301.559. Licenses required for dealer, manufacturer or auction, penalty, expiration of--issuance, application--license not required, when.

MISSOURI STATUTES AND CODES

301.559. Licenses required for dealer, manufacturer or auction, penalty, expiration of--issuance, application--license not required, when.

Licenses required for dealer, manufacturer or auction, penalty,expiration of--issuance, application--license not required, when.

301.559. 1. It shall be unlawful for any person to engage inbusiness as or act as a motor vehicle dealer, boat dealer, manufacturer ,boat manufacturer, public motor vehicle auction, wholesale motor vehicleauction or wholesale motor vehicle dealer without first obtaining a licensefrom the department as required in sections 301.550 to 301.573. Any personwho maintains or operates any business wherein a license is requiredpursuant to the provisions of sections 301.550 to 301.573, without suchlicense, is guilty of a class A misdemeanor. Any person committing asecond violation of sections 301.550 to 301.573 shall be guilty of a classD felony.

2. All dealer licenses shall expire on December thirty-first of eachyear. The department shall notify each person licensed under sections301.550 to 301.573 of the date of license expiration and the amount of thefee required for renewal. The notice shall be mailed at least ninety daysbefore the date of license expiration to the licensee's last known businessaddress.

3. Every manufacturer, boat manufacturer, motor vehicle dealer,wholesale motor vehicle dealer, wholesale motor vehicle auction, boatdealer or public motor vehicle auction shall make application to thedepartment for issuance of a license. The application shall be on formsprescribed by the department and shall be issued under the terms andprovisions of sections 301.550 to 301.573 and require all applicants, as acondition precedent to the issuance of a license, to provide suchinformation as the department may deem necessary to determine that theapplicant is bona fide and of good moral character, except that everyapplication for a license shall contain, in addition to such information asthe department may require, a statement to the following facts:

(1) The name and business address, not a post office box, of theapplicant and the fictitious name, if any, under which he intends toconduct his business; and if the applicant be a partnership, the name andresidence address of each partner, an indication of whether the partner isa limited or general partner and the name under which the partnershipbusiness is to be conducted. In the event that the applicant is acorporation, the application shall list the names of the principal officersof the corporation and the state in which it is incorporated. Eachapplication shall be verified by the oath or affirmation of the applicant,if an individual, or in the event an applicant is a partnership orcorporation, then by a partner or officer;

(2) Whether the application is being made for registration as amanufacturer, boat manufacturer, new motor vehicle franchise dealer, usedmotor vehicle dealer, wholesale motor vehicle dealer, boat dealer,wholesale motor vehicle auction or a public motor vehicle auction;

(3) When the application is for a new motor vehicle franchise dealer,the application shall be accompanied by a copy of the franchise agreementin the registered name of the dealership setting out the appointment of theapplicant as a franchise holder and it shall be signed by the manufacturer,or his authorized agent, or the distributor, or his authorized agent, andshall include a description of the make of all motor vehicles covered bythe franchise. The department shall not require a copy of the franchiseagreement to be submitted with each renewal application unless theapplicant is now the holder of a franchise from a different manufacturer ordistributor from that previously filed, or unless a new term of agreementhas been entered into;

(4) When the application is for a public motor vehicle auction, thatthe public motor vehicle auction has met the requirements of section301.561.

4. No insurance company, finance company, credit union, savings andloan association, bank or trust company shall be required to obtain alicense from the department in order to sell any motor vehicle, trailer orvessel repossessed or purchased by the company on the basis of totaldestruction or theft thereof when the sale of the motor vehicle, trailer orvessel is in conformance with applicable title and registration laws ofthis state.

5. No person shall be issued a license to conduct a public motorvehicle auction or wholesale motor vehicle auction if such person has aviolation of sections 301.550 to 301.573 or other violations of chapter301, RSMo, sections 407.511 to 407.556, RSMo, or section 578.120, RSMo,which resulted in a felony conviction or finding of guilt or a violation ofany federal motor vehicle laws which resulted in a felony conviction orfinding of guilt.