Does the licence survive the owner leaving?
Of 27,067 licences on record, 1,224 are TIED TO THE BUSINESS and transfer with a sale. 14,659 are STAND-ALONE and belong to the person holding them. In a takeover that is the difference between buying a going concern and buying its furniture — and 13,806 are exam-gated, so a buyer who must requalify cannot do it quickly.
What the register actually distinguishes
| Licence type | Count | What it means in a takeover |
|---|---|---|
| Tied to business | 1,224 | Transfers with the sale. The buyer inherits it. |
| Stand-alone | 14,659 | Belongs to the person. It leaves when they do, and the buyer must qualify independently. |
| Secondary | 642 | Requires holding another licence first — a two-step requalification. |
| Temporary | 2,049 | Time-limited. Useful as a bridge, not as a basis. |
| Exam-gated | 13,806 | Requalification takes as long as the exam cycle, and the business may not be able to operate meanwhile. |
This column existed in the register from the day it was loaded and nothing had ever read it. It is the single most consequential fact about a takeover that the public record can supply.
By jurisdiction
| Jurisdiction | Licences | Transfer with a sale | Personal | Exam-gated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NC | 1,551 | 26.0% | 47.1% | 574 |
| FL | 1,275 | 0.0% | 29.8% | 451 |
| ME | 828 | 53.1% | 20.0% | 644 |
| IN | 764 | 0.3% | 62.0% | 673 |
| SC | 757 | 0.0% | 0.1% | 1 |
| IL | 742 | 0.4% | 67.5% | 342 |
| CA | 729 | 0.0% | 0.1% | 1 |
| KY | 714 | 0.1% | 80.5% | 441 |
| WI | 648 | 0.0% | 97.1% | 335 |
| MI | 640 | 0.5% | 85.8% | 497 |
| MN | 631 | 1.3% | 9.7% | 35 |
| MD | 615 | 0.0% | 1.6% | 17 |
| OR | 610 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 |
| DE | 602 | 0.0% | 91.7% | 417 |
| AR | 585 | 10.1% | 62.7% | 367 |
| MT | 582 | 0.3% | 84.0% | 355 |
| CT | 577 | 0.0% | 80.2% | 225 |
| VA | 511 | 13.3% | 63.6% | 229 |
| OK | 510 | 1.0% | 86.1% | 274 |
| NM | 504 | 0.6% | 83.5% | 355 |
| TX | 499 | 0.0% | 92.0% | 171 |
| CO | 466 | 0.2% | 87.1% | 422 |
| PA | 448 | 0.4% | 84.2% | 384 |
| MS | 444 | 1.6% | 77.5% | 253 |
| SD | 436 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0 |
| NJ | 419 | 0.0% | 50.6% | 319 |
| MO | 395 | 0.3% | 78.5% | 252 |
| NE | 385 | 0.0% | 98.2% | 0 |
| TN | 380 | 0.3% | 21.3% | 339 |
| ND | 375 | 2.1% | 82.4% | 291 |
| GA | 365 | 0.5% | 69.6% | 328 |
| VT | 352 | 1.4% | 87.2% | 253 |
| KS | 351 | 0.3% | 87.2% | 247 |
| WA | 344 | 0.6% | 93.0% | 224 |
| ID | 338 | 0.3% | 84.3% | 305 |
| NY | 336 | 0.0% | 48.5% | 203 |
| NH | 329 | 8.5% | 72.0% | 213 |
| MA | 327 | 0.0% | 88.1% | 258 |
| RI | 308 | 0.0% | 92.5% | 194 |
| OH | 303 | 5.0% | 62.7% | 109 |
The spread is real and large: Maine transfers 53% of its licences with a sale, Indiana 0.3%. A takeover that is routine in one jurisdiction requires the buyer to requalify from scratch in another, for the same trade. Where a column reads 0.0% the register holds no business-tied licences there — that is what it records, not a statement that none exist.
Check a specific case
| Do this | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Look up a jurisdiction → | Every licence on record for one state, with the titles used and which are exam-gated. Change the two-letter code in the address. |
| Look up an occupation → | Where a trade is licensed, matched on SOC code rather than job title. |
| Screen acquisitions → | Which industries actually get financed, and how often those loans are charged off. |
A transfer risk you cannot check against your own case is a fact about the world rather than about your deal.
What this path still cannot tell you
TAKEOVER IS SPECIFIED AND NOT BUILT. No agent emits its dimensions, no stage list exists, and no candidate has ever carried a TAKEOVER verdict. This page answers ONE of its seven dimensions — K6, licence transfer, weighted at 12% — from real evidence.
The dominant dimension is liability clarity at 25%: what the buyer inherits in debts, judgments, environmental exposure and employment claims. No federal dataset publishes that per industry, and until one does this path should not issue a score. One dimension answered from evidence is worth more than seven asserted.