Ohio tells you how many chairs to put in the office.

Most states describe a dealership in general terms and let an inspector fill in the rest. Ohio writes it down. The rule that governs a used motor vehicle dealer's premises specifies the floor area, the wall surface, the lighting, the heating, the ventilation, the phone, the furniture, and how many chairs go in the room.

It is the most specific premises rule of any state covered here, and the easiest one to pass, because there is nothing to guess.

The hard part in Ohio is money. The licence costs $50. The net worth requirement is $75,000, and no other state on this site asks for one at all.

Everything below comes from Ohio's own administrative code, revised code and BMV forms, listed at the bottom. Where Ohio does not publish a figure, this page says so instead of guessing.

The office, down to the furniture

Rule 4501:1-3-08 requires a permanent usable structure on the display lot that is identifiable as a motor vehicle dealership to the public, containing an easily accessible office of at least a contiguous 180 square feet.

• Walls of a hard surface, and the office may not be used as a storage or other utility area
• At minimum a desk, three chairs, and a filing cabinet or similar furnishings
• Records stored securely to the federal safeguards standard at 16 CFR Part 314
• A business telephone in service at all times, answered and identified exclusively for the dealership's business, with the number legible and posted in public view. A change has to be reported in writing within 15 days
• Adequate lighting, electrical service, heating and ventilation, secure and safe for a retail office environment
• A secured lease in the applicant's name for not less than three months, or a deed, produced at application and on any change of location

No restroom is required by this rule. The only plumbing language is that the premises, including any plumbing fixtures, must not violate building and zoning requirements.

The lot, and the barrier

A display lot of no less than 3,500 square feet, not including driveways or the office. Ohio is the only state here that publishes a lot area in square feet rather than a vehicle count or a vague sufficiency test.

The ground cover has to be a hard surface free from the collection of dust, mud, water, or other unsightly conditions. That rules out a gravel strip that turns to mud, and it is an actual cost line most people leave out of the plan.

The place of business must be separated by a barrier from any residence, and from any other business or service facility not primarily related to selling motor vehicles. The rule names what counts as a barrier: a permanent fixture of metal, brick, stone, concrete, wood, heavy support cable, landscaping, curbing, or a comparable feature.

Two exceptions exist. An owner-operated service facility on site can be exempted from the physical barrier under four conditions, and a dealer blocked by zoning or a landlord from building one may ask the registrar in writing for an exception.

One more line worth knowing before you sign anything: no more than two used motor vehicle dealers are permitted to share a location.

The sign

Rule 4501:1-3-03 requires a sign showing the business or trade name as registered with the Secretary of State. It must be permanent, properly maintained and prominently displayed in a conspicuous place in public view, and if it is not visible from the public roadway it has to be by the entrance of the office.

The letters identifying the business name must be no less than six inches high, unless the registrar approves otherwise. That matches Texas. Ohio publishes no overall sign dimensions and no viewing distance.

Five hours a week

This is the lowest published opening requirement of any state here, and it is worth reading twice because it is not a loophole.

Licensed used dealers must be open to the public no less than five hours a week, with at least two of those hours between 8am and 5pm Monday through Friday. The hours have to be legible and posted in a conspicuous place near the office entrance, and a change reported in writing within 15 days.

And the premises must be staffed during the posted hours, by an owner, officer, partner or member, or by a licensed salesperson. Posting hours you do not keep is the violation, not the five hours themselves.

For comparison, Texas publishes four days a week with four consecutive hours each, which is 16. Florida requires posted hours with no minimum. California and North Carolina publish nothing.

The money, which is the real barrier

The $50 fee is the cheapest here by a distance: North Carolina charges $97, California $175, Florida $300. But Ohio is the only state that makes you prove a net worth, and $75,000 of assets less liabilities is a real gate that no amount of cheap paperwork gets you through.

The bond is posted with the Attorney General's office in favour of the state, from a surety company authorised to do business in Ohio, and a surety may not cancel it with less than 30 days' written notice to the registrar. Helpfully, the rule says the surety bond may also be used to comply with the net worth requirement.

There is one exemption, and it is from the bond only, not the net worth. A used dealer whose owner, officer, trustee, partner or member held a new motor vehicle dealer, adaptive mobility dealer or leasing dealer licence within the year before applying, not suspended or revoked, does not need the bond.

One honest discrepancy to flag. Rule 4501:1-3-11 states the bond as not less than $75,000. BMV form 4443, revised January 2025, still asks whether the business continues to have a $25,000 surety bond. The rule is the newer document and is the one that sets the requirement, but if you are budgeting, confirm the figure with the BMV before you buy the bond.

The course, the check and the inspection

• Training: no less than six hours of classroom or equivalent online instruction, with the certificate of completion presented at application. Approved providers have to offer the course at least once every 90 days
• Criminal history record required with the application. The registrar may charge a fee equal to what the registrar pays to obtain the record, so no fixed amount is published
• Inspection at the registrar's discretion, by BMV Investigations, before or after the licence is issued and at any time while it is held. Ohio does not promise a pre-application site visit the way Florida and North Carolina do
• Zoning: evidence of building and zoning compliance at application and on any change of location. The registrar may grant reasonable variances to the premises rules, but explicitly not to the building and zoning requirements

No salesperson licence

Worth knowing if you plan to hire. Ohio law now states that the registrar shall not require a licence to practise as a motor vehicle salesperson. Existing salesperson licences stay valid until they expire and are not renewed.

The term, which you cannot look up

Ohio licences expire biennially, on a day within the two-year cycle prescribed by the registrar. The statute sets no month and no date, and the renewal application has to be filed before the first day after the day the registrar prescribed, with the fee attached.

So unlike North Carolina's 30 June, there is no date to put in a calendar until the registrar gives you one. Nothing is published about grace periods or what happens if you renew late.

What this costs you before the first car

Ohio's paperwork is the cheapest in this set and its balance sheet test is the strictest. Fifty dollars to the state, six hours of training, and then $75,000 you have to be able to show, or a bond that stands in for it.

After that it is the lot. Three thousand five hundred square feet with a hard, drained surface, a 180-square-foot office with heat and light in it, a six-inch sign and a barrier along the boundary. That is a monthly number, and it is the one that decides whether the licence was worth having.

Which is the part most new dealers get wrong. The licence is a fixed cost you pay once every two years. The money is decided car by car, by costs that arrive one receipt at a time and are almost never all written down. What a good gross profit per car looks like works through why the headline figure overstates what a small lot actually keeps, and Deelary keeps every cost on the car it belongs to, so the margin on screen is the margin you bank.

Comparing states? Dealer license requirements by state puts the bond, the office, the sign and the course side by side. Texas measures the ceiling, Florida inspects before you file, California gives you an exam you can fail, and North Carolina rations your plates by last year's sales. Do you need a dealer license to flip cars covers the threshold question first.