2023 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations › Chapter 218 - Finance companies, auto dealers, adjustment companies and collection agencies. › 218.0145 - Prohibited acts.

218.0145
Prohibited acts.
(1)
No manufacturer, wholesaler, or distributor, and no officer, agent, or representative of a manufacturer, wholesaler, or distributor, shall induce or coerce, or attempt to induce or coerce, any retail motor vehicle dealer or prospective retail motor vehicle dealer in this state to sell, assign, or transfer any retail installment sales contract, obtained by the dealer in connection with the sale by the dealer in this state of motor vehicles manufactured or sold by the manufacturer, wholesaler, or distributor, to a specified sales finance company or class of sales finance companies, or to any other specified person, by any of the following acts or means:
(a)
By any express or implied statement, suggestion, promise or threat, made directly or indirectly, that the manufacturer, wholesaler or distributor will in any manner benefit or injure the dealer.
(b)
By any act that will benefit or injure the dealer.
(c)
By any contract, or any express or implied offer of contract, made directly or indirectly to the dealer, for handling motor vehicles manufactured or sold by the manufacturer, wholesaler or distributor, on the condition that the dealer sell, assign or transfer the dealer's retail installment contracts on motor vehicles manufactured or sold by the manufacturer, wholesaler or distributor, in this state, to a specified sales finance company or class of sales finance companies, or to any other specified person.
(d)
By any express or implied statement or representation, made directly or indirectly, that the dealer is under any obligation to sell, assign or transfer any of the dealer's retail sales contracts, in this state, on motor vehicles manufactured or sold by the manufacturer, wholesaler or distributor to a sales finance company, or class of sales finance companies, or other specified person, because of any relationship or affiliation between the manufacturer, wholesaler or distributor and the sales finance company or companies or the specified person or persons.
(2)
Any statements, threats, promises, acts, contracts or offers of contracts, set forth in sub. (1) are declared unfair trade practices and unfair competition and against the policy of this state, are unlawful and are prohibited.
(3)
No sales finance company, and no officer, agent or representative of a sales finance company, shall induce or coerce or attempt to induce or coerce any retail motor vehicle dealer to transfer to the sales finance company any of the dealer's retail installment sales contracts in this state on any motor vehicle by any of the following acts or means:
(a)
By any statement or representation, express or implied, made directly or indirectly, that the manufacturer, wholesaler or distributor of the motor vehicles will grant the dealer a franchise to handle the manufacturer's, wholesaler's or distributor's motor vehicles if the dealer will sell, assign or transfer all or part of such retail sales contracts to such sales finance company.
(b)
By any statement or representation, express or implied, made directly or indirectly, that the manufacturer, wholesaler or distributor will in any manner benefit or injure the dealer if the dealer does or does not sell, assign or transfer all or part of the dealer's retail sales contracts to the sales finance company.
(c)
By an express or implied statement or representation made directly or indirectly, that there is an express or implied obligation on the part of the dealer to so sell, assign or transfer all or part of the dealer's retail sales contracts on the manufacturer's, wholesaler's or distributor's motor vehicles to the sales finance company because of any relationship or affiliation between the sales finance company and the manufacturer, wholesaler or distributor.
(4)
Any statements or representations set forth in sub. (3) are declared to be unfair trade practices, unfair competition and against the policy of this state, and are unlawful and are prohibited.
(5)
Any retail motor vehicle dealer who, pursuant to any inducement, statement, promise or threat declared unlawful under this section, shall sell, assign or transfer any or all of the dealer's retail installment contracts shall not be guilty of any unlawful act and may be compelled to testify to each such unlawful act.
(6)
No manufacturer shall directly or indirectly pay or give, or contract to pay or give, anything of service or value to any sales finance company licensee in this state, and no sales finance company licensee in this state shall accept or receive or contract or agree to accept or receive directly or indirectly any payment or thing of service or value from any manufacturer, if the effect of the payment or the giving of the thing of service or value by the manufacturer, or the acceptance or receipt of the payment or thing of service or value by the sales finance company licensee, may be to lessen or eliminate competition or tend to grant an unfair trade advantage or create a monopoly in the sales finance company licensee.
History:  1999 a. 31 s. 270; 2001 a. 38.