An Act To
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1482
Committee Amendment CA_A_S439 (Senate)
Amends: 10 MRSA §1174, 10 MRSA §1176, 10 MRSA §1176-A

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" 1\" to S.P. 544, L.D. 1482, Bill, "An Act To 
Amend the Motor Vehicle Franchise Laws" 
Amend the bill in section 1 in subsection 3-A in the first line (page 1, line 3 in L.D.) 
by inserting after the following: "device" the following: 'required by the manufacturer' 
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 2 and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 2. 10 MRSA §1174, sub-§3, ~A, as amended by PL 1997, c. 521, §8, is 
further amended to read: 
A. To refuse to deliver in reasonable quantities and within a reasonable time after 
receipt of a dealer's order to any motor vehicle dealer having a franchise or 
contractual arrangement for the retail sale of new motor vehicles sold or distributed 
by that manufacturer, distributor, distributor branch or division, factory branch or 
division any motor vehicles or palis or accessories to motor vehicles covered by that 
franchise or contract specifically publicly advertised by that manufacturer, 
distributor, distributor branch or division, factory branch or division or wholesale 
branch or division to be available for delivery. The allocation of new motor vehicles 
in this State must be made on a fair and equitable basis and must consider the needs 
of those dealerships with a relevant market area radius of more than 5 miles as 
defined in section 1174-A, subsection 1. 
The manufacturer has the burden of 
establishing the fairness of its allocation system. A failure by a manufacturer to 
provide to a dealer a fair and adequate supply and mix of vehicles, including the 
allocation of vehicles under any separate dealer designation, including but not limited 
to "premier," "business class or elite" or any other designation not available to all 
new motor vehicle dealers for that franchise, that results in an effort to tenninate a 
new motor vehicle dealer for, in whole or in part, poor sales performance or market 
penetration may be evidence that the termination was not for good cause. 
The 
failure to deliver any motor vehicle is not considered a violation of this chapter if the 
failure is due to an act of God, work stoppage or delay due to a strike or labor 
difficulty, shortage of materials, freight embargo or other cause over which the 
manufacturer, distributor or any agent of the manufacturer or distributor has no 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to S.P. 544, L.D. 1482 
control. A separate dealer agreement is not required of a new motor vehicle dealer 
already a party to a dealer agreement or franchise agreement for the retail sale of any 
particular new motor vehicle model made or distributed by a manufacturer, 
distributor, distributor branch or division, factory branch or division, wholesale 
branch or division or officer, agent or other representative thereof, except that a 
manufacturer or distributor may require a dealer to purchase special tools or 
equipment, stock reasonable quantities of certain parts, purchase reasonable 
quantities of promotional materials or pmiicipate in training programs that are 
reasonably necessary for the dealer to sell or service such a new motor vehicle model. 
Any special tools, parts or signs not used within 2 years of receipt by the dealer may 
be returned by the dealer to the manufacturer or distributor for a full refund of cost of 
those special tools, parts and signs;' 
Amend the bill in section 3 in paragraph F-l by striking out all of the last blocked 
paragraph (page 2, lines 16 to 20 in L.D.) and inserting the following: 
'A manufacturer that designates any tool as special or essential, or who requires the 
purchase of hardware or software, whether or not designated as an essential tool, may 
recover from the dealer only the actual costs of providing any such tool, the actual 
costs of user fees, the actual costs of maintenance fees and other costs of any nature 
of software for any such tool, as long as the tool is directly available only from the 
manufacturer or its wholly owned subsidiary;' 
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 4 and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 4. 10 MRSA §1174, sub-§3, ,N, as amended by PL 2009, c. 367, §2, is 
further amended to read: 
N. To require any new motor vehicle dealer to change the location of the new motor 
vehicle dealership or during the course of the agreement or as a condition of renewal 
of a franchise agreement to make any substantial alterations to the dealership 
premises when to do so would be unreasonable. A manufacturer may not require any 
substantial alterations or renovations to the dealership's premises without written 
assurance of a sufficient supply of new motor vehicles so as to justify an expansion in 
light of the current market and economic conditions or require any new motor vehicle 
dealer to use a specific product or service provider in relation to any dealership 
premises or facilities alterations or renovations unless the manufacturer reimburses 
the dealer for a substantial portion, which may not be less than 55%, of the cost of the 
product or service provider. However, a new motor vehicle dealer may elect to use a 
vendor selected by the dealer if the product or service is substantially similar in 
quality and design to that required by the manufacturer, subject to the manufacturer's 
approval, which may not be unreasonably withheld. A manufacturer may not require 
any substantial renovation or alteration to dealership premises or facilities without 
providing, upon a dealer's request, a dealer-specific detailed economic analysis of the 
impact of the alteration or renovation on sales, service and dealer profitability that 
substantiates the need for the alteration or renovation or require a new motor vehicle 
dealer to make any substantial alterations or renovations more than once every 10 
years. A dealer-specific economic analysis provided by the manufacturer may not be 
interpreted as a guaranty of a return on investment by the dealer. Nothing in this 
paragraph creates an exemption from the requirements of state health and safety laws 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ".A." to S.P. 544, L.D. 1482 
or local zoning laws or restricts the requirement to comply with alterations or 
renovations that are necessary to adequately sell or service a vehicle due to the 
technology of the vehicle. Nothing in this paragraph allows a dealer or vendor to 
infringe upon or impair a manufacturer's intellectual property or trademark and trade 
dress rights. A manufacturer is not required to reimburse a dealer for the cost of 
signs or other materials bearing that manufacturer's own trademark; 
Sec. 5. 10 MRSA §1174, sub-§3, ~T, as amended by PL 2009, c. 367, §5, is 
further amended to read: 
T. To act as, offer to act as or purport to be a broker; ef' 
Amend the bill in section 5 in paragraph V in subparagraph (1) by striking out all of 
division (b) (page 3, lines 8 to 10 in L.D.) and inserting the following: 
'(b) "Dealer management computer system vendor" means a seller or reseller 
of dealer management computer systems, a person that sells computer 
software for use on dealer management computer systems or a person that 
services or maintains dealer management computer systems, but only to the 
extent the seller, reseller or other person listed is engaged in such activities.' 
Amend the bill in section 5 in paragraph V by striking out all of subparagraph (5) and 
inserting the following: 
'(5) 
A manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler, distributor branch or division, 
factory branch or division, wholesale branch or division or officer, agent, dealer 
management computer system vendor or other representative thereof, or a 3rd 
party acting on behalf of a manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler, distributor 
branch or division, factory branch or division, wholesale branch or division or 
officer, agency, dealer management computer system vendor or other 
representative thereof, may not access or obtain dealer or customer data from or 
write dealer or customer data to a dealer management computer system used by a 
motor vehicle dealer or require or coerce a motor vehicle dealer to use a 
particular dealer management computer system, unless the dealer management 
computer system allows the dealer to reasonably maintain the security, integrity 
and confidentiality of the data maintained in the system. 
A manufacturer, 
distributor, wholesaler, distributor branch or division, factory branch or division, 
wholesale branch or division or officer, agent, dealer management computer 
system vendor or other representative thereof, or a 3rd party acting on behalf of a 
manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler, distributor branch or division, factory 
branch or division, wholesale branch or division or officer, agency, dealer 
management computer system vendor or other representative thereof, may not 
prohibit a dealer from providing a means to regularly and continually monitor the 
specific data accessed from or written to the dealer's dealer management 
computer system or from complying with applicable state and federal laws, rules 
and regulations. 
Nothing in this subparagraph imposes an obligation on a 
manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler, distributor branch or division, factory 
branch or division, wholesale branch or division or officer, agent, dealer 
management computer system vendor or other representative thereof, or a 3rd 
party acting on behalf of a manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler, distributor 
branch or division, factory branch or division, wholesale branch or division or 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to S.P. 544, L.D. 1482 
officer, agency, dealer management computer system vendor or other 
representative thereof, to provide such capability.' 
Amend the bill in section 5 in paragraph V in subparagraph (6) in division (b) in the 
first line (page 5, line 27 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "100" and inserting the 
following: '60' 
Amend the bill in section 5 in paragraph V in subparagraph (12) in the last line (page 
9, line 5 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "and" and inserting the following: 'or' 
Amend the bill in section 5 in paragraph V by striking out all of subparagraph (13) 
(page 9, line 6 in L.D.). 
Amend the bill in section 5 in paragraph W in subparagraph (3) in the last line (page 
9, line 45 in L.D.) by striking out the following: 
"~" and inserting the following: 
'~' 
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 6 and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 6. 10 MRSA §1176, as amended by PL 2003, c. 356, §1O, is further amended 
by adding at the end a new paragraph to read: 
A franchisor may not deny those elements of a warranty claim that are based on a 
dealer's incidental failure to comply with a claim requirement or a clerical error or other 
technicality, regardless of whether the franchisor contests any other element of that 
warranty claim, as long as the dealer corrects any such clerical error or other technicality 
according to licensee guidelines. 
Sec. 7. 10 MRSA §1176-A, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 521, §26, is amended to 
read: 
§1176-A. Audits 
A manufacturer may reasonably and periodically audit a new motor vehicle dealer to 
determine the validity of paid claims or any charge-backs for customer or dealer 
incentives. Audits of incentive payments may be only for the 1 g month 12-month period 
immediately preceding the date notifying the dealer that an audit is to be conducted.' 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment is the majority report of the committee. It makes the following 
changes to the bill. 
1. It changes the definition of "essential tool" to specify that an essential tool is one 
that is required by a motor vehicle manufacturer. 
2. 
It changes the provisions goveming the requirement that a motor vehicle 
manufacturer provide a fair and adequate supply and mix of vehicles to a dealer to 
provide that a failure by a manufacturer to do so that results in an effort to terminate a 
new motor vehicle dealer for, in whole or in part, poor sales perfonnance or market 
penetration may be evidence that the termination was not for good cause. 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to S.P. 544, L.D. 1482 
3. It changes the provisions governing recovery of actual costs by the manufacturer 
from the dealer for special or essential tools to provide that the manufacturer may recover 
costs only if the tool is directly available only from the manufacturer or its wholly owned 
subsidiary. 
4. It clarifies the provisions governing prohibited conduct by a manufacturer relating 
to alterations or renovations to a dealership's premises or facilities and provides that the 
provisions do not supersede certain other laws, including state health and safety laws or 
local zoning laws. 
5. It expands the definition of "dealer management computer system vendor." 
6. In the section relating to standards protecting dealership data from unauthorized 
use, it strikes the provision regarding fees and adds language to include 3rd parties in the 
provision prohibiting access to dealer and customer data. 
7. It changes the provisions regarding exceptions to the limitations on the access or 
use of customer or prospect infonnation maintained in a dealer management computer 
system to provide that the limitations do not apply to a customer that moves more than 60 
miles away from the dealer whose data were accessed. 
8. It removes the provision relating to the retroactive application of contracts in the 
section governing security breaches. 
9. It replaces the language governing a franchisor's responsibility to pay elements of 
a warranty claim to provide that the franchisor is prohibited from denying those elements 
of a warranty claim that are based on a dealer's incidental failure to comply with a claim 
requirement, as long as the dealer corrects any related clerical error or other technicality 
according to licensee guidelines. 
10. It adds a provision to amend current law to reduce from 18 to 12 the number of 
months a manufacturer may audit a new motor vehicle dealer to detennine the validity of 
customer or dealer incentive payments. 
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