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Expert Surety Bonds Since 2004
Need assistance? +1 815-826-6324 (815-8-BondAI) phil@AmericasSuretyBonds.com
Expert Surety Bonds Since 2004
The $25,000 figure is the broker number. If you are applying as a salesperson, your bond is $10,000, and the two licenses are not interchangeable. Florida will not license you as a broker at all until you have first held a salesperson license and either closed four yacht sales or earned 20 education credits the division approves.
Florida requires a $25,000 surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit from every yacht and ship broker, and a $10,000 bond from every salesperson, before the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes will issue a license. The requirement sits in section 326.004, Florida Statutes, and the mechanics sit in rule 61B-60.004, Florida Administrative Code. The bond covers the two-year license period and must stay on deposit for one year after you stop doing business.
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Florida sets two different amounts and they track the license, not the office. Section 326.004(7), Florida Statutes, requires a broker to file a good and sufficient surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit in the sum of $25,000. Section 326.004(9) requires a salesperson to deposit a bond or equivalent securities in the sum of $10,000. Rule 61B-60.004, Florida Administrative Code, states the same two figures as aggregate amounts.
The statute caps exposure. Aggregate liability of the surety in any one year may not exceed the sum of the bond. A single $25,000 bond does not become a $25,000 payout per claim.
A broker is anyone who, for compensation or in expectation of compensation, sells, offers or negotiates to sell, buys, offers or negotiates to buy, solicits listings of, or negotiates the purchase, sale or exchange of yachts for other people. A salesperson is someone employed by a broker to do those same acts. Section 326.002 defines a yacht as a vessel propelled by sail or machinery that exceeds 32 feet in length and is manufactured or operated primarily for pleasure, or leased, rented or chartered to someone other than the owner for that person's pleasure. A 30-foot boat is outside the act.
Section 326.004(3) exempts six situations from licensure, which means no bond in those cases. An owner selling his or her own yacht. An attorney rendering professional services. A receiver, trustee or other person acting under a court order. A transaction involving a new yacht. A sale under a security interest foreclosure. And, since October 1, 2024, a broker or salesperson whose primary place of business is outside Florida who completes a transaction with a Florida licensed broker or salesperson. That last exemption was added by chapter 2024-195, Laws of Florida, which came out of Senate Bill 92 and also rewrote the definition of yacht.
Section 326.004(8) is the one that stops applications. You may not be licensed as a broker unless you have been licensed as a salesperson and can show you were directly involved in at least four transactions that resulted in the sale of a yacht, or you can certify that you obtained at least 20 education credits approved by the division. Those education credits are a path into the broker license. They are not a substitute for the bond. You post the $25,000 either way.
Section 326.004(6) lists the other grounds for denial. Good moral character, no felony conviction, Florida residency or Florida business activity, a full set of fingerprints taken within the six months before the application, and the bond itself.
Under rule 61B-60.004 the surety must give the division 30 days notice before terminating the bond, and on termination the license is automatically suspended. There is also a tail. The statute and the rule both require the security to remain on deposit for one year beyond the two-year coverage period, meaning one year after you cease doing business. Closing the brokerage does not release the bond on the same day.
Section 326.004(10) adds a reload provision. After a judgment against a licensee for a violation of the act, the division may require a new bond or letter of credit, and failing to file it within 10 days is grounds for suspension or revocation.
The division sets fees by rule, capped by statute at $500 per fee. Rule 61B-60.002 sets $500 for the initial application and license, $500 for biennial renewal, $51 for fingerprint processing and $100 for reinstatement. The division's own licensing page describes the combined initial submission as $551 and confirms the license period is biennial. Renewal notices go out no later than 60 days before expiration, and the division warns that a renewal not submitted within 30 days after expiration may force a new application rather than a renewal. At renewal you file the bond, a bond continuation certificate, or the letter of credit along with the fee.
Section 326.005 requires a broker to place funds received in a transaction into a trust account at a savings and loan association, bank, trust company or other financial institution located in Florida with a net worth over $5 million. The bond does not satisfy that. They are two different duties and the division examines both.
For a broker or employing broker, yes. Section 326.004(7), Florida Statutes, sets the sum at $25,000. A salesperson posts $10,000 under section 326.004(9). Rule 61B-60.004, Florida Administrative Code, repeats both figures as aggregate amounts. There are no tiers above or below those two numbers and the amount does not scale with the size or number of yachts you sell.
Yes. The statute names a good and sufficient surety bond or an irrevocable letter of credit, and the division accepts either. The letter of credit ties up your own collateral for the full face amount. A surety bond does not, which is why most licensees file the bond.
No. The education credits under section 326.004(8) are an alternative to demonstrating four completed yacht sales when you move from a salesperson license to a broker license. They address experience, not financial responsibility. The $25,000 bond is required either way, and the division will deny the license under section 326.004(6) if it is not posted.
Section 326.004(3) exempts an owner selling his or her own yacht, an attorney rendering professional services, a receiver or trustee acting under a court order, transactions involving a new yacht, sales under a security interest foreclosure, and out-of-state brokers or salespersons whose primary place of business is elsewhere who complete a transaction with a Florida licensed broker or salesperson. That last one was added effective October 1, 2024 by chapter 2024-195, Laws of Florida. Vessels of 32 feet or less are outside the definition of yacht in section 326.002, so the act does not reach them.
Rule 61B-60.004 requires the surety to give the division 30 days notice before terminating, and on termination the license is automatically suspended. You do not get a grace period to keep operating while you shop for a replacement. Line up new security before the cancellation date.
Not immediately. Both the statute and the rule require the security to stay on deposit one year beyond the two-year coverage period, meaning one full year after you stop doing business. That tail exists so claims arising from your last transactions still have something to reach.
Florida does not set the premium and no published state figure exists. Sureties price this bond by underwriting the applicant rather than by a fixed rate, looking at personal credit, how long you have been in the yacht business, the financial condition of the brokerage, whether you have had a prior claim or a license discipline history, and whether an indemnitor is signing. A clean file on a $25,000 bond prices very differently from a rebuilt credit file. Get a quote on your own numbers instead of assuming a rate.
Treat them as separate. Section 326.005 independently requires you to deposit transaction funds in a trust account at a savings and loan association, bank, trust company or other financial institution located in Florida with a net worth over $5 million. Rule 61B-60.006 governs that depository and how transactions close. The bond does not replace that account, and the division looks at both.
The license period is biennial. The division mails or emails the renewal application no later than 60 days before your expiration date, and the renewal fee is $500. File on DBPR Form YS 6000-6 with the bond, a continuation certificate, or the letter of credit. The division warns that if the renewal is not submitted within 30 days after expiration you may have to reapply rather than renew, which restarts the whole application.
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