Florida Senate - 2025                             CS for SB 1820
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Transportation; and Senator Leek
       
       
       
       
       
       596-02860-25                                          20251820c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to motor vehicle manufacturers and
    3         franchised motor vehicle dealers; amending s. 320.64,
    4         F.S.; prohibiting an applicant or a licensee, or a
    5         common entity thereof, from establishing,
    6         implementing, or enforcing certain criteria for
    7         measuring the sales or service performance of its
    8         franchised motor vehicle dealers unless certain
    9         conditions are met; prohibiting an applicant or a
   10         licensee, or a common entity thereof, from engaging in
   11         an action that is taken as retaliation against a motor
   12         vehicle dealer under certain circumstances; amending
   13         s. 320.641, F.S.; revising the circumstances in which
   14         a discontinuation, cancellation, nonrenewal,
   15         modification, or replacement of a franchise agreement
   16         is deemed unfair; providing an effective date.
   17          
   18  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   19  
   20         Section 1. Subsection (42) of section 320.64, Florida
   21  Statutes, is amended, and subsection (43) is added to that
   22  section, to read:
   23         320.64 Denial, suspension, or revocation of license;
   24  grounds.—A license of a licensee under s. 320.61 may be denied,
   25  suspended, or revoked within the entire state or at any specific
   26  location or locations within the state at which the applicant or
   27  licensee engages or proposes to engage in business, upon proof
   28  that the section was violated with sufficient frequency to
   29  establish a pattern of wrongdoing, and a licensee or applicant
   30  shall be liable for claims and remedies provided in ss. 320.695
   31  and 320.697 for any violation of any of the following
   32  provisions. A licensee is prohibited from committing the
   33  following acts:
   34         (42)(a) The applicant or licensee, or a common entity
   35  thereof, has established, implemented, or enforced criteria for
   36  measuring the sales or service performance of any of its
   37  franchised motor vehicle dealers in this state which have a
   38  material or adverse effect on any motor vehicle dealer and
   39  which:
   40         1. Are unfair, unreasonable, arbitrary, or inequitable; or
   41         2. Do not include all relevant and material local and
   42  regional criteria, data, and facts. Relevant and material
   43  criteria, data, or facts include, but are not limited to, those
   44  of motor vehicle dealerships of comparable size in comparable
   45  markets. If such performance measurement criteria are based, in
   46  whole or in part, on a survey, such survey must be based on a
   47  statistically significant and valid random sample.
   48         (b) The An applicant or, licensee, or a common entity
   49  thereof, has implemented or enforced criteria for measuring the
   50  sales or service performance of any of its franchised motor
   51  vehicle dealers in this state without first making available and
   52  readily accessible, before such implementation or enforcement, a
   53  written description to each such franchised, or an affiliate
   54  thereof, which enforces against any motor vehicle dealer any
   55  such performance measurement criteria shall, upon the request of
   56  the motor vehicle dealer, describe in writing to the motor
   57  vehicle dealer in this state which describes, in detail, how the
   58  performance measurement criteria were designed, calculated,
   59  established, and uniformly applied.
   60         (43) The applicant or licensee, or a common entity thereof,
   61  has engaged in an action, or implemented a policy, standard,
   62  rule, practice, or program, taken as retaliation against a motor
   63  vehicle dealer because the dealer invoked a statutory right
   64  created by ss. 320.60-320.70, asserted that the applicant,
   65  licensee, or common entity has acted in a manner that violates a
   66  provision of ss. 320.60-320.70, or has testified, assisted, or
   67  participated in any manner in an investigation, a proceeding, or
   68  a hearing that may directly affect the applicant, licensee, or
   69  common entity.
   70  
   71  A motor vehicle dealer who can demonstrate that a violation of,
   72  or failure to comply with, any of the preceding provisions by an
   73  applicant or licensee will or may adversely and pecuniarily
   74  affect the complaining dealer, shall be entitled to pursue all
   75  of the remedies, procedures, and rights of recovery available
   76  under ss. 320.695 and 320.697.
   77         Section 2. Subsection (3) of section 320.641, Florida
   78  Statutes, is amended to read:
   79         320.641 Discontinuations, cancellations, nonrenewals,
   80  modifications, and replacement of franchise agreements.—
   81         (3) Any motor vehicle dealer who receives a notice of
   82  intent to discontinue, cancel, not renew, modify, or replace
   83  may, within the 90-day notice period, file a petition or
   84  complaint for a determination of whether such action is an
   85  unfair or prohibited discontinuation, cancellation, nonrenewal,
   86  modification, or replacement. Agreements and certificates of
   87  appointment must shall continue in effect until final
   88  determination of the issues raised in such petition or complaint
   89  by the motor vehicle dealer. A discontinuation, cancellation, or
   90  nonrenewal of a franchise agreement is unfair if it is not
   91  clearly permitted by the franchise agreement; is not undertaken
   92  in good faith; is not undertaken for good cause; or is not based
   93  on a material and substantial an alleged breach of the franchise
   94  agreement by the motor vehicle dealer which is not in fact a
   95  material and substantial breach; or, if the grounds relied upon
   96  for termination, cancellation, or nonrenewal have not been
   97  applied in a uniform and consistent manner by the licensee. If
   98  the notice of discontinuation, cancellation, or nonrenewal
   99  relates to an alleged failure of the new motor vehicle dealer’s
  100  sales or service performance obligations under the franchise
  101  agreement, the new motor vehicle dealer must first be provided
  102  with at least 180 days to correct the alleged failure before a
  103  licensee may send the notice of discontinuation, cancellation,
  104  or nonrenewal. A modification or replacement is unfair if it is
  105  not clearly permitted by the franchise agreement; is not
  106  undertaken in good faith; or is not undertaken for good cause.
  107  The applicant or licensee has shall have the burden of proof
  108  that such discontinuation, cancellation, nonrenewal,
  109  modification, or replacement action is fair and not prohibited.
  110         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.