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VEHICLE MANUFACTURERS, DISTRIBUTORS, WHOLESALERS, & DEALERS, §322.3
322.3 Prohibited acts.
1. A person shall not engage in this state in the business of selling at retail new motor
vehicles of any make or represent or advertise that the person is engaged or intends to engage
in such business in this state unless the person is authorized to do so by a contract in writing
with the manufacturer or distributor of such make of new motor vehicles and unless the
department has licensed the person as a motor vehicle dealer in this state in motor vehicles
of such make and has issued to the person a license in writing as provided in this chapter.
2. A person other than a licensed dealer in new motor vehicles shall not engage in this
state in the business of selling at retail used motor vehicles or represent or advertise that the
person is engaged or intends to engage in such business in this state unless and until the
department has licensed the person as a used motor vehicle dealer in the state and has issued
to the person a license in writing as provided in this chapter.
3. Subsections 1, 2, and 16 shall not be construed to require the separate licensing of
persons employed as salespersons of motor vehicles by a retail motor vehicle dealer. However,
the department may promulgate reasonable rules as necessary for the proper identification
of persons employed as salespersons.
4. A person who is engaged in the business of selling at retail motor vehicles shall not enter
into any contract, agreement, or understanding, express or implied, with any manufacturer
or distributor of any such motor vehicles that the person will sell, assign, or transfer any retail
installment contracts arising from the retail installment sale of such motor vehicles only to
a designated person or class of persons. A condition, agreement, or understanding between
any manufacturer or distributor and a motor vehicle dealer in this state of this nature is hereby
declared to be against the public policy of this state and to be unlawful and void.
5. A manufacturer or distributor of motor vehicles or any agent or representative of a
manufacturer or distributor shall not terminate, threaten to terminate, or fail to renew any
contract, agreement, or understanding for the sale of new motor vehicles to any motor vehicle
dealer in this state without just, reasonable, and lawful cause or because the motor vehicle
dealer failed to sell, assign, or transfer any retail installment contract arising from the retail
sale of such motor vehicles or any one or more of them to a person or a class of persons
designated by the manufacturer or distributor.
6. A person who is engaged in the business of selling at retail motor vehicles shall not
make and enter into a retail installment contract unless the contract meets the following
requirements:
a. Every retail installment contract shall be in writing, shall be signed by both the buyer
and the seller, and shall be completed as to all essential provisions prior to the signing of the
contract by the buyer except that, if delivery of the motor vehicle is not made at the time of the
execution of the contract, the identifying numbers or marks of the motor vehicle or similar
information and the due date of the first installment may be inserted in the contract after its
execution.
b. The contract shall comply with the Iowa consumer credit code, chapter 537, where
applicable.
7. This section shall not be construed to require that a place of business as defined in this
chapter shall be maintained by a person selling motor vehicles at retail solely for the purpose
of disposing of motor vehicles acquired or repossessed by such person in exercise of powers
or rights granted by lien or title-retention instruments or contracts given as security for loans
or purchase money obligations.
8. A manufacturer or distributor of motor vehicles or agent or representative of a
manufacturer or distributor shall not coerce or attempt to coerce any motor vehicle dealer
to accept delivery of any motor vehicle or vehicles, parts, or accessories, or any other
commodity or commodities which have not been ordered by the dealer.
9. A person licensed under this chapter shall not, either directly or through an agent,
salesperson, or employee, engage in this state, or represent or advertise that the person is
engaged or intends to engage in this state, in the business of buying or selling at retail new
or used motor vehicles, other than mobile homes more than eight feet in width or more than
thirty-two feet in length as defined in section 321.1, on the first day of the week, commonly
known and designated as Sunday.
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Iowa Code 2017, Section 322.3 (20, 3)
§322.3, VEHICLE MANUFACTURERS, DISTRIBUTORS, WHOLESALERS, & DEALERS
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10. A manufacturer, distributor, or importer of motor vehicles or agent or representative
of such manufacturer, distributor, or importer shall not require a motor vehicle dealer to
submit to arbitration to resolve a controversy before the controversy arises. The parties may
enter into a voluntary agreement to arbitrate a controversy after it arises. Such an agreement
shall require that the arbitrator apply Iowa law in resolving the controversy. Either party may
appeal a decision of an arbitrator to the district court on the grounds that the arbitrator failed
to apply Iowa law.
11. A person who is engaged in the business of selling motor vehicles at retail shall not sell,
offer for sale, display, represent, or advertise that the person intends to sell motor vehicles
from a location other than the person’s place of business, except as provided in section 322.5.
12. A person who has been convicted of a fraudulent practice, has been convicted of three
or more violations of section 321.92, subsection 2, or section 321.99, has been convicted of
three or more violations of subsection 16 of this section in the previous three-year period, or
has been convicted of any other indictable offense in connection with selling or other activity
relating to motor vehicles, in this state or any other state, shall not for a period of five years
from the date of conviction be an owner, salesperson, employee, officer of a corporation,
or representative of a licensed motor vehicle dealer or represent themselves as an owner,
salesperson, employee, officer of a corporation, or representative of a licensed motor vehicle
dealer.
13. a. A manufacturer, distributor, or importer of motor vehicles or agent or
representative of such manufacturer, distributor, or importer shall not reduce the amount
of compensation for, or disallow a claim for, any of the following if twelve months or more
have passed since the claim was submitted to the manufacturer, distributor, or importer or
agent or representative thereof:
(1) Warranty parts, repairs, or service supplied by a motor vehicle dealer.
(2) Sales or leasing incentives provided to a motor vehicle dealer or to a customer of a
motor vehicle dealer including but not limited to rebates and discounted interest rates.
b. The twelve-month limitation shall not apply if a court of competent jurisdiction in this
state finds the claim was fraudulent.
14. A manufacturer or importer shall not directly or indirectly be licensed as, own an
interest in, operate, or control a motor vehicle dealer. This subsection shall not prohibit any
of the following:
a. A manufacturer or importer from being licensed as a motor vehicle dealer or owning
an interest in, operating, or controlling a motor vehicle dealership for a period not to exceed
one year to facilitate transfer of the motor vehicle dealership to a new owner if both of the
following apply:
(1) The prior owner transferred the motor vehicle dealership to the manufacturer or
importer.
(2) The motor vehicle dealership is continuously offered for sale by the manufacturer or
importer upon reasonable terms and conditions.
b. A manufacturer or importer from temporarily owning an interest in a motor vehicle
dealership for the purpose of enhancing opportunities for persons who lack the financial
resources to purchase the motor vehicle dealership without such assistance. A manufacturer
or importer may temporarily own an interest in a motor vehicle dealership pursuant to this
paragraph only if the manufacturer or importer enters into a contract with a person pursuant
to which all of the following apply:
(1) The person operates the motor vehicle dealership.
(2) The person has made a significant financial investment in the motor vehicle dealership
and is subject to loss on such investment.
(3) The person has an ownership interest in the motor vehicle dealership.
(4) The person will acquire full ownership of the motor vehicle dealership within a
reasonable time under reasonable conditions.
c. A manufacturer or importer from owning an interest in, operating, or controlling a
person whose primary business is renting motor vehicles and who is licensed as a used motor
vehicle dealer.
d. A manufacturer of motor homes, as defined in section 321.1, from owning an interest
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Iowa Code 2017, Section 322.3 (20, 3)
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VEHICLE MANUFACTURERS, DISTRIBUTORS, WHOLESALERS, & DEALERS, §322.3
in, operating, or controlling a motor vehicle dealer of the motor homes manufactured by
that manufacturer or from being licensed as a motor vehicle dealer only of the motor homes
manufactured by that manufacturer.
e. A manufacturer from owning a minority interest in an entity that owns and operates
motor vehicle dealers, licensed under this chapter or the laws of the jurisdiction in which they
are located, of the line-make manufactured by the manufacturer if all of the motor vehicle
dealers owned and operated by the entity in this state are motor vehicle dealers of only the
line-make manufactured by the manufacturer and if, on January 1, 2000, there were not less
than one and not more than three motor vehicle dealers of that line-make licensed under this
chapter.
15. A manufacturer, distributor, or importer of motor vehicles or an agent or
representative of a manufacturer, distributor, or importer shall not reduce the amount of
compensation for, or disallow a claim for, warranty parts, repairs, or service supplied by a
motor vehicle dealer on the grounds that the dealer failed to submit a claim fewer than sixty
days after the motor vehicle dealer completed the work underlying the claim for warranty
parts, repairs, or service.
16. A motor vehicle dealer or wholesaler licensed under this chapter shall not sell, loan,
rent, lease, or charge a fee for the use of the license to another person for the purpose of
allowing the person to engage in the business of selling motor vehicles.
[C39, §5039.03; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §322.3]
90 Acts, ch 1061, §1; 96 Acts, ch 1090, §13; 97 Acts, ch 108, §36; 98 Acts, ch 1075, §26; 99
Acts, ch 69, §1; 2000 Acts, ch 1003, §1; 2000 Acts, ch 1232, §66; 2001 Acts, ch 32, §30, 31, 40;
2003 Acts, ch 44, §114; 2006 Acts, ch 1068, §34; 2009 Acts, ch 130, §35; 2010 Acts, ch 1011,
§1; 2010 Acts, ch 1035, §8; 2010 Acts, ch 1061, §180; 2016 Acts, ch 1083, §4 – 6
Referred to in §321.105A, §322.5, §322.6, §322.29
Fraudulent practices, see §714.8 – 714.14
Subsections 3 and 12 amended
NEW subsection 16
Tue Feb 21 13:55:37 2017
Iowa Code 2017, Section 322.3 (20, 3)
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