Recreational Vehicle Dealer ($20,000) Bond - Statewide in Florida

Brief Summary

Count your supplemental licenses before you buy anything. Florida sets the recreational vehicle dealer bond at $10,000 for a single dealer with four or fewer supplemental licenses and $20,000 only once you have more than four. The $20,000 figure on this page is the larger tier. Most single location and small multi location RV dealers are on the $10,000 bond and are paying premium on twice the penalty they need if someone wrote it at $20,000 by default.

Section 320.771(16), Florida Statutes, requires a surety bond before a recreational vehicle dealer license is issued or renewed. The amount is tiered. A single dealer who buys, sells, or deals in recreational vehicles and has four or fewer supplemental licenses provides a $10,000 bond. A single dealer with more than four supplemental licenses provides $20,000. The bond runs to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and in favor of any retail customer who suffers loss, and it is written on form HSMV 86019 in favor of the Director of the Division of Motorist Services.

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How to Apply for a Recreational Vehicle Dealer ($20,000) Bond:

• Count your supplemental licenses. Four or fewer means a $10,000 bond. More than four means $20,000.
• Dealer legal entity name exactly as it will appear on form HSMV 86056 and on the license.
• Owner, partner or officer name, home address and Social Security number for the credit review.
• Your license term dates. The RV dealer license period runs from October 1, and the bond is written to support that term.
• Complete the bond application and review the quoted annual premium.
• Pay the premium and receive the executed bond on form HSMV 86019, signed by the surety's attorney in fact with the power of attorney attached.
• File the bond with the license application and fee, along with the garage liability insurance evidence and, for an initial application, the training seminar verification.
• At renewal, deliver a new bond or a continuation certificate for the new license year on form HSMV 86720.

Detailed Information About the Florida Recreational Vehicle Dealer ($20,000) Bond:

The tier, and the threshold that sets it

Section 320.771(16) is explicit. A single dealer who buys, sells, or deals in recreational vehicles and has four or fewer supplemental licenses shall provide a surety bond in the amount of $10,000. A single dealer who has more than four supplemental licenses shall provide a surety bond in the amount of $20,000.

The trigger is supplemental licenses, not revenue, not unit count, not lot size. Four or fewer puts you at $10,000. Five or more puts you at $20,000. Supplemental licenses run concurrently with the original license and cost $50 each, so the count is easy to verify from your own file before you order a bond.

If you cross the threshold mid term by adding locations, the bond amount that applies to you changes with it.

What the bond covers

The bond is conditioned on the dealer complying with the conditions of any written contract made in connection with the sale, exchange, or improvement of a recreational vehicle, and on not violating chapter 319 or chapter 320 in the conduct of the licensed business. It runs to the department and in favor of any retail customer who suffers loss from a violation of those conditions.

Note the wording. Retail customer. This is narrower than the motor vehicle dealer bond in s. 320.27(10), which reaches any person in a retail or wholesale transaction.

The cap matters too. The aggregate liability of the surety in any one license year shall in no event exceed the sum of the bond. Every claim in a license year draws on the same penalty, and the dealer reimburses the surety for what gets paid.

Your license year starts October 1

A recreational vehicle dealer license entitles the licensee to conduct business at the location set forth in the license for a period of 1 or 2 years from October 1 preceding the date of issuance. That is a different calendar from motor vehicle dealers, whose independent and wholesale licenses run to April 30 and whose franchise licenses run to December 31.

Form HSMV 86019 has you enter an effective date and the term ending date of the license the bond supports, and it may be continued by certificate each year for a subsequent license year. Match the bond term to the October cycle.

No letter of credit for RV dealers

Motor vehicle dealers may substitute an irrevocable letter of credit under s. 320.27(10), on form HSMV 86057, and mobile home dealers have form HSMV 86058. FLHSMV publishes no equivalent letter of credit form for recreational vehicle dealers, and s. 320.771(16) speaks only to a surety bond executed by a surety company qualified to do business in the state. Plan on the bond.

Two things people forget are separate from the bond

Insurance. The application requires evidence that the applicant is insured under a garage liability insurance policy including at a minimum $25,000 combined single limit liability coverage, covering bodily injury and property damage, plus $10,000 personal injury protection. That is a policy, not a second bond, and carrying it does nothing to the bond requirement.

Training. Each initial application must be accompanied by verification that within the preceding 6 months the applicant, or one or more designated employees, attended a training and information seminar conducted by the department or by a public or private provider approved by the department. Section 320.771 states no exemption from it. Completing the seminar does not reduce or waive the bond.

Fees

The statute sets an initial application fee of $300 in addition to any other fees required by law, and renewal at $100 for a one year renewal or $200 for a two year renewal. Application form HSMV 86056 lists $340 for mobile home and recreational vehicle dealer license applicants, against $300 for motor vehicle dealer applicants. Supplemental licenses are $50 each and run concurrently with the original license. Renewals are filed on form HSMV 86720.

If a surety cancels the bond, s. 320.771(16) requires it to notify the department in writing and give the reason. Since a bond is required before a license is issued or renewed, arrange the replacement before that notice reaches the department.

Eligibility and Requirements for a Florida Recreational Vehicle Dealer ($20,000) Bond:

• A surety company qualified to do business in the state of Florida as surety.
• Bond amount of $20,000 for a single dealer with more than four supplemental licenses, or $10,000 for four or fewer.
• Written on form HSMV 86019, State of Florida Surety Bond Recreational Vehicle Dealer, in favor of the Director of the Division of Motorist Services.
• Effective date and license term ending date completed to match the license period.
• Dealer name on the bond matching the license application exactly.
• Garage liability insurance with at least $25,000 combined single limit bodily injury and property damage coverage and $10,000 personal injury protection.
• Owner credit review. At these bond sizes credit generally sets the rate rather than eligibility.

Florida Recreational Vehicle Dealer ($20,000) Bond FAQs:

Official and Additional Resources for the Florida Recreational Vehicle Dealer ($20,000) Bond: