California dealer forms glossary

The packet, form by form

• OL 248 (the checklist). Not a form you fill in so much as the map of everything else: DMV's application checklist (the OL 248 series) defines which documents a complete packet contains and the order they assemble in. Every serious packet — including the ones our system generates — is built to this checklist.
• OL 12 — Application for Occupational License. The master application: the licensee's legal identity, license type, and premises, on which the whole packet hangs. Its importance is hard to overstate — the bond must be issued in the name exactly as it appears on the OL 12.
• OL 21A. Part of the occupational-licensing application family: the application variant the OL 248 checklist calls for in the situations it covers. Which variants your packet needs depends on your license class and structure — one of the quiet traps the consistency check exists for.
• OL 29B — Personal History Statement. One per person: every owner, officer, and partner completes a personal-history statement covering background and record. The Live Scan receipts in the packet tie to the people who filed an OL 29B.
• ADM 9050. A per-person DMV form completed for each owner/officer as part of the packet — another of the person-level pieces that must agree, name for name, with the OL 12.
• OL 25 — the $50,000 bond form. The surety bond itself, on DMV's form (Vehicle Code §11710), issued by your surety in your true full legal name with the exact "dba" construction. The dealer does not sign the bond; the surety's power-of-attorney attachment is the notarized piece.
• OL 25B and OL 56 — the $10,000 wholesale tier. Wholesale-only dealers selling fewer than 25 vehicles a year may post a $10,000 bond instead of $50,000; OL 25B is that bond's form, and OL 56 is the tier's paperwork. Sell the 25th vehicle without upgrading and the license itself is at risk.
• DMV 8016 — Request for Live Scan Service. One per owner, completed before the fingerprint appointment and carried to it. Locations will not fill it in for you; lose the receipt and you pay to roll again. Our system keeps a re-printable master in your portal vault for exactly this reason.
• OL 256A / OL 256 — the education certificates. Proof of completion: OL 256A for the pre-license course (valid one year — file your application inside it), OL 256 for renewal CE. Issued by your education provider, filed with the application or renewal.
• Statement of Information. Not a DMV form at all — the Secretary of State filing every corporation and LLC maintains (initial filing, then on its update cycle). The entity data on it is the source of truth your packet's names are checked against, and it is public record.
• DBA / Fictitious Business Name Statement. The county filing that registers your trade name under your legal name. Five-year life; the name string it carries must match the bond and the OL 12 character for character.
• Seller's Permit. Issued by the CDTFA, not the DMV: it is what lets you sell vehicles and collect and remit sales tax lawfully. Apply before your first sale, not after.

The pattern underneath the whole glossary: every form restates your legal identity, and the packet fails when the statements disagree. That is why our Template Kit generates the packet from one locked profile and runs a name-consistency check before you print — and why Guided Setup verifies the entity against state records before anything generates at all. The full sequence these forms live in is the step-by-step guide.

More guides

Keep reading

• How to Get a Car Dealer License in California
• California Dealer License Cost Breakdown
• DMV Dealer Exam Study Guide
• Wholesale vs Retail Dealer License
• Dealer License Renewal: Requirements & Deadlines