West Virginia Code 17A-6A-8 – Reasonable compensation to dealer
(1) Upon the termination, cancellation, nonrenewal or discontinuance of any dealer agreement, the new motor vehicle dealer shall be allowed fair and reasonable compensation by the manufacturer or distributor for the following:
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 17A-6A-8
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- dealers: is a general term meaning, depending upon the context in which used, either a new motor vehicle dealer, used motor vehicle dealer, factory-built home dealer, recreational vehicle dealer, trailer dealer or motorcycle dealer, as defined in §. See West Virginia Code 17A-1-1
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- 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
- Manufacturer: means every person engaged in the business of constructing or assembling vehicles of a type required to be registered hereunder at a place of business in this state which is actually occupied either continuously or at regular periods by the manufacturer where his or her books and records are kept and a large share of his or her business is transacted. See West Virginia Code 17A-1-1
- Motor vehicle: means every vehicle which is self-propelled and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires, but not operated upon rails. See West Virginia Code 17A-1-1
- Motorcycle: means every motor vehicle, including motor-driven cycles and mopeds as defined in §. See West Virginia Code 17A-1-1
- 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.
- Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
- Road tractor: means every motor vehicle designed, used, or maintained for drawing other vehicles and not constructed to carry any load thereon either independently or any part of the weight of a vehicle or drawn load. See West Virginia Code 17A-1-1
- School bus: means every motor vehicle owned by a public governmental agency and operated for the transportation of children to or from school or privately owned and operated for compensation for the transportation of children to or from school. See West Virginia Code 17A-1-1
- Truck: means every motor vehicle designed, used, or maintained primarily for the transportation of property. See West Virginia Code 17A-1-1
- Truck tractor: means every 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 drawn load. See West Virginia Code 17A-1-1
- Utility terrain vehicle: means any motor vehicle with four or more low-pressure or nonhighway tires designed for off-highway use and is greater than 50 inches in width. See West Virginia Code 17A-1-1
(a) Any new motor vehicle inventory, manufactured for sale in the United States, purchased from the manufacturer, distributor or other dealers, in the ordinary course of business, which has not been materially altered, substantially damaged or driven for more than one thousand miles, except that for any new motorcycle, new all-terrain vehicle or utility terrain vehicle inventory, including motorhomes and travel trailers, regardless of gross vehicle weight, purchased from the manufacturer or distributor, that inventory must not have been materially altered, substantially damaged or driven for more than fifty miles and for motor vehicles with a rating greater than twenty-six thousand one pounds gross vehicle weight driven no more than five thousand miles. For purposes of a school bus, truck tractor, road tractor or truck, materially altered does not include dealer add-ons, such as, but not limited to, racks, mud flaps, fifth wheel assemblies, dump or tank bodies;
(b) Supplies and parts inventory purchased at the published list price purchased from, or at the direction of, the manufacturer or distributor. Parts shall be restricted to those listed in the manufacturer's or distributor's current parts catalog;
(c) Equipment, special tools, furnishings and signs purchased or leased from, or at the direction of, the manufacturer or distributor; and
(d) Special computer software, hardware, license fees and other programs mandated by the manufacturer to provide training or communication with the manufacturer.
(2) Upon the termination, cancellation, nonrenewal or discontinuance of a dealer agreement by the manufacturer or distributor, the manufacturer or distributor shall also pay to the new motor vehicle dealer a sum equal to the current, fair rental value of his or her established place of business for a period of three years from the effective date of termination, cancellation, nonrenewal or discontinuance, or the remainder of the lease, whichever is less. If the dealer, directly or indirectly, owns the dealership facility, the manufacturer shall pay the dealer a sum equal to the reasonable rental value of the dealership premises for three years. However, the dealer shall have the obligation to mitigate his or her damages, including, but not limited to, listing the facility with a commercial real estate agent and other reasonable steps to sell or lease the property. During this three-year period the manufacturer shall have the right to occupy and use the facilities until such time as the dealer is able to otherwise sell or lease the property to another party. The payment required by this subsection does not apply to any termination, cancellation, nonrenewal or discontinuance made pursuant to subsection (c), section seven of this article.
(3) In addition to the items listed in subsections (1) and (2) of this section, the termination, cancellation or nonrenewal where the manufacturer or distributor is discontinuing the sale of a product line, the manufacturer or distributor shall pay or provide to the motor vehicle dealer:
(a) Support of the manufacturer's or distributor's warranty obligations by making parts available and compensating dealers for warranty parts and labor for five years: Provided, That the motor vehicle dealer has adequate facilities, trained personnel and equipment to perform warranty repairs;
(b) Any actual damages that can be proven by a dealer by a preponderance of the evidence;
(c) Any costs the dealer incurred for facility upgrades or alternations required by the manufacturer, distributor or factory branch within the previous five years; and
(d) Within forty-five days after termination, dealer shall submit evidence of items to the manufacturer in accordance with reasonable manufacturer requirements. The manufacturer shall have thirty days from receipt of this evidence to note any objection. If not objected thereto, payment by the manufacturer to the dealer shall be made within thirty days. Thereafter, interest accumulates at the rate of the Fifth Federal Reserve District's secondary discount rate in effect on January 2 of the year in which payment is due plus five percentage points. If a dispute arises over the sufficiency of any evidence or an amount submitted, when interest begins to accumulate will be determined in accordance with West Virginia common law.