# Title 39 — Motor Vehicles

## Chapter 39-22.1 — Trailer Dealer's Licensing and Bonding

### § 39-22.1-01. Trailer dealer's license - Fees - Plates - Definition.

1. A person may not engage in the business of buying, selling, or exchanging of trailers,
or advertise or hold out to the public as being in the business of buying, selling, or
exchanging of trailers without first being licensed.
2. Application for dealer's license and renewal license must be made to the director on
forms as the director prescribes and furnishes, and the application must be
accompanied by an annual fee of thirty dollars for which must be issued one dealer
plate. The applicant for an initial trailer dealer license shall submit a nonrefundable fee
of one hundred dollars for the initial inspection with the application. A dealer's license
expires on December thirty-first of each year, and application for renewal of a dealer's
license must be made on or before the expiration of the current dealer's license. Any
dealer who fails to submit a renewal application before the expiration of the dealer's
current license, in addition to all other fees due, shall pay a one hundred dollar fee at
the time the dealer's license is renewed.
3. A trailer dealer's license may be issued only to those who will maintain a primary
established place of business and will abide by all the provisions of law pertaining to
trailer dealers. In addition, the dealer shall maintain that person's business records in
one central location.
4. Upon the payment of a fee of ten dollars for each additional plate, the director shall
register and issue dealer's license plates for use on any trailers owned by the licensed
dealer, and the trailers bearing the dealer's license plates may be lawfully operated
upon the public highways of this state by the dealer during the year of the registration,
in the direct functions of demonstrating, buying, selling, or transporting trailers. A
dealer's license plates expire on December thirty-first of each year.
5. The term "trailer" as used in this chapter does not include those trailers exempt from
registration in chapter 39-04.
### § 39-22.1-01.1. Primary established place of business - Penalty.

1. If the licensee desires to move from the primary established place of business
occupied when the license was granted to a new location, the licensee shall notify the
director.
2. A licensed dealer may establish secondary trailer display lots in the conduct of the
dealer's business. Secondary lots must be identified as a part of the licensed dealer's
operation.
3. The department may assess a person violating this section a one hundred dollar fee
for a first violation or a two hundred dollar fee for a second violation within two years of
the first violation. The department may suspend the license of a trailer dealer licensed
under this chapter if a third or subsequent violation of this section occurs within five
years of the first violation.
### § 39-22.1-02. Bond required.

Before the issuance of or the renewal of a trailer dealer's license, as provided by law, the
applicant for the license shall furnish a continuous surety bond executed by the applicant as
principal and executed by a surety company licensed and qualified to do business within the
state of North Dakota, which must be in the amount of ten thousand dollars, and be conditioned
upon the faithful compliance by the applicant as a dealer, if the license be issued to the
applicant, that the dealer will comply with all the laws of this state pertaining to the business,
and regulating or being applicable to the business of the dealer as a dealer in trailers, and
indemnifying any person dealing or transacting business with the dealer in connection with any
trailer from any loss or damage occasioned by the failure of the dealer to comply with the laws
of this state, including the furnishing of a proper and valid certificate of title to the vendee of a
trailer within fifteen days of the sale of the trailer, and that the bond shall be filed with the

director before the issuance of the license. However, the aggregate liability of the surety to all
persons for all losses or damages may not exceed the amount of the bond. Any third party
sustaining injury within the terms of the bond may proceed against the principal and surety
without making the state a party to any proceedings. Any applicant bonded under chapter 39-18
or 39-22 may not be required to furnish the surety bond provided for in this section if the bond
issued under chapter 39-18 or 39-22 is written to include the requirements of this section. The
bond may be canceled by the surety, as to future liability, by giving written notice by certified
mail, addressed to the principal at the address stated in the bond, and to the department. Thirty
days after the mailing of the notice, the bond is null and void as to any liability arising after that
thirty days. The surety remains liable, subject to the terms, conditions, and provisions of the
bond, until the effective date of the cancellation.
### § 39-22.1-02.1. Disposition of fees.

Fees from registration of dealers must be deposited with the state treasurer and credited to
the highway tax distribution fund.
### § 39-22.1-03. Suspension, denial, revocation, or cancellation of dealer's license -

Penalty.
The director may deny an application for a dealer's license or suspend, revoke, or cancel a
dealer's license after it has been granted for making any material misstatement by an applicant
in the application for a license; willfully failing to comply with this chapter; willfully violating a law
relating to the sale, distribution, or financing of trailers; ceasing to have a primary established
place of business; or failing to comply with the reasonable rules and regulations of the director
as established under chapter 28-32, but no order suspending or revoking a dealer's license may
be made without a hearing at which the licensee must be given an opportunity to be heard. Any
dealer violating any provision of this chapter must be assessed a one hundred dollar fee by the
department for a first violation and a two hundred dollar fee by the department for a second
violation within two years of the first violation. The department shall suspend the license of a
trailer dealer licensed under this chapter if a third or subsequent violation of the chapter occurs
within five years of the first violation.
### § 39-22.1-04. Examination of books and records.

The director or any duly authorized representative may inspect the pertinent books, letters,
records, and contracts of any licensed trailer dealer or any other person relating to any
complaint made against the dealer or person and held to be in violation of this chapter. In
addition, any duly authorized representative of the department may inspect the records of any
licensed dealer to verify that fees collected for the department have been properly remitted.
### § 39-22.1-05. Powers of the director.

In addition to other powers provided by law, the director may:
1. Cancel, revoke, or suspend a dealer's license as provided for in section 39-22.1-03.
2. Adopt rules not inconsistent with this chapter governing the application for dealer's
licenses and the cancellation or suspension or revocation of dealer's licenses.
3. Employ and pay any person as the director determines necessary to inspect dealers in
this state or investigate dealers for information for the director to procure evidence in
connection with any prosecution or other action to suspend, revoke, or cancel a
dealer's license in relation to any matter in which the director has any duty to perform.
### § 39-22.1-06. Penalty.

Any person who violates this chapter is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.
