Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 280 - Department of Revenue › Chapter 30 - Division of Motor Vehicles › Subchapter 20 - Dealer Licensing and Registration › Part 1 - Dealers, Manufacturers, and Rental Licenses › Section 280-RICR-30-20-1.5 - Definitions

Current through June 14, 2024
A. The following terms, as used in these
				 Rules and Regulations, are defined as follows:
1. "Advertisement" (including the terms
				 "advertise" and "advertising") means any oral, written or graphic statement
				 made by a seller in any manner in connection with the solicitation of business
				 and includes, without limitation because of statements and representations made
				 in a newspaper or other publication or on radio or television or via the
				 internet or contained in any notice, handbill, sign, billboard, poster, bill,
				 circular, brochure, pamphlet, catalogue or letter, or printed on or contained
				 in any tag or label which is attached to or accompanies any merchandise offered
				 for sale.
2. "Agent" means an
				 individual or groups of individuals authorized by another to act for the
				 licensed dealer.
3. "Annex" means a
				 location within the radius of two (2) roadway miles where the business of a
				 licensed used motor vehicle dealership is carried on in addition to the place
				 of business designated on the dealer's license.
4. "Applicant" means a person, partnership,
				 corporation or association which has filed an application for a license from
				 the Rhode Island Department of Revenue under these Regulations.
5. "Auction" means a person, firm,
				 partnership, corporation or association who engages in the business of
				 auctioning motor vehicles to and for licensed motor vehicle dealers only, on a
				 wholesale basis.
6. "Auctioneer"
				 means a person who sells motor vehicles at an auction for another on commission
				 or for recompense and is licensed and bonded by the State of Rhode Island
				 Department of Business Regulations.
7. "Authorized dealer representative" means a
				 salesperson, sales manager or other agent or employee of a motor vehicle dealer
				 or auction who is authorized to represent or act for the dealer or the auction
				 in connection with the acceptance, rejection or modification of motor vehicle
				 purchase contracts.
8. "Branch"
				 means a location where the business of a motor vehicle dealership is carried on
				 and where all minimum requirements are in effect.
9. "Clear and conspicuous" means that the
				 statement, representation or term being disclosed is of such size, sound or
				 color contrast and is so placed as to be readily noticeable to the person to
				 whom it is being disclosed. A statement contained in a printed contract, form
				 or notice is not clear and conspicuous unless it is printed in at least
				 ten-point type or its equivalent.
10. "Dealer" means any person, firm or
				 corporation who sells or acts as a broker with respect to the sale of more than
				 four (4) vehicles in any one calendar year shall be considered a motor vehicle
				 dealer. Any person, firm or corporation who, prior to the retail sale of a
				 motor vehicle, converts or otherwise assembles, installs or affixes a body, cab
				 or special equipment to a chassis or who adds to, subtracts from or modifies a
				 previously assembled or manufactured motor vehicle shall be considered a motor
				 vehicle dealer.
11. "Demonstrator"
				 means a new motor vehicle used for demonstration purposes by a licensed
				 dealership which has a certificate of origin, a factory warranty, and a written
				 disclosure identifying the vehicle as a demonstrator vehicle. The written
				 disclosure shall include the number of miles that the vehicle has been driven
				 and the terms of the factory warranty. Any motor vehicle used for demonstration
				 purposes by a licensed dealership that has been previously titled shall not be
				 considered a demonstrator vehicle.
12. "Department" shall mean the Rhode Island
				 Department of Revenue.
13.
				 "Designated family member" means the spouse, child, grandchild, parent, brother
				 or sister of the owner of a new motor vehicle dealer
a. who, in the case of the owner's death, is
				 entitled to inherit the ownership interest in the new motor vehicle dealership
				 under the terms of the owner's will, or
b. who has been nominated in any other
				 written instrument or
c. who, in the
				 case of an incapacitated owner of a new motor vehicle dealer, has been
				 appointed by a court as the legal representative of the new motor vehicle
				 dealer's property.
14.
				 "Franchise" means the agreement or contract between any new motor vehicle
				 manufacturer, written or otherwise, and any new motor vehicle dealer which
				 purports to fix the legal rights and liabilities of the parties to such
				 agreement or contract, and pursuant to which the dealer purchases and re-sells
				 the franchise product or leases or rents the dealership premises.
15. "Franchised dealer" means a licensed
				 dealer who holds a franchise agreement or more with a licensed manufacturer or
				 distributor to sell new motorized vehicles of a type to be registered and has
				 received approval from the Department.
16. "Fraud" includes, in addition to its
				 normal legal connotation, the following: a misrepresentation in any manner,
				 whether intentionally false or due to gross negligence, of a material fact; a
				 promise or representation not made honestly and in good faith; and an
				 intentional failure to disclose a material fact.
17. "Good faith" means honesty in fact and
				 the observation of reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing in the trade
				 as is defined and interpreted in R.I. Gen. Laws §
											6A-2-103.
18. "Manufacturer" means any person,
				 partnership, firm, association, corporation or trust, resident or nonresident
				 who manufacturers or assembles new motor vehicles, or imports for distribution
				 through distributors of motor vehicles, or any partnership, firm, association,
				 joint venture, corporation or trust, resident or nonresident, which is
				 controlled by the manufacturer. Additionally, the term manufacturer shall
				 include the following terms:
a. "Factory
				 Branch" means a branch office maintained by a manufacturer for the purpose of
				 selling, or offering for sale, vehicles to a distributor or new motor vehicle
				 dealer, or for directing or supervising in whole or in part factory or
				 distributor representatives.
b.
				 "Distributor" means any person, firm, association, corporation or trust,
				 resident or nonresident, who in whole or in part offers for sale, sells or
				 distributes any new motor vehicle to new motor vehicle dealers or who maintains
				 factory representatives or who controls any person, firm, association,
				 corporation or trust, resident or nonresident, who in whole or in part offers
				 for sale, sells or distributes any new motor vehicle to new motor vehicle
				 dealers.
19. "Motor
				 vehicle" means every vehicle intended primarily for use and operation on the
				 public highways which is self- propelled, not including farm tractors and other
				 machines and tools used in the production, harvesting and care of farm
				 products.
20. "New motor vehicle
				 dealer" means any person engaged in the business of selling, offering to sell,
				 soliciting or advertising the sale of new motor vehicles and who holds or held
				 at the time a cause of action under this chapter accrued, a valid sales and
				 service agreement, franchise or contract, granted by the manufacturer or
				 distributor for the retail sale of said manufacturer's or distributor's new
				 motor vehicle.
21. "New or unused
				 motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle that is transferred from either a
				 manufacturer or a distributor to a franchised dealer of the same line make with
				 a certificate or origin and carries a full factory warranty. Any motor vehicle
				 that is transferred from one franchised dealer to another same line make
				 franchised dealer with a certificate of origin and a full-factory warranty
				 shall also be considered a new or unused motor vehicle.
22. "Person" means a natural person,
				 corporation, partnership, trust or other entity, and, in case of an entity it
				 shall include any other entity in which it has a majority interest or
				 effectively controls as well the individual officers, directors and other
				 persons in active control of the activities of each such entity.
23. "Place of business" means a designated
				 location at which the business of the dealer or auction is conducted and
				 facilities for displaying new or used motor vehicles are maintained.
24. "Rental vehicle business" means any
				 person, firm or corporation, whether resident or nonresident, engaging in,
				 granting a franchise or license to engage in, or granting use of its name,
				 trademark or trade name, for the business or renting motor vehicles for the
				 transportation of persons or property.
25. "Used motor vehicle" means any motor
				 vehicle that does not fall within the definition of a new or unused motor
				 vehicle or demonstrator vehicle shall be considered a used motor
				 vehicle.
26. "Relevant market area"
				 shall mean
1. a radius of twenty (20) miles
				 around a proposed dealer, or
2. the
				 area of responsibility defined in the franchise agreement, whichever is
				 greater.