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2002 SESSION

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HB 1292 Equipment Dealers Protection Act created.

Introduced by: Harvey B. Morgan | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles

SUMMARY AS PASSED: (all summaries)

Equipment dealers protection act. Expands protections afforded to retail dealers of farm and other types of equipment with respect to their agreements with wholesalers, manufacturers, or distributors by whom they sell or distribute goods or services or otherwise use a trade name or other commercial symbol. The existing provisions regarding farm machinery dealerships are repealed. Dealer protections include (i) prohibiting suppliers from terminating, failing to renew or substantially changing the competitive circumstances of a dealer agreement without good cause; (ii) requiring a dealer who terminates an agreement with a supplier to give the supplier at least 90 days notice of the termination; (iii) requiring suppliers to give dealers at least ninety days' written notice of termination of the agreement and a sixty-day right to cure any deficiency, or 12 months to cure if the cancellation is based upon the dealer's failure to capture the share of the market required in the agreement; (iv) requiring the supplier to repurchase the dealer's inventory within 90 days following cancellation of the agreement unless the dealer chooses to keep the inventory; and (v) giving the heir of a deceased dealer the option to require the supplier to repurchase the inventory from the heir of the dealer. Suppliers are required to pay warranty claims made by the dealer thirty days after its approval, and to approve or disapprove a warranty claim within 30 days after receipt. Suppliers are also prohibited from coercing a dealer to accept delivery of equipment, parts, or accessories that the dealer has not ordered voluntarily, conditioning the sale of additional equipment to a dealer upon a requirement that the dealer also purchase other goods or services, coercing a dealer into refusing to purchase equipment manufactured by another supplier, and terminating, canceling, or failing to renew or substantially changing the competitive circumstances of the retail agreement based on circumstances beyond the dealer's control.


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