Vehicle or Trailer Dealer | $112.50/yearabout $9 a month, after a credit check | $15,000 |
| Used Vehicle DealerFirst-year floor shown. Maryland - Motor Vehicle or Trailer Dealer | $112.50/yearabout $9 a month, after a credit check | $15,000 |
| New Vehicle DealerFranchise. First-year floor shown. Same bond product | $375/yearabout $31 a month, after a credit check | $50,000 |
| Trailer DealerTrailers over 15 feet. First-year floor shown. Same bond product | $112.50/yearabout $9 a month, after a credit check | $15,000 |
| Trailer DealerBoat trailers of any size, and trailers 15 feet and under. Flat amount. Same bond product | $100/yearabout $8 a month, the $100 minimum premium | $5,000 |
File your Insurance Certificates
A Maryland Dealer License requires no liability insurance policy to be issued. Two insurance certificates are still part of the application packet (Form CS-042, page 1), and one of them is what lets you request dealer plates.
- Certificate of Liability Insurance. Required “in order to request the use of Interchangeable Dealer plates”, with the MVA listed as Certificate Holder. It gates the plates, not the license.
- Workers' Compensation. Every applicant files either a Certificate of Insurance, if you have employees, or an exemption certificate if you have none.
Set up your Dealer Office
A Maryland Wholesale Dealer can run the business from a home office, in the MVA's own words. The wholesale addendum requires a home office “accessible without going through, past or near any sleeping quarters or other general living areas.” It must be in your domicile, your own home, and used only for the dealership (COMAR 11.12.01.03N).
A Used or New Vehicle Dealer needs a retail location: “a building that is adequate and appropriate for the sale of the vehicles” (§15-304(a)). It must “face, adjoin, and be fully visible from an improved street or highway that is accessible to the public” (COMAR 11.12.01.03). The table below compares the two.
| Wholesale | Retail (Used and New) | |
|---|---|---|
| Building | A fixed location you own or lease, “regularly occupied and exclusively used” for the dealership (COMAR 11.12.01.03N). A home office qualifies, with proof of ownership or a lease of at least 1 year. | “A substantial building adequate and appropriate for the business so conducted”, the only or principal business at that address. |
| Street and display | The street-frontage, 10-vehicle display, lighting, and paved-surface rules may be waived (COMAR 11.12.01.05A). | Faces a public street with room to display 10 vehicles plus customer parking. Fully lighted, surfaced display and parking areas, and a permanent sign legible from the street. |
| Office | Desk and chairs, secure storage for state-issued materials, and electricity, lighting, heat, and telephone service in the dealership's name (COMAR 11.12.01.04). | Desk and chairs, secure storage for state-issued materials, and electricity, lighting, heat, and telephone service in the dealership's name (COMAR 11.12.01.04). |
| Repairs | Not required. Wholesale dealers are carved out of the repair-facility rule (§15-304(b)(2)). | An on-site repair facility, or a signed contract with a shop within 5 miles (Form CS-125). The MVA inspects that shop too. |
| Titling contract | Waived for wholesale dealers. | A continuing contract with an Electronic Registration and Titling (ERT) provider, for dealerships approved after September 30, 2017. |
| Zoning | Zoning Approval Form (CS-053), signed by the zoning office in your county or city. | Zoning Approval Form (CS-053), signed by the zoning office in your county or city. |
| Trader's License | A current Trader's License from the Circuit Court where the business sits, on file and displayed. | A current Trader's License from the Circuit Court where the business sits, on file and displayed. |
Attend the Orientation Class (Business Licensing Orientation)
Every Maryland Dealer License applicant must attend the MVA's Business Licensing Orientation before the license can be issued. The session is held online, monthly, and there is no fee to attend. MVA's own Business Licensing staff run it, and Maryland has no Dealer exam.
You request a seat on the Business Licensing Orientation Request form (CS-303) in the application packet. The MVA's orientation sessions page describes the online format.
Submit your Background Check (Criminal Record Request Form)
Every Maryland Dealer License applicant, and anyone with a financial interest in the dealership, submits a Criminal Record Request Form (CS-011). The MVA runs a records check from a copy of your photo ID, not fingerprints, and charges no fee.
How the check works:
- Maryland residents: a copy of your Maryland Photo Driver's License or Maryland Photo ID goes on the form.
- Out-of-state residents send a copy of their own state's driver's license or photo ID instead.
- If you lived in another state in the past year, you also request a Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) check from that state's law enforcement.
- Officers with a form on file less than 5 years old do not file a new one.
What a conviction means
Maryland's dealer statute and regulation publish no conviction-based bar for the Dealer License itself (Transportation Article Subtitle 3; COMAR 11.12.01.02). The application still asks. Form CS-042, Question 5, asks whether any owner, manager, or financial-interest holder has “ever been convicted of a crime other than a traffic violation.”
A yes answer needs a separate statement with the dates. The question has no year limit and no crime category limit, only the traffic exception. Every listed owner signs the application “under penalties of perjury.”
For the salesman's license, the MVA “may” refuse anyone convicted by final judgment of “a crime of moral turpitude” (COMAR 11.12.01.13J). That is discretionary, not an automatic bar. Maryland publishes no waiting period after a conviction for either license, and its general 7-year clean-record rule (Crim. Proc. §1-209) does not cover the MVA.
What clears it
- You do not have to disclose an expunged charge, a charge that ended without a conviction, or a pardoned conviction (Crim. Proc. §10-109).
- Refusing to disclose those cannot be the sole reason the MVA denies your application.
- A salesman refused for moral turpitude can request an administrative hearing and prove “full and complete rehabilitation” (COMAR 11.12.01.13J(3)).
Submit your Dealer License Application
You apply to the Maryland MVA on the Application for Vehicle Dealer's License (Form CS-042). The fee is $900 for 3 years for a New or Used Vehicle Dealer and $1,050 for a Wholesale Dealer. Every class's fee is in the costs table.
The Business Licensing Packet holds Form CS-042 and every supporting form; the myMVA Business Portal is the MVA's online application and renewal portal. Each owner, partner, officer, and anyone with a direct or indirect financial interest lists an SSN on the form. The application asks no citizenship or lawful-presence question.
Pass the Site Inspection
An MVA Compliance Inspector visits your location after you submit the application and before the license is issued. The inspector contacts you to schedule it, checks the location against state code, and sends the report and photos to the Business Licensing Division. Final approval follows that review.
A retail dealer using an off-site repair shop gets that shop inspected too (Form CS-125). The MVA can also inspect at any time during the license period (COMAR 11.12.01.03).
Get your Dealer License Plates (Interchangeable Plates)
A Maryland Dealer can get up to 5 dealer license plates, plus 2 more for each licensed salesman (COMAR 11.12.01.20). The MVA calls dealer tags “interchangeable dealer registration plates” and can issue more “for good cause shown.”
Dealer plates let you drive your inventory: any owner, partner, or officer listed on the application, or any dealership employee, may drive on one. The regulation and the statute both speak to vehicles “mainly used in the dealer's business” (§13-621(c)); neither one mentions personal driving. Dealership vehicles may also be loaned to educational institutions on dealer plates.
Plates cost $50 a year for New, Used, and Wholesale dealers and $32.50 a year for Trailer dealers (COMAR 11.11.05.04H). Motorcycle plate prices differ between the regulation and the packet; both are in the cost table. To request plates you file a Certificate of Liability Insurance naming the MVA as Certificate Holder.
Dealer License Cost
A Maryland Dealer License costs $900 for 3 years for a New or Used Vehicle Dealer and $1,050 for a Wholesale Dealer. The MVA sets each fee by regulation as an annual rate and bills it for the 3-year term (COMAR 11.11.05.05). Every other fee on this page is in the table.
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| New Vehicle Dealer license | $900 for 3 years ($300 a year). |
| Used Vehicle Dealer license | $900 for 3 years ($300 a year). |
| Wholesale Dealer license | $1,050 for 3 years ($350 a year). |
| Trailer Dealer license | $300 for 3 years, boat trailers and trailers under 15 feet ($100 a year).$600 for 3 years, trailers 15 feet or longer ($200 a year by regulation; the packet's fee table prints no figure). |
| Motorcycle Dealer license | $600 for 3 years by the fee regulation ($200 a year).$270 for 3 years on the application packet's fee table (December 2024). Two current MVA sources disagree. |
| Emergency Vehicle Dealer license | $450 for 3 years on the application packet.$750 for 3 years on the MVA fee page ($250 a year). The fee regulation lists no rate. |
| Dealer plates, per plate | $150 for 3 years, New, Used, and Wholesale ($50 a year).$97.50 for 3 years, Trailer, all lengths ($32.50 a year).$75 for 3 years, Motorcycle, by regulation ($25 a year).$50 for 3 years, Motorcycle, on the packet. |
| Dealer Bond | $112.50 a year for a $15,000 bond, after a credit check.$375 a year for a $50,000 bond.$100 a year minimum, the $5,000 trailer bond.Face amounts $5,000 to $300,000 by class and sales volume. |
| Business Licensing Orientation | No fee. |
| Criminal background check | No fee for the MVA's check. |
| Vehicle Salesman's License | 1 included with each Dealer License fee.$225 for 3 years standalone ($75 a year). |
| Trader's LicenseRequired at the location; issued by the Circuit Court | Set by your county, paid to the Circuit Court, not the MVA. |
| Zoning Approval Form (CS-053) | No MVA fee. Your county or city may charge for a use and occupancy permit. |
| Certificate of Liability InsuranceNeeded to request dealer plates | Priced by your insurer. |
Dealer License Renewal
A Maryland Dealer License is valid for 3 years and expires on a staggered date the MVA sets (COMAR 11.12.01.02F, §15-108). Renewal costs the same as your class's original license fee, plus the plate renewal.
The renewal timeline:
- The Business Licensing Division sends a renewal notice about 60 days before expiration.
- Your completed renewal must be in at least 15 working days before the expiration date.
- About 90 days before renewal, the MVA checks with the Comptroller that your state taxes are paid or on a payment plan (Form INF-004). No clearance, no renewal.
Common Questions
Can you get a Maryland Dealer License with a felony?
Maryland's dealer law names no conviction that automatically denies a Dealer License (Transportation Article Subtitle 3; COMAR 11.12.01.02). The application asks about any conviction other than a traffic violation, and a false answer is perjury. Expunged, non-conviction, and pardoned charges need not be disclosed (Crim. Proc. §10-109). The salesman's license can be refused for a “crime of moral turpitude.”
Can you get a Dealer License in Maryland without a lot?
Yes, as a Wholesale Dealer. Maryland waives the street-frontage, 10-vehicle display, lighting, and paving rules for wholesale dealers (COMAR 11.12.01.05A). The MVA's wholesale addendum allows a home office in your domicile, away from sleeping and living areas. Used and New Vehicle Dealers need a retail location facing a public street with room for 10 vehicles.
How many cars can you sell in Maryland without a Dealer License?
Maryland presumes you're a Dealer once you offer 3 or more vehicles for sale in any 12-month period (Transp. §15-101). Selling vehicles you bought and used for personal or business use, in good faith, doesn't require a Dealer License.
Do I have to live in Maryland to get a Dealer License?
No — Maryland's dealer statute and regulation require no owner, partner, or officer to live in the state. The application accepts an out-of-state driver's license or photo ID. The dealership itself must be in Maryland: the zoning form, the Trader's License, and the site inspection are all local. A Maryland LLC or corporation also needs a resident agent.
Is the Maryland dealer bond a flat $50,000?
No — Maryland tiers the bond by license class and prior-year sales (§15-308(b)). A Used, Wholesale, or long-trailer dealer starts at $15,000 for 1 to 250 vehicles; $50,000 is the tier for 1,001 to 2,500. Many bond sites publish $50,000 as if it were flat. A first-time applicant posts the $15,000 floor, or $50,000 for a New Vehicle Dealer.
How long does it take to get a Maryland Dealer License?
No Maryland law sets a deadline for the MVA to decide (Transportation Article Title 15; COMAR 11.12.01.02). Maryland's OneStop portal lists a 10-day processing estimate for a Used Vehicle Dealer License. Before the license issues you attend the orientation, pass the site inspection, and file the bond after approval.
Do I need a business bank account for a Maryland Dealer License?
No — Maryland's Form CS-042 and COMAR 11.12.01 ask for no business bank account or bank statement. The application asks for your surety bond and workers' compensation details instead.
Support
Dealer License questions go to the MVA's Business Licensing and Consumer Services Division in Glen Burnie.
| Contact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Department | Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MDOT MVA).Business Licensing and Consumer Services Division. |
| Phone | 410-768-7000 main line.410-787-2952 Used Car Dealer License line, per Maryland OneStop.1-800-492-4575 TTY. |
| [email protected] (printed on Form CS-303).[email protected] (printed on the MVA dealer page). | |
| Address | 6601 Ritchie Highway N.E.Glen Burnie, MD 21062. |
Additional sources (7)
The forms and the portal for each step are linked in the steps. These are the law, the rules, and the agency pages the page was checked against.
- COMAR 11.12.01.05, location waivers — which street-frontage, display, lighting, and paving rules may be waived for wholesale, trailer, motorcycle, and emergency-vehicle dealers
- Transportation §15-303, who holds the license — the license is issued to the individual officers or partners, not to the company as such
- Corporations and Associations §4A-210 — every Maryland LLC needs a principal office in the state and a resident agent
- Corporations and Associations §2-108 — the same rule for a Maryland corporation
- Criminal Procedure §1-209, the 7-year clean-record rule — names the six departments it binds; the Department of Transportation and the MVA are not among them
- Transportation §13-621, dealer plate use — what a licensed dealer may drive under a dealer registration plate
- Transportation §15-104, the issuance standard — the MVA issues the license once the applicant has complied; no day count
