Exclude semitrailers from the Motor Vehicle Sales Law

hb951_00_IN

As Introduced

136th
General Assembly

Regular
Session
H. B. No. 951

2025-2026

Representatives Robb Blasdel,
Barhorst

To
amend section 4517.01 of the Revised Code
to
exclude semitrailers from the Motor Vehicle Sales Law.

BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section
1.
That
section 4517.01 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec.
4517.01.
As
used in sections 4517.01 to 4517.65 of the Revised Code:

(A)
"Persons" includes individuals, partnerships, associations,
joint stock companies, corporations, sole proprietorships, limited
liability companies, limited liability partnerships, business trusts,
and any other legally recognized business entities or any
combinations of individuals.

(B)
"Motor vehicle" means motor vehicle as defined in section
4501.01 of the Revised Code and also includes "all-purpose
vehicle" and "off-highway motorcycle" as those terms
are defined in section 4519.01 of the Revised Code. "Motor
vehicle" does not include a snowmobile as defined in section
4519.01 of the Revised Code or manufactured and mobile homes. "Motor
vehicle" includes a "fifth wheel trailer," "park
trailer," "travel trailer,"
and

"tent-type
fold-out camping trailer,"
and
a "semitrailer"
but
does not otherwise include trailers
or
semitrailers
as
defined in section 4501.01 of the Revised Code.

(C)
"New motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle, the legal title
to which has never been transferred by a manufacturer,
remanufacturer, distributor, or dealer to an ultimate purchaser.

(D)
"Ultimate purchaser" means, with respect to any new motor
vehicle, the first person, other than a dealer purchasing in the
capacity of a dealer, who in good faith purchases such new motor
vehicle for purposes other than resale.

(E)
"Business" includes any activities engaged in by any person
for the object of gain, benefit, or advantage either direct or
indirect, including activities conducted through the internet or
another computer network.

(F)
"Engaging in business" means commencing, conducting, or
continuing in business, or liquidating a business when the liquidator
thereof holds self out to be conducting such business; making a
casual sale or otherwise making transfers in the ordinary course of
business when the transfers are made in connection with the
disposition of all or substantially all of the transferor's assets is
not engaging in business.

(G)
"Retail sale" or "selling at retail" means the
act or attempted act of selling, bartering, exchanging, or otherwise
disposing of a motor vehicle, including through use of the internet
or another computer network, to an ultimate purchaser.

(H)
"Retail installment contract" includes any contract in the
form of a note, chattel mortgage, conditional sales contract, lease,
agreement, or other instrument payable in one or more installments
over a period of time and arising out of the retail sale of a motor
vehicle.

(I)
"Farm machinery" means all machines and tools used in the
production, harvesting, and care of farm products.

(J)
"Dealer" or "motor vehicle dealer" means any new
motor vehicle dealer, any motor vehicle leasing dealer, any adaptive
mobility dealer, and any used motor vehicle dealer.

(K)
"New motor vehicle dealer" means any person engaged in the
business of selling at retail, displaying, offering for sale, or
dealing in new motor vehicles pursuant to a contract or agreement
entered into with the manufacturer, remanufacturer, or distributor of
the motor vehicles.

(L)
"Used motor vehicle dealer" means any person engaged in the
business of selling, displaying, offering for sale, or dealing in
used motor vehicles, at retail or wholesale, but does not mean any
new motor vehicle dealer selling, displaying, offering for sale, or
dealing in used motor vehicles incidentally to engaging in the
business of selling, displaying, offering for sale, or dealing in new
motor vehicles, any person engaged in the business of dismantling,
salvaging, or rebuilding motor vehicles by means of using used parts,
or any public officer performing official duties.

(M)
"Motor vehicle leasing dealer" means any person engaged in
the business of regularly making available, offering to make
available, or arranging for another person to use a motor vehicle
pursuant to a bailment, lease, sublease, or other contractual
arrangement under which a charge is made for its use at a periodic
rate for a term of thirty days or more, and title to the motor
vehicle is in and remains in the motor vehicle leasing dealer who
originally leases it, irrespective of whether or not the motor
vehicle is the subject of a later sublease, and not in the user,
including any financial institution acting as a lessor for a lease or
sublease. "Motor vehicle leasing dealer" does not include a
new motor vehicle dealer that is not the lessor and that only assists
in arranging a lease on the lessor's behalf or a manufacturer or its
affiliate leasing to its employees or to dealers.

(N)
"Salesperson" means any person employed by a dealer to
sell, display, and offer for sale, or deal in motor vehicles for a
commission, compensation, or other valuable consideration, but does
not mean any public officer performing official duties.

(O)
"Casual sale" means any transfer of a motor vehicle by a
person other than a new motor vehicle dealer, used motor vehicle
dealer, adaptive mobility dealer, motor vehicle salvage dealer, as
defined in division (A) of section 4738.01 of the Revised Code,
salesperson, motor vehicle auction owner, manufacturer, or
distributor acting in the capacity of a dealer, salesperson, auction
owner, manufacturer, or distributor, to a person who purchases the
motor vehicle for use as a consumer.

(P)
"Motor vehicle auction owner" means any person who is
engaged wholly or in part in the business of auctioning motor
vehicles, but does not mean a construction equipment auctioneer or a
construction equipment auction licensee.

(Q)
"Manufacturer" means a person who manufactures, assembles,
or imports motor vehicles, including motor homes, but does not mean a
person who only assembles or installs a body, special equipment unit,
finishing trim, or accessories on a motor vehicle chassis supplied by
a manufacturer or distributor.

(R)
"Tent-type fold-out camping trailer" means any vehicle
intended to be used, when stationary, as a temporary shelter with
living and sleeping facilities, and that is subject to the following
properties and limitations:

(1)
A minimum of twenty-five per cent of the fold-out portion of the top
and sidewalls combined must be constructed of canvas, vinyl, or other
fabric, and form an integral part of the shelter.

(2)
When folded, the unit must not exceed:

(a)
Fifteen feet in length, exclusive of bumper and tongue;

(b)
Sixty inches in height from the point of contact with the ground;

(c)
Eight feet in width;

(d)
One ton gross weight at time of sale.

(S)
"Distributor" means any person authorized by a motor
vehicle manufacturer to distribute new motor vehicles to licensed new
motor vehicle dealers, but does not mean a person who only assembles
or installs a body, special equipment unit, finishing trim, or
accessories on a motor vehicle chassis supplied by a manufacturer or
distributor.

(T)
"Flea market" means a market place, other than a dealer's
location licensed under this chapter, where a space or location is
provided for a fee or compensation to a seller to exhibit and offer
for sale or trade, motor vehicles to the general public.

(U)
"Franchise" means any written agreement, contract, or
understanding between any motor vehicle manufacturer or
remanufacturer engaged in commerce and any new motor vehicle dealer
that purports to fix the legal rights and liabilities of the parties
to such agreement, contract, or understanding.

(V)
"Franchisee" means a person who receives new motor vehicles
from the franchisor under a franchise agreement and who offers,
sells, and provides service for such new motor vehicles to the
general public.

(W)
"Franchisor" means a new motor vehicle manufacturer,
remanufacturer, or distributor who supplies new motor vehicles under
a franchise agreement to a franchisee.

(X)
"Dealer organization" means a state or local trade
association the membership of which is comprised predominantly of new
motor vehicle dealers.

(Y)
"Factory representative" means a representative employed by
a manufacturer, remanufacturer, or by a factory branch primarily for
the purpose of promoting the sale of its motor vehicles, parts, or
accessories to dealers or for supervising or contacting its dealers
or prospective dealers.

(Z)
"Administrative or executive management" means those
individuals who are not subject to federal wage and hour laws.

(AA)
"Good faith" means honesty in the conduct or transaction
concerned and the observance of reasonable commercial standards of
fair dealing in the trade as is defined in section 1301.201 of the
Revised Code, including, but not limited to, the duty to act in a
fair and equitable manner so as to guarantee freedom from coercion,
intimidation, or threats of coercion or intimidation; provided
however, that recommendation, endorsement, exposition, persuasion,
urging, or argument shall not be considered to constitute a lack of
good faith.

(BB)
"Coerce" means to compel or attempt to compel by failing to
act in good faith or by threat of economic harm, breach of contract,
or other adverse consequences. Coerce does not mean to argue, urge,
recommend, or persuade.

(CC)
"Relevant market area" means any area within a radius of
ten miles from the site of a potential new dealership, except that
for manufactured home or recreational vehicle dealerships the radius
shall be twenty-five miles. The ten-mile radius shall be measured
from the dealer's established place of business that is used
exclusively for the purpose of selling, displaying, offering for
sale, or dealing in motor vehicles.

(DD)
"Wholesale" or "at wholesale" means the act or
attempted act of selling, bartering, exchanging, or otherwise
disposing of a motor vehicle to a transferee for the purpose of
resale and not for ultimate consumption by that transferee.

(EE)
"Motor vehicle wholesaler" means any person licensed as a
dealer under the laws of another state and engaged in the business of
selling, displaying, or offering for sale used motor vehicles, at
wholesale, but does not mean any motor vehicle dealer as defined in
this section.

(FF)(1)
"Remanufacturer" means a person who assembles or installs
passenger seating, walls, a roof elevation, or a body extension on a
conversion van with the motor vehicle chassis supplied by a
manufacturer or distributor, a person who modifies a truck chassis
supplied by a manufacturer or distributor for use as a public safety
or public service vehicle, a person who modifies a motor vehicle
chassis supplied by a manufacturer or distributor for use as a
limousine or hearse, or a person who modifies an incomplete motor
vehicle cab and chassis supplied by a new motor vehicle dealer or
distributor for use as a tow truck, but does not mean either of the
following:

(a)
A person who assembles or installs passenger seating, a roof
elevation, or a body extension on a recreational vehicle as defined
in division (Q) and referred to in division (B) of section 4501.01 of
the Revised Code;

(b)
An adaptive mobility dealer.

(2)
For the purposes of division (FF)(1) of this section, "public
safety vehicle or public service vehicle" means a fire truck,
ambulance, school bus, street sweeper, garbage packing truck, or
cement mixer, or a mobile self-contained facility vehicle.

(3)
For the purposes of division (FF)(1) of this section, "limousine"
means a motor vehicle, designed only for the purpose of carrying nine
or fewer passengers, that a person modifies by cutting the original
chassis, lengthening the wheelbase by forty inches or more, and
reinforcing the chassis in such a way that all modifications comply
with all applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards. No person
shall qualify as or be deemed to be a remanufacturer who produces
limousines unless the person has a written agreement with the
manufacturer of the chassis the person utilizes to produce the
limousines to complete properly the remanufacture of the chassis into
limousines.

(4)
For the purposes of division (FF)(1) of this section, "hearse"
means a motor vehicle, designed only for the purpose of transporting
a single casket, that is equipped with a compartment designed
specifically to carry a single casket that a person modifies by
cutting the original chassis, lengthening the wheelbase by ten inches
or more, and reinforcing the chassis in such a way that all
modifications comply with all applicable federal motor vehicle safety
standards. No person shall qualify as or be deemed to be a
remanufacturer who produces hearses unless the person has a written
agreement with the manufacturer of the chassis the person utilizes to
produce the hearses to complete properly the remanufacture of the
chassis into hearses.

(5)
For the purposes of division (FF)(1) of this section, "mobile
self-contained facility vehicle" means a mobile classroom
vehicle, mobile laboratory vehicle, bookmobile, bloodmobile, testing
laboratory, and mobile display vehicle, each of which is designed for
purposes other than for passenger transportation and other than the
transportation or displacement of cargo, freight, materials, or
merchandise. A vehicle is remanufactured into a mobile self-contained
facility vehicle in part by the addition of insulation to the body
shell, and installation of all of the following: a generator,
electrical wiring, plumbing, holding tanks, doors, windows, cabinets,
shelving, and heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems.

(6)
For the purposes of division (FF)(1) of this section, "tow
truck" means both of the following:

(a)
An incomplete cab and chassis that are purchased by a remanufacturer
from a new motor vehicle dealer or distributor of the cab and chassis
and on which the remanufacturer then installs in a permanent manner a
wrecker body it purchases from a manufacturer or distributor of
wrecker bodies, installs an emergency flashing light pylon and
emergency lights upon the mast of the wrecker body or rooftop, and
installs such other related accessories and equipment, including push
bumpers, front grille guards with pads and other custom-ordered items
such as painting, special lettering, and safety striping so as to
create a complete motor vehicle capable of lifting and towing another
motor vehicle.

(b)
An incomplete cab and chassis that are purchased by a remanufacturer
from a new motor vehicle dealer or distributor of the cab and chassis
and on which the remanufacturer then installs in a permanent manner a
car carrier body it purchases from a manufacturer or distributor of
car carrier bodies, installs an emergency flashing light pylon and
emergency lights upon the rooftop, and installs such other related
accessories and equipment, including push bumpers, front grille
guards with pads and other custom-ordered items such as painting,
special lettering, and safety striping.

As
used in division (FF)(6)(b) of this section, "car carrier body"
means a mechanical or hydraulic apparatus capable of lifting and
holding a motor vehicle on a flat level surface so that one or more
motor vehicles can be transported, once the car carrier is
permanently installed upon an incomplete cab and chassis.

(GG)
"Operate as a new motor vehicle dealership" means engaging
in activities such as displaying, offering for sale, and selling new
motor vehicles at retail, operating a service facility to perform
repairs and maintenance on motor vehicles, offering for sale and
selling motor vehicle parts at retail, and conducting all other acts
that are usual and customary to the operation of a new motor vehicle
dealership. For the purposes of this chapter only, possession of
either a valid new motor vehicle dealer franchise agreement or a new
motor vehicle dealers license, or both of these items, is not
evidence that a person is operating as a new motor vehicle
dealership.

(HH)
"Outdoor power equipment" means garden and small utility
tractors, walk-behind and riding mowers, chainsaws, and tillers.

(II)
"Remote service facility" means premises that are separate
from a licensed new motor vehicle dealer's sales facility by not more
than one mile and that are used by the dealer to perform repairs,
warranty work, recall work, and maintenance on motor vehicles
pursuant to a franchise agreement entered into with a manufacturer of
motor vehicles. A remote service facility shall be deemed to be part
of the franchise agreement and is subject to all the rights, duties,
obligations, and requirements of Chapter 4517. of the Revised Code
that relate to the performance of motor vehicle repairs, warranty
work, recall work, and maintenance work by new motor vehicle dealers.

(JJ)
"Recreational vehicle" has the same meaning as in section
4501.01 of the Revised Code.

(KK)
"Construction equipment auctioneer" means a person who
holds both a valid auction firm license issued under Chapter 4707. of
the Revised Code and a valid construction equipment auction license
issued under this chapter.

(LL)
"Large construction or transportation equipment" means
vehicles having a gross vehicle weight rating of more than ten
thousand pounds and includes road rollers, traction engines, power
shovels, power cranes, commercial cars and trucks, or farm trucks,
and other similar vehicles obtained primarily from the construction,
mining, transportation or farming industries.

(MM)
"Local market conditions" includes, but is not limited to:

(1)
Demographics in the franchisee's area;

(2)
Geographical and market characteristics in the franchisee's area;

(3)
Local economic circumstances;

(4)
The proximity of other motor vehicle dealers of the same line-make;

(5)
The proximity of motor vehicle manufacturing facilities;

(6)
The buying patterns of motor vehicle purchasers;

(7)
Customer drive time and drive distance.

(NN)
"Established place of business" means a permanent, enclosed
building or structure that meets all of the following requirements:

(1)
It is either owned, leased, or rented by the motor vehicle dealer.

(2)
It meets local zoning or municipal requirements.

(3)
It is regularly occupied by at least one person.

(4)
It is easily accessible to the public.

(5)
The records and files necessary to conduct the business are generally
kept and maintained at the location or are readily accessible and
available for reasonable inspection from the location.

"Established
place of business" does not mean a residence, tent, temporary
stand, storage shed, lot, or any temporary quarters, unless
authorized by the registrar of motor vehicles.

(OO)
"Adaptive mobility dealer" means any person engaged in the
business of all of the following:

(1)
Selling at retail, displaying, offering for sale, delivering, and
dealing in adaptive mobility vehicles;

(2)
Selling and installing adaptive mobility equipment, related
accessories, and other goods and services to meet the automotive
adaptive mobility needs of drivers and passengers with disabilities;

(3)
Providing maintenance and repair services for adaptive mobility
vehicles and adaptive mobility equipment.

(PP)
"Adaptive mobility equipment" means the mechanical or
electronic devices or parts that are designed to facilitate the use
of a motor vehicle by a person who is aging or a person with
disabilities, in accordance with 49 C.F.R. part 571, and that are
permanently attached to or incorporated into the motor vehicle.

Section
2.
That
existing section 4517.01 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.