Dealer-related Information in Idaho
When you are applying for your dealership license, be sure to submit the following:
- Fees: Make checks payable to the Idaho Transportation Department.
- Completed application: All owners, officers, directors, and members must sign the application. All signatures must be notarized.
- Franchise requirement: A letter of franchise approval from the manufacturer if your dealership will sell new vehicles/vessels. Every type of new vehicle/vessel sold requires this letter.
- Proof of corporate, LLC, or LLP status obtained from the Secretary of State as well as a list of officers and members.
- Signed zoning approval.
- Dealer bond with the original signature including all the names of the owners, corporation, and/or dealership name (if different), and the dealership's address.
- Copy of Sales Tax Number Certificate.
- Personal History Form(s) completed for each owner, officer, director, partner, member, and salesperson.
No matter how many dealerships you have, you must designate one as the principal place of business. It must be used mainly for the type of business you have been licensed to conduct. The state defines this as the location where the dealer and his/her sales staff conducts business.
The state considers all other locations that belong to the same dealership and operate under the same name "supplemental lots." In order to be considered a supplemental lot, the location must be in the same county or an adjacent county of the principal place of business.
Requirements
Signage
Your dealership's sign should exhibit the dealership's trade name, street address, and dealer number. Once you are certain that the sign meets zoning requirements (24 sq ft with at least 4 sq inch lettering), permanently post the sign on the building or the land and be sure that the letters read visibly and clearly from the main road. You have the option to paint a sign on the office window next to the main entrance if you are a wholesale dealer.
Office
You must clearly designate one area as the office where you keep books, desk, filing cabinet, and a permanently installed business phone (cell phones are not acceptable). In addition, you must list the phone number in the general directory, and you must answer the phone in the name of the dealership. However, you can forward calls to another location or to an answering machine.
A room (or rooms) cannot be considered an office if it is located in a hotel, rooming house, apartment building, or a part of a single- or multiple-unit dwelling house. The only exception to such a room is if it occupies the entire ground floor and is primarily used as a place to conduct business.
Display Area
Your display area must be large enough to hold at least five vehicles/vessels you are licensed to sell. If you have an "improved display area," you must separate it from other business property with visible boundaries or signage. It also must be adjacent to the dealership office, and it must be owned or leased by the dealer. Use a physical divider such as ropes, chains, or barriers to separate the display areas of wholesale-only dealerships if they are adjacent to one another.
For More Information
If you have further questions regarding dealerships, contact the DMV at (208) 334-8681
