Buying a bar: the licence due-diligence checklist

Nine things to verify about the permit before you sign anything.

The licence is often the most valuable asset in a hospitality deal and the one most likely to be misrepresented. Work through this before the deposit.

1. Does the licence exist, exactly as described?

Search the state register by address and by the seller’s corporate name. Both. A licence described as “full liquor” that turns out to be beer-and-wine changes the value of the business.

2. Is it current?

Check status and expiry date. In Texas alone, more than a third of records are expired or surrendered.

3. Who actually holds it?

The holder on the register must match the entity you are buying. In Connecticut, check both permittee and backer. A licence held personally by a departing operator is not an asset of the company.

4. What else does that holder hold?

Every licence page here lists the holder’s other licences. A holder with several premises may have a group-level issue that will follow the transfer.

5. Is there enforcement history?

In Connecticut this is published. Elsewhere, ask the agency directly and ask the seller in writing.

6. Is the class right for your plan?

Hours, on- versus off-premises, whether you can serve spirits, whether you need a food certificate. The class page for the licence sets out what the code is.

7. Is the licence transferable, and to whom?

Transfer rules vary. Some require a fresh application with the same scrutiny as a new licence, which means the timeline — and the possibility of refusal — belongs in the contract.

8. What are the local restrictions?

Proximity rules, local option, quota caps, zoning and hours. New York’s 200-foot and 500-foot rules are the well-known example, but every state has an equivalent.

9. Verify with the agency before completion

Everything on this site is a live copy of what the state published, and state publication can lag internal systems. For a transaction, get it from the agency in writing.

This is a research checklist, not legal advice. Use a lawyer who does alcohol licensing in the relevant state.