2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 15 - Regulation Of Manufacturers, Distributors And Dealers › Section 56-15-330. Facilities required for issuance of dealer's license.

Section effective January 1, 2024. See, also, Section 56-15-330 effective until January 1, 2024.
No dealer or wholesaler may be issued or allowed to maintain a motor vehicle dealer's license unless:
(1) The dealer maintains a bona fide established place of business for conducting the business of selling or exchanging motor vehicles which must be the principal business conducted from the fixed location. A bona fide established place of business for any motor vehicle dealer includes a permanent, enclosed building or structure, not excluding a permanently installed mobile home containing at least ninety-six square feet of floor space, actually occupied by the applicant and easily accessible by the public, at which a permanent business of bartering, trading, or selling of motor vehicles or displaying vehicles for bartering, trading, or selling is carried on, wherein the public may contact the owner or operator at all reasonable times and in which must be kept and maintained the books, records, and files required by this chapter. A bona fide established place of business does not mean a residence, tent, temporary stand, or other temporary quarters. Wholesaler dealers are not required to have space to display vehicles.
(2) The dealer's place of business must display a permanent sign with letters at least six inches in height, clearly readable from the nearest major avenue of traffic. The sign must clearly identify the licensed business. This subsection does not apply to wholesale dealers.
(3) The dealer's place of business must have a reasonable area or lot to properly display motor vehicles. This subsection does not apply to wholesale dealers.
(4) A dealer may use his license to conduct business on property adjacent to or within sight of his bona fide established place of business. The property adjacent to or within sight of the bona fide established place of business is deemed to be contiguous even if there exists a single intervening landmark such as a road or a railroad track. The property adjacent to or the property within sight of the bona fide place of business must display the same permanent dealership sign as the bona fide established place of business pursuant to item (2). The property adjacent to or property within sight of the bona fide place of business need not include a permanent, enclosed building or structure, but all records for business conducted on the property adjacent to or property within sight of the bona fide place of business must be maintained at the bona fide established place of business. Any sales transactions pursuant to this section must take place at the location of the bona fide established place of business. Dealers applying for a license pursuant to this subsection must provide on the dealer license application, the street address of the adjacent property or the property within sight and affirm that the dealer has met any local requirements to lawfully conduct business at that location.
HISTORY: 1983 Act No. 118 Section 12; 2023 Act No. 51 (S.549), Section 21, eff January 1, 2024.
Editor's Note
2023 Act No. 51, Sections 34 and 40(D), provide as follows:
"SECTION 34. Dealers subject to the provisions contained in Section 56-14-50, 56-15-330, or 56-16-160 who maintain business operations on adjacent properties or properties within sight as described in the code section applicable to the dealer but who do not meet the requirements of Section 56-14-50, 56-15-330, or 56-16-160, as applicable to the dealer and as amended by this act may be grandfathered by the Department of Motor Vehicles for the remainder of the license under which the dealer is operating as of the effective date of this act."
"[SECTION 40.](D) SECTIONS 15 through 28 take effect on January 1, 2024. Any dealership applying for or renewing licenses, or operating on a currently issued license on or after January 1, 2024, is subject to the provisions of SECTIONS 15 through 28."
Effect of Amendment
2023 Act No. 51, Section 21, in the first undesignated paragraph, inserted "or wholesaler"; in (1), deleted the former second sentence, which related to the sale of motorcycle or motor driven cycles not needing to be the principal business conducted from the fixed location, and added the fourth sentence; in (2), added the third sentence; in (3), added the second sentence; and added (4).