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An Act To Eliminate Unnecessary Regulatory Burdens on Motor Vehicle Dealer-to-dealer Transactions
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 10 MRSA §1475, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1991, c. 824, Pt. A, §16, is further amended to read:
 
1. Written disclosure statement.  NoExcept for a dealer that is also a car rental company as provided in subsection 6, a dealer may not sell, negotiate the sale of, offer for sale or transfer any used motor vehicle, including any used motor vehicle transferred to another dealer, unless the dealer affixes to the vehicle a conspicuous written statement containing the information required by subsection 2-A.
Sec. 2. 10 MRSA §1475, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2003, c. 240, §1, is further amended to read:
 
3. Written statement.  AExcept for a dealer that is also a car rental company as provided in subsection 6, a dealer shall obtain from the seller of a used motor vehicle a written statement containing the following information:
 
A. The make, model, model year and any identification or serial numbers of the motor vehicle;
 
B. The name and address of the seller, the principal use to which the motor vehicle was put by the seller, such as personal transportation, police car, daily rental car, taxi or other descriptive term;
 
C. A statement identifying any and all mechanical defects known to the seller at the time of sale; and
 
D. A statement identifying the type of damage, if any, that the vehicle has sustained, such as fire, water or substantial collision damage, if such information is known to the seller.
 
Any dealer who offers for sale to consumers a repossessed vehicle that has been obtained by the dealer through any transaction other than a retail sale is not subject to the provisions of this subsection.
 
A dealer is not subject to the provisions of this subsection if that dealer offers for sale to consumers a used motor vehicle that has been obtained by the dealer through an auction located outside the State at which buyers are limited to licensed dealers and the seller of the used motor vehicle is neither a resident of this State nor a dealer licensed in this State, if the dealer clearly discloses on the written disclosure statement required by subsections 1 and 2-A that the vehicle was acquired at an out-of-state auction and that historical information regarding mechanical defects and substantial damage is not available.
 
The seller of the used motor vehicle shall sign and date this written statement and the dealer who buys the vehicle shall maintain a record of it for 2 years following the sale of the motor vehicle.
 
As used in subsection 2-A and this subsection, "substantial collision damage" means any damage to a motor vehicle from a collision when the costs of repair of that damage, at the time of repair, including replacement of mechanical and body parts, exceed $2,000.
Sec. 3.  10 MRSA §1475, sub-§6  is enacted to read:
 
6.  Exceptions.     A dealer that is a car rental company with a location in at least one other state is exempt from the provisions of subsections 1 and 3 when selling or transferring a used motor vehicle at wholesale to another dealer.
 
SUMMARY
This bill exempts a car rental company acting in the capacity of a dealer and having a location in at least one other state from current law requiring giving or receiving written disclosure statements when selling a used motor vehicle at wholesale to another dealer.