To apply, you must:
9 Massachusetts Dealer License Requirements
Massachusetts Dealer Licenses are issued by your city or town's licensing board or officer, not by a state agency; in Boston, the Police Commissioner. This page covers Massachusetts's 3 Dealer License types, their requirements, bond size, costs, and how to apply.
Name your Dealership
Your company name is the first step, because you use it through the entire Dealer License process. Massachusetts's licensing law says “person,” and state law defines that to include corporations, societies, associations, and partnerships; cities and towns license LLCs the same way.
An LLC keeps your business separate from your personal life and adds trust to the name.
Form the company before you apply. Lowell asks for a true copy of the articles of organization when the application is in a company's name. Boston asks for your corporate papers or business certificate.
Choose your Dealer License Type
Massachusetts issues 3 Dealer License classes, written into M.G.L. c.140 §58, and your city or town grants them. If you buy and sell used vehicles, Class 2 is your license. None of the 3 classes requires a course or an exam. Some city forms number them Class I, II, and III; they are the same 3 classes.
| License Type | What It Lets You Do |
|---|---|
| Class 1 — Agent's or Seller's LicenseNew vehicles | Sell new vehicles as a recognized agent of a manufacturer, with used-vehicle sales incidental or secondary. Used vehicles you buy outright, not in trade, fall under most Class 2 rules |
| Class 2 — Used Car Dealer's LicenseUsed vehicles, retail or wholesale | Buy and sell second-hand motor vehicles as your principal business, at the dealer auctions and to the public, including consignment-style display. Motorcycle and boat dealers get their own RMV plate types |
| Class 3 — Motor Vehicle Junk LicenseSalvage and parts | Buy used vehicles to remodel, take apart, or rebuild, or deal in used parts and tires. A junkyard must sit inside a building, in an industrial or commercial area, or beyond the statute's distances from highways, parks, and schools, or behind a fence at least 6 feet high (§59A) |
Get your Dealer Bond (Surety Bond)
A Massachusetts Class 2 Used Car Dealer's License requires a $25,000 bond, filed with your city or town, not the state (M.G.L. c.140 §58). The bond protects your customers if you break Massachusetts's dealer and title laws. A $25,000 Dealer Bond costs only $250 a year at the base rate, after a credit check.
You need a separate bond for each business name and for each city or town where you have a place of business. The surety must give your city or town 30 days' notice before cancelling. You then have 10 days to replace it, or the license is revoked and the RMV suspends your plates.
| License Type | You Pay | Bond Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Class 2 — Used Car Dealer's LicenseMassachusetts - Used Car Dealer ($25,000). Credit check required | $250/yearabout $21 a month | $25,000 |
| Class 3 — Motor Vehicle Junk License | No Bond Required | |
Get your Dealer Insurance (Insurance Stamp)
Massachusetts requires insurance at the dealer plate stage, not for the city or town license itself. After your site inspection passes, the RMV mails a Registration Application Card that “requires an Insurance stamp” before your plates are released.
A repair plate used for towing also needs a policy that covers the vehicle being towed (540 CMR 18.04(3)(b)).
Set up your Dealer Office (Place of Business)
A Massachusetts Dealer License requires “a place of business suitable for the purpose,” and the license names every premises you occupy (M.G.L. c.140 §59). The RMV's plate regulation sets the real standard: a permanent building or permanently affixed structure, including an office trailer, for your exclusive use.
A home office isn't allowed for any class. The RMV issues no new, renewed, or transferred dealer registration “if any portion of the applicant's dealer business premises are located in a residence.” The table below is the regulation's list; a dealer who sells solely on a wholesale basis is excused from 3 items.
| Retail | Wholesale only | |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | A permanent building or permanently affixed structure, including an office trailer, owned or leased for your exclusive use. Never a residence | Same: a permanent building or office trailer, never a residence |
| Office | At least 100 square feet, with a desk, chairs, and filing cabinets or drawers for your records | Same 100 square feet, same furniture |
| Entrance | A separate, exclusive entrance if the building houses another business, unless both share the same principals | Same |
| Hours | Open to the public at least 30 hours a week, posted outside | Office hours of at least 6 hours a week, at least 2 on any scheduled day and partly between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., with records available to law enforcement |
| Display | A display area not shared with another business, with room to walk between vehicles and space for customer parking | Not required |
| Sign | A permanently affixed exterior sign giving the name and nature of the business | Not required |
| Sales | To the public, only at the licensed premises, at auctions, or at a combined dealer sale event | Only to licensed Dealers, on an affidavit signed under penalty of perjury. One retail sale can cost the registration and every plate |
| Zoning | Proof the premises meet local zoning and occupancy laws | Same |
Pass the Background Check (CORI)
Every Massachusetts city or town decides its own background check, because the statute asks only that you be “a proper person to engage in the business” (M.G.L. c.140 §59). Boston, Cambridge, and Lowell all run one through the state's CORI system, a name-and-date-of-birth check with no fingerprints.
Who is checked, city by city:
- Boston runs criminal and driving-history checks on all applicants.
- Cambridge takes a Criminal Record Information form for each owner, the manager, and each employee, at $10 per CORI.
- Lowell takes a background sheet for each owner, partner, and manager.
- Worcester asks the person purchasing vehicles, “Have you ever been arrested?”
If you have a record
- No automatic bar. The statute names no crime; your city or town decides under the “proper person” test.
- What the check shows. A CORI report shows a felony for 10 years and a misdemeanor for 5, from the disposition or your release, whichever is later.
- A pending charge stays visible until it is dismissed, including a case continued without a finding.
- A sealed record clears it. You can petition to seal a misdemeanor after 3 years and a felony after 7, then lawfully answer “no record” on the application.
- You can appeal. A refusal can be appealed to the Superior Court within 10 days (§59).
Submit your Dealer License Application (City or Town)
You apply to the licensing board or officer of the city or town where your dealership will sit. Massachusetts has no statewide dealer application or portal. The fee is set locally and capped at $200 by state law, and every fee is itemized under costs.
Boston and Lowell take paper applications; Cambridge takes its online. Boston's checklist asks for a valid Massachusetts driver's license, corporate papers or a business certificate, a notarized affidavit, and evidence of the $25,000 bond. It also needs approval stamps from both the Zoning Board and the Committee on Licensing.
Lowell asks for written zoning clearance and the SSN of every owner, partner, and manager. A Class 3 application gets a public hearing, with 7 days' notice to abutting property owners, before the license issues.
Get your Dealer License Plates (RMV Section 5)
Massachusetts dealer license plates come from the Registry of Motor Vehicles, not your city or town. You apply only after you hold the city or town license. There is no application fee. Once approved, you pay a $100 minimum registration fee plus $20 per plate, every year.
The Registrar decides how many plates you get, “for the dealer's business purpose only,” after the site inspection. Wanting more plates so the owners can drive them personally is not a reason the RMV accepts.
Plates go on vehicles you own that are driven “principally for demonstration or sale related purposes.” A dealer tag can't go on a courtesy bus or a parts truck, though you may plow your own lot with a plated vehicle.
- A motorcycle dealer may put its plate on a car or pickup in inventory, if the license and insurance cover it. The reverse works for a car dealer with a motorcycle.
- A Massachusetts Dealer can't run its own vehicle on another state's dealer plate. A vehicle that isn't plate-eligible moves by trailer or tow truck.
- The RMV lists 7 plate types: Dealer, Boat and Boat Trailer Dealer, Motorcycle Dealer, Repair, Farm, Owner-Contractor, and Transporter.
Pass the Site Inspection (State Police)
Massachusetts checks your location twice, each time after an application is filed. Your city or town investigates the facts on its application and confirms your place of business is suitable before granting the license. The State Police inspect for the RMV before plates issue.
After you apply to the RMV:
- The State Police Compliance Unit investigates, making up to 3 attempts to contact you.
- An officer inspects the site. The RMV's checklist includes a permanently affixed sign, a separate and exclusive entrance, a display area, and adequate office space.
- Within 1 week of a passed inspection, the RMV mails a Registration Application Card to your business address. It needs an insurance stamp.
- Plates follow. The RMV says the whole process “should take no more than 4-10 weeks.”
Dealer License Cost
A Massachusetts Dealer License fee is set by your city or town, capped at $200 a year by state law. There is no state application fee. Every other fee on this page is in the table.
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| City or town license feeSet by your licensing board under M.G.L. c.140 §59 | Up to $200 a year, initial and renewal |
| Dealer Bond | $250 a year, $25,000 bond, Class 2, credit check required |
| RMV dealer registration application | Free to apply |
| RMV dealer registrationPaid once the site inspection passes | $100 minimum a year$20 per plate a year |
| Additional or replacement plates | No fee stated on the RMV's form |
| CORI background check | Set by your city or town |
| Insurance | Priced by your agent, for the RMV's insurance stamp |
Dealer License Renewal
A Massachusetts Dealer License expires January 1 following the date of issue, whatever month it was granted. Your first term is the rest of that calendar year. Renewal is at your city or town's fee, capped at $200, and RMV dealer plates renew every year.
A Class 3 renewal normally needs a hearing; every city or town except Boston may waive it.
Common Questions
Can you get a Massachusetts Dealer License with a felony?
Yes, in many cases. No Massachusetts statute bars a Dealer License for a felony; your city or town decides under the “proper person” test in M.G.L. c.140 §59. Its CORI report shows a felony for 10 years and a misdemeanor for 5 (c.6 §172). A sealed record lets you answer “no record” on the application.
Can you get a Dealer License in Massachusetts without a lot?
Only as a wholesale-only dealer, and never from home. The RMV excuses a dealer who sells “solely on a wholesale basis” from the display area, the exterior sign, and the 30 public hours a week. Every dealer still needs a permanent building with a 100-square-foot office, never in a residence. The office requirements hold for all 3 classes.
How many cars can you sell in Massachusetts without a Dealer License?
In Massachusetts, selling more than 3 used vehicles in 12 months is treated as being in the business (M.G.L. c.90 §7N¼). That business needs a used car dealer's license from your city or town (c.140 §58). Three or fewer in that period is a private-party sale.
How do you get an auction license in Massachusetts?
The dealer-only auctions require a Dealer License, and Massachusetts's 3 license classes have no auction class among them (M.G.L. c.140 §58). The Class 2 Used Car Dealer's License is the one that buys and sells used vehicles. A licensed Dealer may sell at auctions and combined dealer sale events, not only at the licensed premises.
How much does a Massachusetts Dealer License cost?
A Massachusetts Dealer License costs up to $200 a year, set by your city or town. Add the $25,000 Class 2 bond at $250 a year at the base rate, and the RMV's $100 minimum plus $20 per dealer plate each year. There is no state application fee. Every fee is in the cost table.
How long does it take to get a Massachusetts Dealer License?
No Massachusetts law sets a deadline for your city or town, or for the RMV. The RMV's own target is 4 to 10 weeks from its application to plates in hand, with the State Police inspection in between.
Is the Massachusetts Dealer License issued by the state or by your city or town?
By your city or town. M.G.L. c.140 §59 gives the license to “the police commissioner in Boston and the licensing authorities in other cities and towns.” The RMV's only part is the dealer plates, issued afterward under a different law. It asks for your current city or town license before it will issue them.
Do I need a business bank account?
No. Neither M.G.L. c.140 nor the RMV's plate regulation mentions a business bank account, and the Boston, Lowell, and RMV checklists ask for no bank details.
Support
Your city or town's licensing board or officer issues the license, and the RMV's Section 5 Division issues the dealer plates. In Boston the licensing unit is the Boston Police Department; in Lowell it is the License Commission at City Hall.
| Contact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Department | Your city or town's licensing board or officer, for the licenseMassachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, Section 5 Division, for dealer plates |
| Phone | (857) 368-8030 RMV Section 5 Division(617) 343-4425 Boston Police Licensing Unit(978) 674-4156 Lowell License Commission |
| Hours | Boston Licensing Unit: 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday to Friday |
| [email protected] | |
| Address | RMV Section 5 Division, P.O. Box 55897, Boston, MA 02205-5897Boston Police Licensing Unit, One Schroeder Plaza, Boston, MA 02120 |
Additional sources (8)
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.
- M.G.L. c.140 §59A, junkyard locations — where a Class 3 junkyard may sit, the distance rules, and the fence alternative
- M.G.L. c.4 §7, statutory definitions — “person” includes corporations, societies, associations, and partnerships, which is why the licensing chapter lists no business types
- M.G.L. c.90 §1, the definition of a Dealer — “engaged principally and substantially in the business,” with a facility, open to the public unless wholesale
- M.G.L. c.276 §100A, sealed records — the 3-year and 7-year sealing clocks and the right to answer “no record” on a license application
- Worcester Class I, II, III Dealer's License application (PDF) — the arrest question and the officer lines, a fourth city's form
- Apply for additional Section 5 plates (RMV) — the 10-12 days to mail additional or replacement plates
- Section 5 name or address change (RMV) — a corporation files an Article of Amendment, a sole proprietor an amended Certificate of Business
- Private Party Car Sales (Office of Consumer Affairs) — the state's own plain-English 3-vehicle answer
