Montana Auto Dealer Bond and Car Dealer License
You file a Montana auto dealer bond with your dealer license application at the Department of Justice. Most dealers post a $50,000 bond, and it must be renewed every year.
- Who requires it: Montana Department of Justice; MCA 61-4-101.
- Timing: We submit complete applications to the carrier promptly; most quotes within one business day.
Official Montana Requirements
"must be filed in its office, and must be renewed annually"Montana Code Annotated 2025, MCA 61-4-101 • View Official Requirements →
What the Montana dealer bond is and who it protects
Montana sets your bond amount by what you sell. If you are a new dealer, used dealer, broker, wholesaler or auto auction, you file a $50,000 bond with your license application. If your business is restricted to motorcycles or quadricycles, you file a $15,000 bond instead. If your business is restricted to motorboats, personal watercraft, snowmobiles or off-highway vehicles, other than motorcycles originally built for highway use, you file a $5,000 bond. The bond is conditioned on you conducting the business in line with the law. It stands behind a person who proves in court that your unlawful conduct caused them a loss. If you need the current bond form or filing details, confirm them with the Montana Department of Justice.
A claim needs a court judgment first
A person cannot collect on your bond just by asking. First they must obtain a judgment from a court of competent jurisdiction before collecting on the bond. That judgment has to set out a specific loss or damage amount and establish that the licensee's unlawful conduct caused it. If several claimants hold judgments that add up to more than the bond, the proceeds are divided among them on a pro rata basis.
The license and the documents you file
You need a Montana dealer license if you buy, sell, exchange, consign or broker a vehicle that is not registered in your own name — a motor vehicle, trailer, travel trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, motorcycle, quadricycle, motorboat, personal watercraft, snowmobile, off-highway vehicle or special mobile equipment. The department can issue a new dealer, used dealer, broker, auto auction or wholesaler license. A used dealer license lets you sell any used motor vehicle, used power sports vehicle or used trailer. A wholesaler may sell used vehicles only to a new or used dealer, an auto auction or another wholesaler, and may not make retail sales or use dealer plates. New dealers also give the name and address of the manufacturer, importer or distributor they hold a written franchise or sales agreement with. Every dealer must carry and continuously maintain a general liability insurance policy, with a minimum term of one year, that names the department as a certificate holder. The department may independently verify what you put in your application and asks about any felony history. Some sellers are exempt, including an auctioneer whose business is mainly non-vehicle personal property and a licensed real estate broker or agent dealing in mobile homes.
Montana dealer license fees
For a new or used dealer, broker or wholesaler license, the application fee is $30. An auto auction pays $500 as a first-time applicant, then a $100 filing fee with the annual report in later years. A dealer pays a $30 filing fee with each annual report. A used dealer who cannot certify 12 or more retail sales for the year, or an average of one a month if licensed for part of the year, pays an added $25 fee. What you pay is a share of the bond amount, set by the surety from your credit and finances.
Renew the bond every year and file the annual report
On or before the 15th day of the month before your license expiration month, you file an annual report. Your bond must be renewed every year. The report tells the department about any changes during the calendar year to the information you first filed with your application. If you do not file it, the department will not renew your dealer plates and must begin an administrative action to revoke your license unless you surrender it. The license itself stays valid until you return it for surrender when you stop operating, or until it is suspended or revoked, and the department staggers expiration dates through the year.
Your established place of business
You need a permanent nonresidential building to keep your records, with no more than three other wholesale, broker, auction or retail vehicle dealers in the same building or at the same location. You provide evidence of compliance with any local land use planning, zoning and business permitting requirements, plus a diagram or plat showing the location, lot dimensions and where the building and sign sit. Your sign must use letters at least 6 inches high that are clearly visible and readable to the major avenue of traffic at 150 feet. You conspicuously post your regular and customary office hours at the place of business. If you want more than one established place of business, you file a separate application for each and qualify at each one.
Steps
- Pick your license type. Decide whether you are a new dealer, used dealer, broker, wholesaler or auto auction.
- Set up your place of business. Line up a permanent nonresidential building for your records, and meet the local zoning, sign and office-hours rules.
- Arrange your bond. Plan for a $50,000 bond, or $15,000 if restricted to motorcycles or quadricycles, or $5,000 if restricted to motorboats, personal watercraft, snowmobiles or off-highway vehicles.
- Line up general liability insurance. Carry a policy with at least a one-year term that names the department as a certificate holder.
- File the application and fee. Submit your application with the bond and the $30 fee, or the auto auction fee if that is your license.
- Renew each year. Renew the bond annually and file your annual report before the deadline.
Frequently asked questions
How much is a Montana car dealer license bond?
For most dealers it is $50,000, filed with your license application. It is $15,000 if your business is restricted to motorcycles or quadricycles, and $5,000 if it is restricted to motorboats, personal watercraft, snowmobiles or off-highway vehicles.
Does the Montana dealer bond renew every year?
Yes. Your bond must be renewed annually.
Who regulates Montana dealer licensing?
In Montana's dealer law, the department is the Department of Justice. Your bond is filed in its office.
How do I get a Montana dealer license?
You apply to the department for a new dealer, used dealer, broker, auto auction or wholesaler license. You file your bond with the application and pay the $30 fee for a new or used dealer, broker or wholesaler license. The department issues the license to an applicant it determines is qualified under the statute.
How does someone claim against my bond?
They must first get a court judgment that states a specific loss and shows your unlawful conduct caused it. If claims add up to more than the bond, the money is split pro rata.
Do I need a license to wholesale only?
Yes, a wholesaler license is one of the license types, and it lets you sell used vehicles only to dealers, auto auctions or other wholesalers. A wholesaler may not make retail sales or use dealer plates.
What are the Montana license fees?
The application fee is $30 for a new or used dealer, broker or wholesaler license. A dealer pays a $30 filing fee with each annual report, while an auto auction pays $500 the first time and $100 with later annual reports.
Can I run a dealership from my home?
Your application must name a permanent nonresidential building where your records are kept, with no more than three other dealers in the same building or at the same location.
How do I get a Montana auto dealer bond?
Request a quote with the form on this page. A licensed agent submits your application to a Treasury-listed surety carrier; once the carrier issues your bond, file it as the requiring agency directs.
What happens after I apply?
We submit complete applications to the carrier promptly; most quotes come back within one business day. The carrier decides approval and the final premium, and you pay only when your bond is issued.
Sources
- Montana Code Annotated 2025, MCA 61-4-101 (dealer licenses and bonds)
- Montana Code Annotated 2025, MCA 61-1-101 (definitions)
- Montana Code Annotated 2025, MCA 61-4-126 (recovery on the bond)
- Montana Code Annotated 2025, MCA 61-4-120 (auto auction fees)
- Montana Code Annotated 2025, MCA 61-4-123 (general liability insurance, place of business)
- Montana Code Annotated 2025, MCA 61-4-124 (dealer annual report)
- Montana Code Annotated 2025, MCA 61-4-125 (wholesaler annual report)
- Montana Code Annotated 2025, MCA 61-4-108 (exemptions)
Compare neighboring states on our Idaho, North Dakota and Washington dealer bond pages.
Montana dealers: vehicles without a title
Trade-ins and auction units sometimes arrive with a missing or defective title. Read how a bonded title works on the Montana bonded title page, or browse the state-by-state title bond directory.
Four situations dealers run into have their own guides: rebuilt units that need a title, out-of-state purchases with no title, trailers with no title and title errors found at intake.
Stocking more than cars? See classic and antique car titles, a unit left on your lot and titling a coach that arrives without paperwork.
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