FL
Florida House Bill H0429

Florida 2025 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0429 Compare Versions

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1010 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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1414 A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to motor vehicle manufacturers and 2
1616 franchised motor vehicle dealers; amending s. 320.64, 3
17-F.S.; prohibiting an applicant or a licensee, or a 4
18-common entity thereof, from establishing, 5
19-implementing, or enforcing certain criteria for 6
20-measuring the sales or service performance of its 7
21-franchised motor vehicle dealers unless certain 8
22-conditions are met; prohibiting an applicant or a 9
23-licensee, or a common entity thereof, from engaging in 10
24-an action that is taken as retaliation against a motor 11
25-vehicle dealer under certain circumstances; amending 12
26-s. 320.641, F.S.; revising the circumstances in which 13
27-a discontinuation, cancellation, nonrenewal, 14
28-modification, or replacement of a franchise agreement 15
29-is deemed unfair; providing an effective date. 16
17+F.S.; prohibiting an applicant or licensee, or common 4
18+entity thereof, from implementing sales or service 5
19+performance measurement criteria without providing 6
20+motor vehicle dealers with the basis for any sales or 7
21+service performance measurement; prohibiting an 8
22+applicant or licensee, or common entity thereof, fro m 9
23+engaging in certain retaliatory or discriminatory 10
24+conduct; amending s. 320.641, F.S.; revising 11
25+conditions under which a discontinuation, 12
26+cancellation, or nonrenewal of a franchise agreement 13
27+is considered unfair; providing an effective date. 14
28+ 15
29+Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 16
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31-Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 18
32- 19
33- Section 1. Subsection (42) of section 320.64, Florida 20
34-Statutes, is amended, and subsection (43) is added to that 21
35-section, to read: 22
36- 320.64 Denial, suspension, or revocation of license; 23
37-grounds.—A license of a licensee under s. 320.61 may be denied, 24
38-suspended, or revoked within the entire state or at any specific 25
31+ Section 1. Subsection (42) of section 320.64, Florida 18
32+Statutes, is amended, and subsection (43) is added to that 19
33+section, to read: 20
34+ 320.64 Denial, suspension, or revocation of license; 21
35+grounds.—A license of a licensee under s. 320.61 may be denied, 22
36+suspended, or revoked within the entire state or at any specific 23
37+location or locations within the state at which the applicant or 24
38+licensee engages or proposes to engage in business, upon proof 25
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4747 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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51-location or locations within the sta te at which the applicant or 26
52-licensee engages or proposes to engage in business, upon proof 27
53-that the section was violated with sufficient frequency to 28
54-establish a pattern of wrongdoing, and a licensee or applicant 29
55-shall be liable for claims and remedies pr ovided in ss. 320.695 30
56-and 320.697 for any violation of any of the following 31
57-provisions. A licensee is prohibited from committing the 32
58-following acts: 33
59- (42)(a) The applicant or licensee , or a common entity 34
60-thereof, has established, implemented, or enforced criteria for 35
61-measuring the sales or service performance of any of its 36
62-franchised motor vehicle dealers in this state which have a 37
63-material or adverse effect on any motor vehicle dealer and 38
64-which: 39
65- 1. Are unfair, unreasonable, arbitrary, or inequitable; or 40
66- 2. Do not include all relevant and material local and 41
67-regional criteria, data, and facts. Relevant and material 42
68-criteria, data, or facts include, but are not limited to, those 43
69-of motor vehicle dealerships of comparable size in comparable 44
70-markets. If such performance measurement criteria are based, in 45
71-whole or in part, on a survey, such survey must be based on a 46
72-statistically significant and valid random sample. 47
73- (b) The An applicant or, licensee, or a common entity 48
74-thereof, has implemented or enforced c riteria for measuring the 49
75-sales or service performance of any of its franchised motor 50
51+that the section was violated with sufficient frequency to 26
52+establish a pattern of wrongdoing, and a licensee or applicant 27
53+shall be liable for claims and remedies provided in ss. 320.695 28
54+and 320.697 for any violation of any of the following 29
55+provisions. A licensee is proh ibited from committing the 30
56+following acts: 31
57+ (42)(a) The applicant or licensee , or common entity 32
58+thereof, has established, implemented, or enforced criteria for 33
59+measuring the sales or service performance of any of its 34
60+franchised motor vehicle dealers in th is state which have a 35
61+material or adverse effect on any motor vehicle dealer and 36
62+which: 37
63+ 1. Are unfair, unreasonable, arbitrary, or inequitable; or 38
64+ 2. Do not include all relevant and material local and 39
65+regional criteria, data, and facts. Relevant and ma terial 40
66+criteria, data, or facts include, but are not limited to, those 41
67+of motor vehicle dealerships of comparable size in comparable 42
68+markets. If such performance measurement criteria are based, in 43
69+whole or in part, on a survey, such survey must be based on a 44
70+statistically significant and valid random sample. 45
71+ (b) The An applicant or, licensee, or common entity , or an 46
72+affiliate thereof, has implemented or enforced criteria for 47
73+measuring the sales or service performance of any of its 48
74+franchised motor vehicle dealers in this state without, before 49
75+implementation or enforcement, providing a written description 50
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8484 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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88-vehicle dealers in this state without first making available and 51
89-readily accessible, before such implementation or enforcement, a 52
90-written description to each such franchi sed, or an affiliate 53
91-thereof, which enforces against any motor vehicle dealer any 54
92-such performance measurement criteria shall, upon the request of 55
93-the motor vehicle dealer, describe in writing to the motor 56
94-vehicle dealer in this state which describes , in detail, how the 57
95-performance measurement criteria were designed, calculated, 58
96-established, and uniformly applied. 59
97- (43) The applicant or licensee, or a common entity 60
98-thereof, has engaged in an action, or implemented a policy, 61
99-standard, rule, practice, or pro gram, taken as retaliation 62
100-against a motor vehicle dealer because the dealer invoked a 63
101-statutory right created by ss. 320.60 -320.70, asserted that the 64
102-applicant, licensee, or common entity has acted in a manner that 65
103-violates a provision of ss. 320.60 -320.70, or has testified, 66
104-assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, a 67
105-proceeding, or a hearing that may directly affect the applicant, 68
106-licensee, or common entity. 69
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108-A motor vehicle dealer who can demonstrate that a violation of, 71
109-or failure to comply with, any of the preceding provisions by an 72
110-applicant or licensee will or may adversely and pecuniarily 73
111-affect the complaining dealer, shall be entitled to pursue all 74
112-of the remedies, procedures, and rights of recovery available 75
88+to each such franchised which enforces against any motor vehicle 51
89+dealer any such performance measurement criteria shall, upon the 52
90+request of the motor veh icle dealer, describe in writing to the 53
91+motor vehicle dealer in this state providing , in detail, how the 54
92+performance measurement criteria were designed, calculated, 55
93+established, and uniformly applied. 56
94+ (43) The applicant or licensee, or common entity ther eof, 57
95+has engaged in an action, or implemented a policy, standard, 58
96+rule, practice, or program, as retaliation against a franchised 59
97+motor vehicle dealer because the dealer invoked any right 60
98+pursuant to ss. 320.60 -320.70; asserted that the applicant or 61
99+licensee, or common entity thereof, acted in a manner that 62
100+violates any provision of ss. 320.60 -320.70; or testified, 63
101+assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, a 64
102+proceeding, or a hearing that may directly affect the applicant 65
103+or licensee, or common entity thereof. 66
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105+A motor vehicle dealer who can demonstrate that a violation of, 68
106+or failure to comply with, any of the preceding provisions by an 69
107+applicant or licensee will or may adversely and pecuniarily 70
108+affect the complaining dealer, shall be enti tled to pursue all 71
109+of the remedies, procedures, and rights of recovery available 72
110+under ss. 320.695 and 320.697. 73
111+ Section 2. Subsection (3) of section 320.641, Florida 74
112+Statutes, is amended to read: 75
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121121 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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125-under ss. 320.695 an d 320.697. 76
126- Section 2. Subsection (3) of section 320.641, Florida 77
127-Statutes, is amended to read: 78
128- 320.641 Discontinuations, cancellations, nonrenewals, 79
129-modifications, and replacement of franchise agreements. — 80
130- (3) Any motor vehicle dealer who receives a notice of 81
131-intent to discontinue, cancel, not renew, modify, or replace 82
132-may, within the 90-day notice period, file a petition or 83
133-complaint for a determination of whether such action is an 84
134-unfair or prohibited discontinuation, cancellation, nonrenewal, 85
135-modification, or replacement. Agreements and certificates of 86
136-appointment must shall continue in effect until final 87
137-determination of the issues raised in such petition or complaint 88
138-by the motor vehicle dealer. A discontinuation, cancellation, or 89
139-nonrenewal of a franchise agreement is unfair if it is not 90
140-clearly permitted by the franchise agreement; is not undertaken 91
141-in good faith; is not undertaken for good cause; or is not based 92
142-on a material and substantial an alleged breach of the franchise 93
143-agreement by the motor vehicle dealer which is not in fact a 94
144-material and substantial breach ; or, if the grounds relied upon 95
145-for termination, cancellation, or nonrenewal have not been 96
146-applied in a uniform and consistent manner by the licensee. If 97
147-the notice of discontinuat ion, cancellation, or nonrenewal 98
148-relates to an alleged failure of the new motor vehicle dealer's 99
149-sales or service performance obligations under the franchise 100
125+ 320.641 Discontinuations, cancellations, nonrenewals, 76
126+modifications, and replacement of franchise agreements. — 77
127+ (3) Any motor vehicle dealer who receives a notice of 78
128+intent to discontinue, cancel, not renew, modify, or replace 79
129+may, within the 90-day notice period, file a petition or 80
130+complaint for a determina tion of whether such action is an 81
131+unfair or prohibited discontinuation, cancellation, nonrenewal, 82
132+modification, or replacement. Agreements and certificates of 83
133+appointment shall continue in effect until final determination 84
134+of the issues raised in such petit ion or complaint by the motor 85
135+vehicle dealer. 86
136+ (a) A discontinuation, cancellation, or nonrenewal of a 87
137+franchise agreement is unfair unless all of the following apply: 88
138+ 1. if It is not clearly permitted by the franchise 89
139+agreement; 90
140+ 2. It is not undertaken in good faith ; 91
141+ 3. It is not undertaken for good cause ; 92
142+ 4. It or is based on the motor vehicle dealer's an alleged 93
143+breach of the franchise agreement which is not in fact a 94
144+material and substantial breach , but not if the discontinuation, 95
145+cancellation, or nonrenewal applies to all same line -make 96
146+franchised motor vehicle dealers and is otherwise permitted by 97
147+ss. 320.60-320.70; and 98
148+ 5. or, if The grounds relied upon for discontinuation 99
149+termination, cancellation, or nonrenewal have not been applied 100
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158158 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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162-agreement, the new motor vehicle dealer must first be provided 101
163-with at least 180 days to correct t he alleged failure before a 102
164-licensee may send the notice of discontinuation, cancellation, 103
165-or nonrenewal. A modification or replacement is unfair if it is 104
166-not clearly permitted by the franchise agreement; is not 105
167-undertaken in good faith; or is not undertak en for good cause. 106
168-The applicant or licensee has shall have the burden of proof 107
169-that such discontinuation, cancellation, nonrenewal, 108
170-modification, or replacement action is fair and not prohibited. 109
171- Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 110
162+in a uniform and consistent manner by the licensee. 101
163+ (b) If the notice of discontinuation, cancellation, or 102
164+nonrenewal relates to an alleged failure of the new motor 103
165+vehicle dealer's sales or service performance obligations under 104
166+the franchise agreement, the new motor vehicle dealer must first 105
167+be provided with at least 180 days to correct the alleged 106
168+failure before a licensee may send the notice of 107
169+discontinuation, cancellation, or nonrenewal. 108
170+ (c) A modification or replacement is unfair unless all of 109
171+the following apply: 110
172+ 1. if It is not clearly permitted by the franchise 111
173+agreement; 112
174+ 2. It is not undertaken in good faith ; and 113
175+ 3. It or is not undertaken for good cause. 114
176+ (d) The applicant or licensee shall have the burden of 115
177+proof that any such discontinuation, cancellation, nonrenewal, 116
178+modification, or replacement action is fair and not prohibited. 117
179+ Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 118