NC used dealer bonds.
$400 flat.
Also known as the North Carolina auto dealer bond or car dealer bond.
North Carolina will not license a used motor vehicle dealer until a $50,000 surety bond for the established salesroom is on file with the Division of Motor Vehicles under G.S. 20-288(e), on the DMV’s own form LT-409. Ours is $400 flat, and the price you see is the checkout price. The application includes a credit consent, but it authorizes a soft credit pull only — a soft inquiry that never affects your score.
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Three steps to a licensed lot.
The DMV Dealer Unit will not process your licence application without the bond, so dealers usually buy it first. The whole process:
Apply online
Entity details, years in business, your dealer number if you already have one, the effective date — plus a handful of commercial questions and a one-time consent to a soft credit pull.
Pay & e-sign
Dealer bonds like this are among the thousands of bond types that issue right after purchase. At most, 1–2 business days, and the soft pull never affects your score.
File with the DMV
Your executed LT-409 and power of attorney arrive by email, ready to file with the License & Theft Bureau’s Dealer Unit with the rest of your dealer packet. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the dealer bond actually guarantees
North Carolina licenses motor vehicle dealers through the DMV License & Theft Bureau under Article 12 of Chapter 20, the Motor Vehicle Dealers and Manufacturers Licensing Law. G.S. 20-288(e) makes every approved dealer furnish a corporate surety bond — or a cash bond or fixed-value equivalent — of $50,000 for one established salesroom, plus $25,000 for each additional salesroom. This page is the $50,000 main-salesroom bond; if you are adding a second lot, that one is the $25,000 supplemental filing.
The bond is conditioned that you will faithfully conform to and abide by the dealer licensing law and Article 15, the Vehicle Mileage Act — so odometer violations reach it just as title failures do. Any purchaser of a vehicle, including another dealer, who suffers loss because a licence holder failed to deliver free and clear title or otherwise violated those articles may sue the dealer and the surety directly. A dealer served with such an action has 10 days to notify the Commissioner.
It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. The bond is designed to stay continuous: a surety cannot cancel it unless you stop doing business or your licence is denied, suspended or revoked, and then only on 30 days’ written notice to the Commissioner, with liability already accrued surviving the notice period. Two carve-outs matter — the subsection does not reach a licence holder dealing only in trailers with an empty weight of 4,000 pounds or less, and manufactured-home dealers bond under G.S. 143-143.12 instead.
You need this bond if you are
One application, issued instantly.
These are the actual underwriting fields — entity details, your dealer number, a few commercial questions and a one-time soft credit pull. Submit once and most dealers are issued right away.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other North Carolina motor vehicle dealer bonds.
Not sure this is the one your license calls for? These are the other motor vehicle dealer bonds we write in North Carolina. Each has its own statute and bond amount.
- Motor Vehicle Dealer Bond ($50,000)The $50,000 bond every North Carolina motor vehicle dealer files with the DMV. $500 flat, soft pull only.
- Used Motor Vehicle Dealer — Additional Location Bond ($25,000)The $25,000 supplemental-location bond a North Carolina used-vehicle dealer files with the DMV for each extra lot. $200 flat, soft pull only.
Other North Carolina bonds.
The DMV is waiting on one document.
$400 flat, short application, executed LT-409 usually in the same sitting. Free until issued.