Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 61 > Chapter 4 - Sales and Distribution of Motor Vehicles

• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Affidavit: means a sworn written declaration made before an officer authorized to administer oaths or an unsworn written declaration made under penalty of perjury as provided in 1-6-105. See Montana Code 1-1-203
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Authorized agent: means a person who has executed a written agreement with the department and is specifically authorized by the department to electronically access and update the department's motor vehicle titling, registration, or driver records, using an approved automated interface, for specific functions or purposes on behalf of a third party. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Broker: means a person:

  (a)who engages in the business of offering to procure or procuring a motor vehicle, a trailer, a semitrailer, a pole trailer, a travel trailer, a motorboat, a personal watercraft, a snowmobile, or an off-highway vehicle on behalf of another; or

  (b)who represents to the public through solicitation, advertisement, or otherwise that the person is one who offers to procure or procures a motor vehicle, a trailer, a semitrailer, a pole trailer, a travel trailer, a motorboat, a personal watercraft, a snowmobile, or an off-highway vehicle by negotiating purchases, contracts, sales, or exchanges on behalf of another and who does not store, display, or take ownership of a motor vehicle, a trailer, a semitrailer, a pole trailer, a travel trailer, a motorboat, a personal watercraft, a snowmobile, or an off-highway vehicle. See Montana Code 61-4-131

• Business entity: means a corporation, association, partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability company, or other legal entity recognized under state law. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Camper: means a structure designed to be mounted in the cargo area of a truck or attached to an incomplete vehicle for the purpose of providing shelter for persons. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Certificate of title: means the paper record issued by the department or by the appropriate agency of another jurisdiction that establishes a verifiable record of ownership between an identified person or persons and the motor vehicle specifically described in the record and that provides notice of a perfected security interest in the motor vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Community: means the relevant market area of a franchise. See Montana Code 61-4-201
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Customary: means according to usage. See Montana Code 1-1-206
• Customer identification number: means :

  (a)a driver's license or identification card number when the customer is an individual who has been issued a driver's license or identification card by a state driver licensing authority;

  (b)a federal employer or tax identification number when the customer is a business entity that has been issued a federal employer or tax identification number;

  (c)the identification number assigned by the secretary of state to a business entity authorized to do business in this state under Title 35 if the customer is a business entity that does not have a federal employer or tax identification number other than a social security number; or

  (d)if the customer has not been issued one of the numbers described in subsections (14)(a) through (14)(c), a number assigned to the customer by the department when a transaction is initiated under this title. See Montana Code 61-1-101

• 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
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the department of justice acting directly or through its duly authorized officers or agents. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Designated family member: means the spouse, child, grandchild, parent, brother, or sister of a new motor vehicle dealer, as defined in 61-4-201, who:

  (i)in the case of a deceased dealer:

  (A)is entitled to inherit the dealer's ownership interest in the dealership under the terms of the dealer's will or under the laws of intestate succession of this state; or

  (B)has otherwise been designated in writing by a deceased dealer to succeed the deceased in the motor vehicle dealership; or

  (ii)in the case of an incapacitated dealer, has been appointed by a court as the legal representative of the dealer's property. See Montana Code 61-4-131

• Distribute: means to sell new motor vehicles other than at retail or to enter into a franchise agreement authorizing a dealer to buy new motor vehicles for resale or to service motor vehicles under a manufacturer's or distributor's warranty. See Montana Code 61-4-201
• Distributor branch: means a branch office maintained or availed of by a distributor or wholesaler for the sale of a line-make of new motor vehicles to new motor vehicle dealers in this state for directing or supervising its representatives in this state. See Montana Code 61-4-201
• Domiciled: means a place where:

  (a)an individual establishes residence;

  (b)a business entity maintains its principal place of business;

  (c)the business entity's registered agent maintains an address; or

  (d)a business entity most frequently uses, dispatches, or controls a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer that it owns or leases. See Montana Code 61-1-101

• Driver: means a person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Established place of business: means the geographic location upon which a permanent building is located that is actually occupied either continuously or at regular periods by a person licensed under this part. See Montana Code 61-4-131
• 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
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• finance agency: means a person, firm, association, corporation, or other organization engaged in the business of buying, selling, assigning, dealing, financing, or acquiring conditional contracts of sale or engaged in the business of purchasing or acquiring promissory notes or any other form or evidences of indebtedness of sale, either secured by vendor's lien, conditional bill of sale, chattel mortgage, or leases arising out of the sale of motor vehicles in this state. See Montana Code 61-4-402
• For hire: means an action performed for remuneration of any kind, whether paid or promised, either directly or indirectly, or received or obtained through leasing, brokering, or buy-and-sell arrangements from which a remuneration is obtained or derived for transportation service. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Franchise: means a contract and any agreed-to amendments between or among two or more persons when all of the following conditions are included:

  (a)a commercial relationship of definite duration or continuing indefinite duration is involved;

  (b)the franchisee is granted the right to:

  (i)offer, sell, and service in this state new motor vehicles manufactured or distributed by the franchisor; or

  (ii)service motor vehicles pursuant to the terms of a franchise and a manufacturer's warranty;

  (c)the franchisee, as an independent and separate business, constitutes a component of the franchisor's distribution system; and

  (d)the operation of the franchisee's business is substantially reliant on the franchisor for the continued supply of new motor vehicles, parts, and accessories. See Montana Code 61-4-201

• Franchisee: means a person who receives new motor vehicles from the franchisor under a franchise and who offers, sells, and services the new motor vehicles to and for the general public. See Montana Code 61-4-201
• Franchisor: means a person who manufactures, imports, or distributes new motor vehicles and who may enter into a franchise. See Montana Code 61-4-201
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Germane: On the subject of the pending bill or other business; a strict standard of relevance.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Grace period: The number of days you'll have to pay your bill for purchases in full without triggering a finance charge. ^{Source: Federal Reserve}
• Gross vehicle weight: means the weight of a vehicle without load plus the weight of any load on the vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• housetrailer: has the meaning provided in 15-24-201. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• 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
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• 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.
• Knowingly: means only a knowledge that the facts exist which bring the act or omission within the provisions of this code. See Montana Code 1-1-204
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Line-make: means vehicles that are offered for sale, lease, or distribution under a common name, trademark, or service mark. See Montana Code 61-4-201
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Manufacturer: includes any person engaged in the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, pole trailers, travel trailers, motorboats, sailboats, snowmobiles, or off-highway vehicles as a regular business. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• 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
• manufacturer: means a person, firm, corporation, partnership, or association engaged either directly or indirectly in the manufacture or wholesale distribution of motor vehicles. See Montana Code 61-4-402
• Markup: The process by which congressional committees and subcommittees debate, amend, and rewrite proposed legislation.
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Motor home: means a motor vehicle:

  (a)designed to provide temporary living quarters, built as an integral part of or permanently attached to a self-propelled motor vehicle chassis or van;

  (b)containing permanently installed independent life support systems that meet the NFPA 1192 standard on recreational vehicles; and

  (c)providing at least four of the following types of facilities:

  (i)cooking, refrigeration, or icebox;

  (ii)self-contained toilet;

  (iii)heating or air conditioning, or both;

  (iv)potable water supply, including a faucet and sink; or

  (v)separate 110-volt or 125-volt electrical power supply or a liquefied petroleum gas supply, or both. See Montana Code 61-1-101

• Motor vehicle: means :

  (i)a vehicle propelled by its own power and designed or used to transport persons or property on the highways of the state;

  (ii)a quadricycle if it is equipped for use on the highways as prescribed in chapter 9; or

  (iii)a golf cart only if it is equipped for use on the highways as prescribed in chapter 9 and is operated pursuant to 61-8-391 or by a person with a low-speed restricted driver's license. See Montana Code 61-1-101

• 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
• motor vehicle: as used in this part , includes 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 61-4-402
• Motorboat: means a vessel, including a personal watercraft or pontoon, propelled by any machinery, motor, or engine of any description, whether or not the machinery, motor, or engine is the principal source of propulsion. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Motorcycle: means a motor vehicle that has a seat or saddle for the use of the operator and that is designated to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• New motor vehicle: means a motor vehicle, regardless of the mileage of the vehicle, the legal or equitable title to which has never been transferred by a manufacturer, distributor, or dealer to another person as the result of a retail sale. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• 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
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Off-highway vehicle: means a self-propelled vehicle designed for recreation or cross-country travel on public lands, trails, easements, lakes, rivers, or streams. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Operator: means a person who is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Owner: means each person who holds the legal title to a vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Peace officer: has the meaning as defined in 46-1-202. See Montana Code 1-1-207
• 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
• Personal watercraft: means a vessel that uses an outboard motor or an inboard engine powering a water jet pump as its primary source of propulsion and that is designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling on the vessel rather than by the conventional method of sitting or standing in the vessel. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Pole trailer: means a vehicle without power designed to be drawn by another vehicle and attached to the towing vehicle by means of a reach or pole or by being boomed or otherwise secured to the towing vehicle and ordinarily used for transporting long or irregularly shaped loads such as poles, pipes, or structural members capable generally of sustaining themselves as beams between the supporting connections. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Power sports vehicle: includes a motorboat, a personal watercraft, a snowmobile, or an off-highway vehicle. See Montana Code 61-4-131
• Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• purchase: as used in this part , include exchange, barter, gift, and offer or contract to sell or buy. See Montana Code 61-4-402
• Quadricycle: means a four-wheeled motor vehicle, designed for on-road or off-road use, having a seat or saddle on which the operator sits. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Real property: means lands, tenements, hereditaments, and possessory title to public lands. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• Recreational vehicle: includes a motor home, travel trailer, or camper. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Registration decal: means an adhesive sticker produced by the department and issued by the department, its authorized agent, or a county treasurer to the owner of a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, motorboat, sailboat, personal watercraft, or snowmobile as proof of payment of all fees imposed for the registration period indicated on the sticker as recorded by the department under 61-3-101. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Registration receipt: means a paper record that is produced and issued or, if authorized by the department, an electronic record that is transmitted by the department, its authorized agent, or a county treasurer to the owner of a vehicle that identifies a vehicle, based on information maintained in the electronic record of title for the vehicle, and that provides evidence of the payment of all fees required to be paid for the registration of the vehicle for the registration period indicated in the receipt. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Retail sale: means the sale of a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, travel trailer, motorboat, snowmobile, off-highway vehicle, or special mobile equipment by a dealer to a person for purposes other than resale. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Retail sale: means the sale of a new motor vehicle. See Montana Code 61-4-201
• Revocation: means the termination by action of the department of a person's driver's license, privilege to drive a motor vehicle on the public highways, and privilege to apply for and be issued a driver's license for a period of time designated by law, during which the license or privilege may not be renewed, restored, or exercised. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Sailboat: means a vessel that uses a sail and wind as its primary source of propulsion. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Sell: means to transfer ownership from one person to another person or from a dealer to another person for consideration. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Semitrailer: means a vehicle, with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and constructed so that some part of its weight and that of its load rests on or is carried by another vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Snowmobile: means a self-propelled vehicle of an overall width of 48 inches or less, excluding accessories, that is designed primarily for travel on snow or ice, that may be steered by skis or runners, and that is not otherwise registered or licensed under the laws of the state of Montana. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Special mobile equipment: means a vehicle not designed for the transportation of persons or property on the highways but incidentally operated or moved over the highways, including road construction or maintenance machinery, ditch-digging apparatus, and well-boring apparatus. 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
• Storage lot: means property owned, leased, or rented by a dealer that is not contiguous to the dealer's established place of business where a motor vehicle from the dealer's inventory may be placed when space at the dealer's established place of business is not available. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Street: means the entire width between the boundary lines of every publicly maintained way when any part of the publicly maintained way is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Suspension: means the temporary withdrawal by action of the department of a person's driver's license, privilege to drive a motor vehicle on the public highways, and privilege to apply for or be issued a driver's license for a period of time designated by law. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Temporary registration permit: means a paper record:

  (a)issued by the department, an authorized agent, a county treasurer, or a person, using a department-approved electronic interface after an electronic record has been transmitted to the department, that contains:

  (i)required vehicle and owner information; and

  (ii)the purpose for which the record was generated; and

  (b)that, when placed in a durable license-plate style plastic pouch approved by the department and displayed as prescribed in 61-3-224, authorizes a person to operate the described motor vehicle, motorboat, sailboat that is 12 feet in length or longer, snowmobile, or off-highway vehicle for:

  (i)40 days from the date the record is issued or until the vehicle is registered under Title 23 or this title, whichever first occurs; or

  (ii)90 days from the date the record is issued for a permit issued pursuant to 61-3-303(4)(b). See Montana Code 61-1-101

• Traffic: means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars, and other conveyances either singly or together while using any highways for purposes of travel. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Trailer: has the meaning provided in 61-1-101 but does not include a trailer that has an unloaded weight of less than 500 pounds. See Montana Code 61-4-131
• train: means a steam engine or electric or other motor, with or without cars coupled to the engine, that is operated on rails. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• 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

• Travel trailer: means a vehicle:

  (a)that is 46 feet or less in length;

  (b)that is of a size or weight that does not require special permits when towed by a motor vehicle; and

  (c)that is designed to provide temporary facilities for recreational, travel, or camping use and not used as a principal residence. See Montana Code 61-1-101

• Truck tractor: means a motor vehicle designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles and not constructed to carry a load other than a part of the weight of the vehicle and load drawn. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Used motor vehicle: includes any motor vehicle that has been sold, bargained, exchanged, or given away or had its title transferred from the person who first took title to it from the manufacturer, importer, dealer, wholesaler, or agent of the manufacturer or importer and that has been used so as to have become what is commonly known as "secondhand" within the ordinary meaning of that term. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• 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
• Vehicle identification number: means the number, letters, or combination of numbers and letters assigned by the manufacturer, by the department, or in accordance with the laws of another state or country for the purpose of identifying the motor vehicle or a component part of the motor vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• wholesale distributor: means a person, firm, association, corporation, or other organization engaged directly or indirectly in the sale or distribution of motor vehicles to agents or to dealers. See Montana Code 61-4-402
• Wholesaler: means a person that for a commission or with intent to make a profit or gain of money or other thing of value sells, exchanges, or attempts to negotiate a sale or exchange of an interest in a used motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, travel trailer, motorboat, snowmobile, off-highway vehicle, or special mobile equipment only to dealers and auto auctions licensed under chapter 4, part 1. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• wholesaler: means a person who sells or distributes a line-make of new motor vehicles to new motor vehicle dealers in this state or who maintains distributor representatives in this state. See Montana Code 61-4-201
• Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203