Gene wrote:


Yacht brokers
don't sell a boat- the seller sells the boat. Yacht brokers simply
provide the service of bringing buyer and seller together.

And..... my point is.... do so without any requisite regulation,
licensing, oversight, etc.....

Possibly true in your state, certainly not in WA.

Yacht brokers are subject to the same licensing requirements as
automobile dealers and are supervised by the Department of Licensing.

To open a yacht brokerage you must:

1) Apply to the state for a license. Getting the license is far more
complicated than simply paying a fee at a counter. You must submit a
large quantity of personal information, provide references, pass a
rigorous background check, post a surety bond,
etc. Convicted felons will be denied a license, as will anybody with a
previous history of misdealing in auto, real estate, insurance, or
yacht brokerage sales.

2) Open a permanent business location, keep regular business hours, and
put up a sign.

3) Maintain a trust account for all monies collected during a
transaction. This account is subject to audit at any time, and failing
to maintain the absolute integrity of the trust is grounds for license
revocation.

4) Pass a series of regular and occasional random inspections by state
licensing agents to ensure compliance with the rules.

Individual brokers working in a brokerage do not have to meet all the
above requirements, but the owner of the brokerage can lose his license
if an associated broker violates the state laws so in cases where there
are multiple brokers working under one license, the broker of record
will be overseeing and supervising the others.


If only 2% of the brokers in your state are certified, that doesn't
mean that 98% of the brokers are shysters. What is more likely means is
that you don't have a strong regional brokers' association like we do
in the Pacific NW, like they do in California, and like they do in
Florida. It also means the the word needs to get out to your boat
buying and selling public. A non-certified broker only has to hear,
"Sorry, but we decided to list our boat with Broker X instead of you
because she is certified and you are not..." a handful of times and
your certification rate will go way up.

CPYB is a way for the brokerage industry to do some self policing, just
like other professions do. I'd think that in this era when most people
complain about government being too large and too expensive more folks
would applaud any industry taking steps to weed out the worst of its
own batch, rather than rely on the taxpayers to fund another branch of
government to do the same task.