South Carolina § 39-6-20 - Definitions.

§ 39-6-20. Definitions.

As used in this chapter, unless the text requires otherwise:

(1) "Dealer" or "equipment dealer" means a person who sells or attempts to effect the sale of equipment, but not including a:

(a) distributor or wholesaler;

(b) receiver, trustee, administrator, executor, guardian, or other person appointed by or acting pursuant to the judgment or order of a court;

(c) public officer while performing his official duties;

(d) person disposing of equipment acquired for his own use and used in good faith, not for the purpose of avoiding the law;

(e) finance company or other financial institution that sells repossessed equipment;

(f) single line dealer primarily engaged in the retail sale and service of off-road construction and earth-moving equipment. For these purposes, "single line dealer" is any individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, or other legal entity that has:

(i) purchased seventy-five percent or more of its total new product inventory from a single supplier under all agreements with that supplier; and

(ii) a total annual average sales volume in excess of forty-five million dollars for the preceding two years with that single supplier for the territory for which the individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, or other legal entity is responsible; or

(g) a person or business who sells only component parts of equipment;

(h) multi-line dealer primarily engaged in the retail sale and service of industry and outdoor power equipment. For these purposes, "multi-line dealer" is any individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, or other legal entity that has:

(i) purchased less than fifty percent of its total new product inventory from a single supplier under all agreements with that supplier; and

(ii) a total annual average sales volume in excess of fifty million dollars.

(2) "Dealership" means the business of selling or attempting to effect the sale by a dealer of new equipment, or the right, whether by written or oral arrangement with a manufacturer, distributor, or wholesaler for a definite or indefinite period of time, to sell or attempt to effect the sale of new equipment.

(3) "Dealership agreement" means an oral or written arrangement for a definite or indefinite period in which a manufacturer, distributor, or wholesaler grants to an equipment dealer a license to use a trade name, service mark, or related characteristic, and in which there is a community of interest in the marketing of equipment or services related to it at wholesale, retail, leasing, or otherwise.

(4) "Distributor" means a person who sells or distributes new equipment to equipment dealers or who maintains distributor representatives within the State.

(5) "Distributor branch" means a branch office maintained by a distributor that sells or distributes new equipment to equipment dealers.

(6) "Distributor representative" means a representative employed by a distributor branch or distributor.

(7) "Equipment" means machinery, implements, or mechanical devices or apparatuses used in farming, construction, or industry and any outdoor power equipment, but not including:

(a) motor vehicles required to be registered pursuant to Section 56-3-110;

(b) motorcycles as defined in Section 56-16-10;

(c) outdoor power equipment whose primary source of power is a two-cycle or electric motor;

(d) "all terrain vehicles" or "ATVs" that are three-and-four-wheeled motorized vehicles, generally characterized by large, low-pressure tires, a seat designed to be straddled by the operator and handlebars for steering, which are intended for off-road use by an individual rider on various types of nonpaved terrain;

(e) cranes; or

(f) pneumatic tires, tubes, and flaps and related products and components associated with tires, including tires used in farm, construction, industrial, outdoor power, mining, and other on-and-off road applications.

(8) "Factory branch" means a branch office maintained by a manufacturer that makes or assembles equipment for sale to distributors or equipment dealers or that is maintained for directing and supervising the representatives of the manufacturer.

(9) "Factory representative" means a representative employed by a manufacturer or by a factory branch for the purpose of selling or promoting the sale of equipment or for supervising, servicing, instructing, or contracting with equipment dealers or prospective equipment dealers.

(10) "Fraud" means, in addition to its customary definitions:

(a) a misrepresentation in any manner of a material fact, whether intentionally false or due to gross negligence;

(b) a promise or representation made dishonestly and in bad faith; and

(c) an intentional failure to disclose a material fact.

(11) "Manufacturer" means a person engaged in the business of manufacturing or assembling new and unused equipment.

(12) "New equipment" means equipment that has not been sold previously to a person other than a distributor or wholesaler or equipment dealer for resale.

(13) "Person" means a natural person, corporation, partnership, trust, or other entity, including any other entity in which it has a majority interest or of which it has control, as well as the individual officers, directors, and other persons in active control of the activities of each entity.

(14) "Sale" means the issuance, transfer, agreement for transfer, exchange, pledge, hypothecation, or mortgage, whether by transfer in trust or any other form, of any equipment or interest in it or of a dealership agreement or sales agreement related to it, and any option, subscription, or contract, or solicitation, looking to a sale, or offer or attempt to sell, whether spoken or written, or any other form. A gift or delivery of equipment or a dealership as a bonus on account of the sale of anything is a sale of the equipment or dealership.

(15) "Wholesaler" or "equipment wholesaler" means a person who sells or attempts to effect the sale of new equipment exclusively to equipment dealers or to other wholesalers.

HISTORY: 2000 Act No. 369, SECTION 1, eff June 14, 2000.