Maggie's Farm

.....naturally raises the question of whether unlicensed yacht brokering is actually a “serious threat” to the “health, safety, and welfare of Florida residents and visitors”? My working hypothesis is that it is not.

Well, yes and no. The bond required by the license is meant to protect the end buyer's down payment or "good faith" money on any deal from disappearing if the deal goes sour for what ever reason. It is not uncommon for yacht brokers (and sales personnel) to play fast and loose with the escrow money on any purchase. This provides an avenue to structure proper administration of the funds.

Secondly, and probably of equal importance, the license allows for compiling information on any particular broker or sales person's relative worth (meaning honesty, business acumen, knowledge of the product or boat, etc.). Brokers and sales people go in an out of the yacht business on a regular basis and business' can appear and disappear over night. I've been involved in deals where the broker's business changed hands right in the middle of a deal - and that's not unusual.

Trust me, as a surveyor I can tell you stories about even reputable dealers and brokers that would curl your hair - you'd never step foot on a private boat again in your life. And those are stories about the "good guys".

So it makes some sense from a civil protection standpoint to have a license process for sellers as well as mechanics and service providers - at least in the boat industry which is the one industry I know best.