Florida SB 1562: Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, Importers, and Distributors and Franchised Motor Vehicle Dealers

Bill Text

1562 
Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, Importers, and Distributors and Franchised Motor Vehicle Dealers 
2026-02-11T12:01:46Z 
Authorizing licensees to reject the succession to interest in a franchise agreement of a motor vehicle dealer under certain circumstances; prohibiting a licensee from distributing more than a specified percentage of a specified number of motor vehicles of a particular line-make during a certain period to one motor vehicle dealer or dealers that share common ownership or control; authorizing a licensee to reject a sale, transfer, alienation, or other disposition of a franchise agreement or an equity interest in a motor vehicle dealer under certain circumstances, etc. 
Committee Substitute 1 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
c1 

 Florida Senate - 2026 CS for SB 1562 

 By the Committee on Commerce and Tourism; and Senator Trumbull 

 577-02748-26 20261562c1 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to motor vehicle manufacturers, 
 3 importers, and distributors and franchised motor 
 4 vehicle dealers; amending s. 320.64, F.S.; authorizing 
 5 licensees to reject the succession to interest in a 
 6 franchise agreement of a motor vehicle dealer under 
 7 certain circumstances; clarifying the motor vehicles 
 8 for which a licensee must pay certain costs to a motor 
 9 vehicle dealer under certain circumstances; 
 10 prohibiting a licensee from distributing more than a 
 11 specified percentage of a specified number of motor 
 12 vehicles of a particular line-make during a certain 
 13 period to one motor vehicle dealer or dealers that 
 14 share common ownership or control; providing 
 15 applicability; amending s. 320.643, F.S.; authorizing 
 16 a licensee to reject a sale, transfer, alienation, or 
 17 other disposition of a franchise agreement or an 
 18 equity interest in a motor vehicle dealer under 
 19 certain circumstances; providing an effective date. 
 20 
 21 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 22 
 23 Section 1. Subsection (16) and paragraph (a) of subsection 
 24 (36) of section 320.64, Florida Statutes, are amended, and 
 25 subsection (44) is added to that section, to read: 
 26 320.64 Denial, suspension, or revocation of license; 
 27 grounds.—A license of a licensee under s. 320.61 may be denied, 
 28 suspended, or revoked within the entire state or at any specific 
 29 location or locations within the state at which the applicant or 
 30 licensee engages or proposes to engage in business, upon proof 
 31 that the section was violated with sufficient frequency to 
 32 establish a pattern of wrongdoing, and a licensee or applicant 
 33 shall be liable for claims and remedies provided in ss. 320.695 
 34 and 320.697 for any violation of any of the following 
 35 provisions. A licensee is prohibited from committing the 
 36 following acts: 
 37 (16)(a) Notwithstanding the terms of any franchise 
 38 agreement, the applicant or licensee prevents or refuses to 
 39 accept the succession to any interest in a franchise agreement 
 40 by any legal heir or devisee under the will of a motor vehicle 
 41 dealer or under the laws of descent and distribution of this 
 42 state; provided, the applicant or licensee is not required to 
 43 accept a succession: 
 44 1. When where such heir or devisee does not meet licensee’s 
 45 written, reasonable, and uniformly applied minimal standard 
 46 qualifications for dealer applicants; 
 47 2. or Which, after notice and administrative hearing 
 48 pursuant to chapter 120, is demonstrated to be detrimental to 
 49 the public interest or to the representation of the applicant or 
 50 licensee; or 
 51 3. When the direct result of such succession will cause the 
 52 applicant or licensee to be in violation of subsection (44). 
 53 (b) This subsection does not Nothing contained herein, 
 54 however, shall prevent a motor vehicle dealer, during his or her 
 55 lifetime, from designating any person as his or her successor in 
 56 interest by written instrument filed with and accepted by the 
 57 applicant or licensee. A licensee who rejects the successor 
 58 transferee under this subsection shall have the burden of 
 59 establishing in any proceeding where such rejection is in issue 
 60 that the rejection of the successor transferee complies with 
 61 this subsection. 
 62 (36)(a) Notwithstanding the terms of any franchise 
 63 agreement, in addition to any other statutory or contractual 
 64 rights of recovery after the voluntary or involuntary 
 65 termination, cancellation, or nonrenewal of a franchise, failing 
 66 to pay the motor vehicle dealer, as provided in paragraph (d), 
 67 the following amounts: 
 68 1. The net cost paid by the dealer for each new motor 
 69 vehicle other than motorcycles car or truck in the dealer’s 
 70 inventory with mileage of 2,000 miles or less, or each new a 
 71 motorcycle in the dealer’s inventory with mileage of 100 miles 
 72 or less, exclusive of mileage placed o