Section 2257. Registration of dealers

1. For the purposes of this article,
  a dealer shall be any person engaged in the business of buying,  selling
  or trading vessels.  A person who sells three or more vessels for profit
  within  one  calendar  year  shall  be  presumed  to be a dealer if such
  vessels were purchased, acquired or otherwise obtained  by  such  person
  for the purpose of resale, and were never placed in his consumer use. On
  and  after  April  first,  nineteen  hundred eighty-six, no person shall
  engage in business as a dealer, or represent or  advertise  that  he  is
  engaged,  or  intends  to engage, in such business in this state, unless
  there shall have been issued to him a  certificate  of  registration  as
  provided  in  this  section.  A  person  shall  not  be  required  to be
  registered as a dealer  if  he  sells  no  vessels  other  than  vessels
  determined  by  regulation  of the commissioner to be vessels or devices
  which would not ordinarily be considered as usable for transportation on
  water.
    2.  Application  for  registration.  Every  dealer   shall   file   an
  application  for registration as a dealer with the commissioner of motor
  vehicles, together with all required fees, in such form and  detail  and
  containing   such  information  as  the  commissioner  shall  reasonably
  prescribe.
    3.  Issuance  of  certificate.  If  the  commissioner   approves   the
  application,  he  shall issue a certificate of registration in such form
  as he may prescribe. For the purposes of implementing this article,  the
  commissioner   may,  in  his  discretion,  issue  such  certificates  of
  registration and number plates on a staggered expiration basis, in which
  event the fees set forth in subdivision five of this  section  for  such
  certificate shall be prorated on a monthly basis.
    4. Demonstrator numbers and trailer number plates. (a) Upon payment of
  the  required  fee,  a  dealer  shall be entitled to receive one or more
  demonstrator numbers, which may be used in lieu of a registration issued
  under section twenty-two hundred  fifty-one  of  this  article  for  the
  operation  of  any vessel owned or controlled by the registrant and held
  for sale or demonstration. Demonstrator numbers shall be displayed in  a
  manner prescribed by the commissioner.
    (b)  Upon  payment  of the required fee, a dealer shall be entitled to
  receive one or more number plates which may  be  used  in  lieu  of  any
  registration  issued  under section four hundred one of this chapter for
  the operation of any boat trailer owned or controlled by the dealer  and
  held  for  the purpose of sale or demonstration, provided such operation
  is directly related to the sale or demonstration of any boat trailer  or
  vessel.  The provisions of section four hundred two of this chapter with
  respect to the care and display of number plates shall apply  to  number
  plates issued under this subdivision.
    (c)  The  commissioner  may,  in  his  discretion, limit the number of
  demonstrator numbers or number plates  which  shall  be  issued  to  any
  registrant. The fee for the replacement of lost, mutilated, or destroyed
  demonstrator numbers or number plates shall be two dollars.
    5. Fees. Every application, other than a renewal application, shall be
  accompanied  by  an  application  fee  of ten dollars, which shall in no
  event be refunded. The triennial fee for such  registration  or  renewal
  thereof   shall   be   seventy-five   dollars.  The  triennial  fee  for
  demonstrator numbers or number plates shall be sixty  dollars  for  each
  number  or  number plate. The application for registration, demonstrator
  numbers and number plates shall be accompanied  by  the  required  fees.
  There  shall  be  no  refund  of  any  registration  fee  or any fee for
  demonstrator numbers or number plates.
    6. No dealer shall sell a vessel except in accordance with regulations
  established  by  the  commissioner.  The  commissioner   may,   in   his

  discretion,  require  a  registrant to maintain a record in a prescribed
  form of all vessels received or disposed of by him. Upon request  of  an
  agent of the commissioner or of any peace officer acting pursuant to his
  special  duties, a registrant shall produce such records and permit said
  agent or peace officer to examine them, and any vessels on the  premises
  subject  to the record keeping requirements of this section during usual
  business hours or while  the  registrant  is  conducting  business.  The
  failure to produce such records or to permit such inspection as required
  by this subdivision shall be a violation.