GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1991 SESSION
CHAPTER 495
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. G.S. 20-288(e) reads as rewritten:
"(e) Each applicant
approved by the Division for license as a motor vehicle dealer, manufacturer,
distributor branch, or factory branch shall furnish a corporate surety bond or
cash bond or fixed value equivalent thereof in the principal sum of fifteen
thousand dollars ($15,000) twenty five thousand dollars ($25,000) and
an additional principal sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000) ten
thousand dollars ($10,000) for each additional place of business within
this State at which motor vehicles are sold. Each application for a license or
a renewal of a license shall be accompanied by a list of locations at which the
applicant engages in the business of selling motor vehicles in this State. A
corporate surety bond shall be approved by the Commissioner as to form and
shall be conditioned that the obligor will faithfully conform to and abide by
the provisions of this Article and Article 15. A cash bond or fixed value
equivalent thereof shall be approved by the Commissioner as to form and terms
of deposits as will secure the ultimate beneficiaries of the bond; and such
bond shall not be available for delivery to any person contrary to the rules of
the Commissioner. Any purchaser of a motor vehicle who shall have suffered any
loss or damage by any act of a motor vehicle dealer that constitutes a
violation of this Article or Article 15 shall have the right to institute an
action to recover against such motor vehicle dealer and the surety. Every
licensee against whom such action is instituted shall notify the Commissioner
of the action within 10 days after process is served on the licensee. A
corporate surety bond shall remain in force and effect and may not be canceled
by the surety unless the motor vehicle dealer, manufacturer, distributor
branch, or factory branch has terminated the operations of its business nor
unless its license has been denied, suspended, or revoked under G.S. 20-294.
Such cancellation may be had only upon 30 days' written notice to the
Commissioner and shall not affect any liability incurred or accrued prior to
the termination of such 30-day period. Provided nothing herein shall apply to a
motor vehicle dealer, manufacturer, distributor branch or factory branch which
deals only in trailers having an empty weight of 4,000 pounds or less. This
subsection shall not apply to manufacturers of, or dealers in, mobile or
manufactured homes who furnish a corporate surety bond, cash bond, or fixed
value equivalent thereof, pursuant to G.S. 143-143.12."
Sec. 2. This act becomes effective September 1, 1991.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 2nd day of July, 1991.
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James C. Gardner
President of the Senate
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Daniel Blue, Jr.
Speaker of the House of Representatives