Montana Code 61-4-217. Standing to bring action
61-4-217. Standing to bring action. (1) The following entities have standing to seek redress for violations of Title 30, chapters 11 and 14, part 25, of this chapter, or of any other provision of Montana law relating to or affecting the relationship between a manufacturer, person, or entity described in 61-4-208(1) and a new motor vehicle dealer:
Terms Used In Montana Code 61-4-217
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Dealer: means a person that, for commission or profit, engages in whole or in part in the business of buying, selling, exchanging, or accepting on consignment new or used motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, pole trailers, travel trailers, motorboats, sailboats, snowmobiles, off-highway vehicles, or special mobile equipment that is not registered in the name of the person. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Department: means the department of justice acting directly or through its duly authorized officers or agents. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Germane: On the subject of the pending bill or other business; a strict standard of relevance.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Manufacturer: means a person who manufactures or assembles a line-make of new motor vehicles and distributes them directly or indirectly through one or more distributors to one or more new motor vehicle dealers in this state or who manufactures or installs on previously assembled truck chassis special bodies or equipment that, when installed, forms an integral part of the new motor vehicle and that constitutes a major manufacturing alteration, but does not include a person who installs a camper on a pickup truck. See Montana Code 61-4-201
- Motor vehicle: includes a motorboat and a personal watercraft as defined in 23-2-502, a snowmobile as defined in 23-2-601, and an off-highway vehicle as defined in 23-2-801. See Montana Code 61-4-201
- New motor vehicle: means a motor vehicle that has not been the subject of a retail sale regardless of the mileage of the vehicle. See Montana Code 61-4-201
- person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, state agency, local government unit, another state government, the United States, a political subdivision of this or another state, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Transferee: means a person or entity that:
(a)is in possession or control of a new motor vehicle dealer;
(b)holds an ownership or signed contract interest in a new motor vehicle dealer;
(c)is acting in a fiduciary capacity for a new motor vehicle dealer; or
(d)is an heir, devisee, personal representative, beneficiary, successor, or assign of a new motor vehicle dealer. See Montana Code 61-4-201
- Vehicle: means a device in, on, or by which any person or property may be transported or drawn on a public highway, except devices moved by animal power or used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks. See Montana Code 61-1-101
(a)a new motor vehicle dealer;
(b)a transferee of a new motor vehicle dealer; and
(c)any corporation or association that is primarily owned by or composed of new motor vehicle dealers and that primarily represents the interests of new motor vehicle dealers if at least one of the corporation or association members would have standing on its own, the interests that the action seeks to protect are germane to the corporation or association’s purpose, and the claim asserted or the relief requested does not require the participation of individual members in the action.
(2)Entities that have standing under subsection (1) may:
(a)file a petition and request the department handle the matter as an administrative proceeding; or
(b)bring a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction.
(3)An action filed under this section may seek:
(a)recovery of actual damages;
(b)declaratory or injunctive relief; or
(c)reasonable costs of the suit and attorney fees to a prevailing party.
(4)A court or administrative hearing officer may, in its discretion, increase the award of damages up to an amount not to exceed three times the actual damages sustained for a willful violation of this chapter.