South Carolina § 56-14-90 - Termination, cancellation, or failure to renew a manufacturer/dealer agreement; good cause; notice.

§ 56-14-90. Termination, cancellation, or failure to renew a manufacturer/dealer agreement; good cause; notice.

(A) A manufacturer, directly or through any authorized officer, agent, or employee, may terminate, cancel, or fail to renew a manufacturer/dealer agreement with good cause and the provisions contained in Section 56-14-110 do not apply.

(B) The manufacturer has the burden of showing good cause for terminating, canceling, or failing to renew a manufacturer/dealer agreement with a dealer.

(C) For purposes of determining whether there is good cause for the proposed action, any of the following factors may be considered:

(1) the extent of the affected dealer's penetration in the area of sales responsibility;

(2) the nature and extent of the dealer's investment in its business;

(3) the adequacy of the dealer's service facilities, equipment, parts, supplies, and personnel;

(4) the effect of the proposed action on the community;

(5) the extent and quality of the dealer's service under recreational vehicle warranties;

(6) the dealer's failure to follow agreed upon procedures or standards related to the overall operation of the dealership; and

(7) the dealer's performance under the terms of its manufacturer/dealer agreement.

(D) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a manufacturer or distributor shall provide a dealer with at least ninety days prior written notice of termination, cancellation, or nonrenewal of the manufacturer/dealer agreement.

(1) The notice must state all reasons for the proposed termination, cancellation, or nonrenewal and must further state that if, within thirty days following receipt of the notice, the dealer provides to the manufacturer a written notice of intent to cure all claimed deficiencies, the dealer will then have ninety days following receipt of the original notice to rectify the deficiencies.

(2) If the deficiencies are rectified within ninety days, the manufacturer's notice is voided. If the dealer fails to provide the notice of intent to cure the deficiencies or fails to cure the deficiencies in the prescribed time period, the termination, cancellation, or nonrenewal takes effect as provided in the original notice.

(3) The notice period may be reduced to thirty days if the manufacturer's grounds for termination, cancellation, or nonrenewal are due to any of the following good cause factors:

(a) a dealer or one of its owners being convicted of, or entering a plea of nolo contendere to, a felony;

(b) the abandonment or closing of the business operations of the dealer for ten consecutive business days unless the closing is due to an act of God, strike, labor difficulty, or other cause over which the dealer has no control;

(c) a significant misrepresentation by the dealer materially affecting the business relationship;

(d) a suspension or revocation of the dealer's license, or refusal to renew the dealer's license, by the department; or

(e) a material violation of this chapter which is not cured within thirty days after the written notice by the manufacturer.

(4) The notice provisions contained in this subsection do not apply if the reason for termination, cancellation, or nonrenewal is the dealer's insolvency, the occurrence of an assignment for the benefit of creditors, or bankruptcy.

HISTORY: 2017 Act No. 51 (S.321), SECTION 1, eff November 19, 2017.

Editor's Note

2017 Act No. 51,SECTIONS 6, 7, provide:

"SECTION 6. The department is authorized to promulgate regulations for the enforcement of the provisions of Chapter 14, Title 56.

"SECTION 7. This act takes effect six months after approval by the Governor and applies to manufacturer/dealer agreements entered into on or after July 1, 2018."