West Virginia Vehicle Dealer License

Name your Dealership

Your company name is the first step, because you use it through the entire Dealer License process. West Virginia's dealer law names 3 applicant forms: an individual under your own name or a trade name, a copartnership, or a corporation.

An LLC keeps your business separate from your personal life and adds trust to the name.

Add every partner, officer, and director at the start. A New & Used, Used, or house trailer dealer files for a new license certificate when partners, officers, directors, ownership, or business type change (§17A-6-9). File it right away; the new certificate is free for the rest of the license year.

Choose your Dealer License Type

West Virginia issues 7 main Dealer License types, each with its own class code on the DMV's fee table. Dismantler and Rebuilder appear as their own rows on that table, with no fee listed. It also lists Manufacturer, Transporter, Repo-Financial Institution, and License Service classes, which aren't Dealer Licenses.

Get your Dealer Bond (Surety Bond)

A West Virginia Dealer License requires a $25,000 bond for every class on this page, filed with the Commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles (§17A-6-4). The bond covers a customer's loss if you commit fraud in the business. A $25,000 Used Motor Vehicle Dealer Bond costs only $250 a year at the base rate, after a credit check.

The bond must come from a corporate surety authorized in West Virginia. It takes effect the day your license certificate is issued, and the surety can cancel it only on 30 days' written notice to the Commissioner. Manufacturer, Transporter, and Repo-Financial Institution classes need no bond.

Dealer 101 Insurance Services
Licensed in West Virginia · NPN 22346185

Get your Dealer Liability Insurance (20/40/10)

A West Virginia Dealer License requires 20/40/10 liability insurance on every vehicle you own, kept in force for the life of the license (§17A-6-4). That is $20,000 per person and $40,000 per accident for injury or death, and $10,000 for property damage.

Those are the limits of the policy, not the cost; your insurance agent quotes the price. The certificate of insurance goes in with your application, and the DMV's checklist calls it “20/40/10 Dealer Liability Insurance.”

Set up your Dealer Office (Established Place of Business)

A West Virginia Dealer License requires an established place of business in the state, and the law defines it by dealer class (§17A-6-1). A New & Used location must be “used exclusively for the purpose of selling new motor vehicles or new and used motor vehicles.”

The DMV's rule holds a Used location to the same standard: “used solely for the purpose of selling used motor vehicles.” No zoning letter is on the DMV's checklist. The location must still conform to all state laws and the ordinances of its municipality; the table below is the law's own list.

Schedule the Pre-Inspection (Dealership Location)

A West Virginia Dealer License location is inspected before you apply, not after. Call Dealer Services at (304) 926-0705 for the minimum-requirements handout, which the DMV mails on request. Then set an appointment for a pre-inspection of the dealership location.

The inspector delivers the application package at that appointment. The DMV doesn't publish the application online; it comes from the inspector at this visit.

Submit your Dealer License Application (Application Package)

You apply to the DMV on paper, with the application package the inspector delivered; there is no online application. The application fee is $250, and $125 is refunded if the license is refused. Every fee is itemized under costs.

The application is sworn under oath and lists every owner, partner, or officer and director. The DMV's checklist also asks for a valid West Virginia business license, the Tax Division's Business Registration Certificate. That certificate needs an SSN from at least one owner, partner, member, or officer; a partnership, LLC, or corporation also gives its EIN.

You'll need, beyond the bond and insurance certificate:

• a personal property tax receipt in the name of each owner or corporate officer
• pictures of the dealership and its sign, with letters at least 4 inches high
• a garage agreement, if you use an outside garage for repairs
• a franchise agreement, if required

Pass the Background Check (Criminal Investigation Bureau Report)

Once Dealer Services has your application, an inspector fingerprints every owner and corporate officer and collects a signed release-of-information waiver. West Virginia doesn't license salespeople, so no one else is checked.

Dealer Services then checks with 3 agencies:

• The Bureau of Employment Programs confirms you're not delinquent on unemployment insurance
• The Criminal Investigation Bureau reports on each owner and officer's record
• The Tax Department confirms every owner and corporate officer is in good standing

If you have a record

• You can ask first. Petition the Commissioner for a decision on whether your conviction bears a “rational nexus” to a Dealer License; the answer comes within 60 days (§17A-6-6).
• A felony isn't an automatic bar. The Commissioner may deny for a felony, or for fraud in the vehicle business, only when the crime bears a rational nexus to dealing. The 4 factors are the crime's nature and severity, time elapsed, relevance to the job, and evidence of rehabilitation.
• 5 years clears most convictions. After 5 years from conviction or release, whichever is later, with no new conviction, you may apply. A violent or sexual offense can mean a longer wait, set by the Commissioner.
• Unrelated misdemeanors and pending charges aren't grounds. The law names only a felony and fraud tied to the vehicle business, and every ground says “convicted.”
• Disclose it. The sworn application asks for any criminal record of the applicant, each partner, or each officer and director. A knowingly false statement is its own denial ground.
• You can appeal. A denial can be taken to a DMV hearing under 91 CSR 1, Administrative Due Process, and appealed under the state's Administrative Procedures Act.

Get your Dealer License Plates

West Virginia dealer license plates come with the license. The yearly fee for a New & Used or Used Dealer License includes 1 plate, and up to 2 more cost $5 each (§17A-6-10). A formula adds 1 plate for every 20 vehicles you sold the prior fiscal year, up to 5 unless you show a need for more.

On a New & Used or Used license, dealer tags can go on any vehicle the dealer owns, for any purpose, with the dealer's consent. Never on a work or service vehicle, a vehicle offered for hire or lease, or a vehicle already sold to a customer.

One courtesy vehicle per dealership can run on them, and a New & Used dealer can run 1 pickup or van as a parts truck. Temporary plates are $3 each, over the counter or by mail.

Dealer License Cost

A West Virginia Dealer License costs $250 to apply, for every class on this page. Renewal is $100 a year for New & Used, Used, Recreational, and Auto Auction, and less for Trailer, Motorcycle, and Wrecker. Every other fee on this page is in the table.

Dealer License Renewal

A West Virginia Dealer License expires June 30 following its issue date, whatever month it was issued (§17A-6-7). File your renewal at least 30 days before then, at the class renewal fee; the $150 Dealer Recovery Fund fee is due with it too.

A renewal filed later than 30 days before expiration can only be processed at the full original application fee, $250. The Commissioner may allow an abbreviated renewal application in that case.

Support

Dealer Services handles every step on this page, from the minimum-requirements handout to the fingerprint visit. Older links to transportation.wv.gov no longer work; the dealer pages moved to dmv.wv.gov.