Montana Code 61-4-210. Penalties — administrative penalties
61-4-210. Penalties — administrative penalties. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a person who violates any provision of this part is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not less than $500 or more than $1,000 for each violation. Each day that a violation continues or occurs constitutes a separate violation.
Terms Used In Montana Code 61-4-210
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Dealer: means a person that, for commission or profit, engages in whole or in part in the business of buying, selling, exchanging, or accepting on consignment new or used motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, pole trailers, travel trailers, motorboats, sailboats, snowmobiles, off-highway vehicles, or special mobile equipment that is not registered in the name of the person. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Department: means the department of justice acting directly or through its duly authorized officers or agents. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Factory branch: means a branch office maintained or availed of by a manufacturer for the sale of a line-make of new motor vehicles to distributors or for the sale of new motor vehicles to new motor vehicle dealers in this state or for directing or supervising its representatives in this state. See Montana Code 61-4-201
- Importer: means a person who transports or arranges for the transportation of a foreign manufactured new motor vehicle into the United States for sale in this state. See Montana Code 61-4-201
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Manufacturer: means a person who manufactures or assembles a line-make of new motor vehicles and distributes them directly or indirectly through one or more distributors to one or more new motor vehicle dealers in this state or who manufactures or installs on previously assembled truck chassis special bodies or equipment that, when installed, forms an integral part of the new motor vehicle and that constitutes a major manufacturing alteration, but does not include a person who installs a camper on a pickup truck. See Montana Code 61-4-201
- Motor vehicle: includes a motorboat and a personal watercraft as defined in 23-2-502, a snowmobile as defined in 23-2-601, and an off-highway vehicle as defined in 23-2-801. See Montana Code 61-4-201
- New motor vehicle: means a motor vehicle that has not been the subject of a retail sale regardless of the mileage of the vehicle. See Montana Code 61-4-201
- New motor vehicle dealer: means a person who buys, sells, exchanges, or offers or attempts to negotiate a sale or exchange or any interest in or who is engaged in the business of selling new motor vehicles under a franchise with the manufacturer of the new motor vehicles or used motor vehicles taken in trade on new motor vehicles. See Montana Code 61-4-201
- person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, state agency, local government unit, another state government, the United States, a political subdivision of this or another state, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- 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
- Transferee: means a person or entity that:
(a)is in possession or control of a new motor vehicle dealer;
(b)holds an ownership or signed contract interest in a new motor vehicle dealer;
(c)is acting in a fiduciary capacity for a new motor vehicle dealer; or
(d)is an heir, devisee, personal representative, beneficiary, successor, or assign of a new motor vehicle dealer. See Montana Code 61-4-201
- Vehicle: means a device in, on, or by which any person or property may be transported or drawn on a public highway, except devices moved by animal power or used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks. See Montana Code 61-1-101
(2)A manufacturer on direct dealerships, distributor on indirect dealerships, or importer on direct dealerships who has filed with the department an agreement used by all its franchisees in this state together with a list of all such franchisees and who fails to notify the department within 30 days of any revision, change, or addition thereto is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not to exceed $500.
(3)If any new motor vehicle dealer or transferee of a new motor vehicle dealer incurs pecuniary loss due to a violation of this part by a manufacturer, distributor, importer, or factory branch or representative or agent of the listed persons or entities, the new motor vehicle dealer or transferee of a new motor vehicle dealer may recover damages in a court of competent jurisdiction in an amount equal to three times the pecuniary loss, together with costs including reasonable attorney fees.
(4)In addition to any other penalty provided for in this part, the department may take appropriate enforcement action on its own initiative in accordance with the contested case procedures of Title 2, chapter 4. A person who violates the provisions of this part may be subject to administrative action and a civil penalty not to exceed $500 for each violation.