Montana Code 30-11-905. Refusal to honor succession to ownership — notice required
30-11-905. Refusal to honor succession to ownership — notice required. (1) If a grantor believes that good cause exists for refusing to honor the succession to the ownership and operation of a dealership by a designated family member or by a designated successor under the existing franchise agreement, the grantor may, within 30 days of receipt of notice of the designated family member’s or designated successor’s intent to succeed the dealer in the ownership and operation of the dealership, serve upon the designated family member or designated successor and the department notice of the grantor’s refusal to honor the succession and of the grantor’s intent to discontinue the existing franchise agreement with the dealership no sooner than 60 days from the date the notice is served.
Terms Used In Montana Code 30-11-905
- Dealer: means a person who is a grantee of a construction equipment dealership situated in this state. See Montana Code 30-11-901
- Dealership: means a contract or agreement, expressed or implied, whether oral or written, including a franchise as defined in 61-4-201, by which a person is granted the right to sell or distribute construction equipment, in which there is a community of interest in the business of offering, selling, or distributing construction equipment. See Montana Code 30-11-901
- Department: means the department of labor and industry established in 2-15-1701. See Montana Code 30-11-901
- Designated family member: means the spouse, child, grandchild, parent, brother, or sister of a dealer. See Montana Code 30-11-901
- Designated successor: means a person designated in writing by the retiring dealer to succeed in the dealership or, in the case of an incapacitated dealer, a person appointed by a court as the legal representative of the dealer's property or the appointed and qualified personal representative and the testamentary trustee of a deceased dealer. See Montana Code 30-11-901
- Good cause: when used in 30-11-902, 30-11-903, and 30-11-909, means:
(i)failure by a dealer to comply substantially with essential and reasonable requirements imposed upon the dealer by the grantor or sought to be imposed by the grantor, which requirements are not discriminatory as compared with requirements imposed on other similarly situated dealers either by the terms of the requirements or in the manner of their enforcement; or
(ii)bad faith by the dealer in carrying out the terms of the dealership. See Montana Code 30-11-901
- Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
- Grantor: means a person who grants a dealership. See Montana Code 30-11-901
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
(2)The notice must state the specific grounds for the refusal to honor the succession and the intent to discontinue the existing franchise agreement with the dealership no sooner than 60 days from the date the notice is served.
(3)If notice of refusal and discontinuance is not timely served upon the designated family member or designated successor and the department or if the department rules in favor of the complainant in a hearing held pursuant to 30-11-906, the franchise agreement must continue in effect subject to termination only as otherwise permitted by law.