As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) “Closed title” means an executed certificate of title indicating the recreational vehicle dealer as the current owner or transferee;

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 55-17-401

  • Commission: means the Tennessee motor vehicle commission. See Tennessee Code 55-17-401
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • 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.
  • Dealer: means every person engaged in the business of buying, selling or exchanging vehicles of a type required to be registered and who has an established place of business for that purpose in this state. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Distributor: means any person who in whole or in part sells or distributes any new and unused recreational vehicles to recreational dealers or who maintains distributor representatives. See Tennessee Code 55-17-401
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Manufacturer: means any person who manufactures or assembles new and unused recreational vehicles, or who maintains factory representatives. See Tennessee Code 55-17-401
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Owner: means a person who holds the legal title of a vehicle, or in the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof, with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee, or in the event a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then the conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purpose of this chapter and chapter 10, parts 1-5 of this title. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Person: means every natural person, partnership, corporation, association, trust, estate, or any other legal entity. See Tennessee Code 55-17-401
  • Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Sale: means the issuance, transfer, agreement for transfer, exchange, pledge, hypothecation, or mortgage in any form, whether by transfer in trust or otherwise, of any recreational vehicle or interest in such vehicle, as well as any option, subscription or other contract, or solicitation looking to sell, offer, or attempt to sell in any form, whether spoken or written. See Tennessee Code 55-17-401
  • Subscription: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Vehicle: means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Vehicle salesperson: means a person licensed as a motor vehicle salesperson pursuant to part 1 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 55-17-401
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(2) “Commission” means the Tennessee motor vehicle commission;
(3) “Distributor” means any person who in whole or in part sells or distributes any new and unused recreational vehicles to recreational dealers or who maintains distributor representatives;
(4) “Established place of business” means a permanent structure or structures owned, leased, or rented by a recreational vehicle dealer providing signs, facilities, and office space used exclusively for buying, selling, displaying, advertising, demonstrating, servicing, or repairing recreational vehicles or functional or nonfunctional parts of recreational vehicles and where replacement parts, repair tools, and equipment as well as the books and records needed to conduct the business are kept. The structure or structures must be physically apart from any other business and shall not include a private residence of any sort, tent, or temporary stand;
(5) “Factory representative” means a representative employed by a manufacturer for the purpose of making or promoting the sale of recreational vehicles or for supervising, servicing, instructing, procuring, controlling, or contacting for any reason recreational vehicle dealers or prospective recreational vehicle dealers or their employees;
(6) “Fraud” includes:

(A) A misrepresentation in any manner, whether intentionally false or due to gross negligence, of a material fact;
(B) A promise or representation not made honestly and in good faith; or
(C) An intentional failure to disclose a material fact;
(7) “Manufacturer” means any person who manufactures or assembles new and unused recreational vehicles, or who maintains factory representatives;
(8) “Person” means every natural person, partnership, corporation, association, trust, estate, or any other legal entity;
(9) “Recreational vehicle” has the same meaning as defined in § 55-28-102;
(10) “Recreational vehicle dealer”:

(A) Means a person engaged in the business of selling, offering to sell, soliciting, or advertising the sale of new or used recreational vehicles or used motor vehicles pursuant to § 55-17-419, or possessing such vehicles for the purpose of resale, either on that person’s own account or on behalf of another, either as that person’s primary business or incidental to that person’s business; and
(B) Does not include:

(i) Receivers, trustees, administrators, executors, guardians, or other persons appointed by or acting under a judgment or order of any court;
(ii) Public officers while performing or in the operation of their duties;
(iii) Employees of persons, corporations, or associations described in subdivision (10)(B)(i) when engaged in the specific performance of their duties as employees;
(iv) A motor vehicle dealer licensed pursuant to part 1 of this chapter not engaged in the business of selling, offering to sell, soliciting, or advertising the sale of new recreational vehicles;
(v) News or other advertising media and their employees while in the performance of their usual duties with regard to the sale of advertising; or
(vi) All banks, finance companies, loan companies, insurance companies, auto body shops, or garages that have not obtained a recreational vehicle for the purpose of resale, selling, or offering to sell used recreational vehicles directly to the public without the intervention of any other person, when these sales are merely incidental to their primary business activities;
(11) “Sale” means the issuance, transfer, agreement for transfer, exchange, pledge, hypothecation, or mortgage in any form, whether by transfer in trust or otherwise, of any recreational vehicle or interest in such vehicle, as well as any option, subscription or other contract, or solicitation looking to sell, offer, or attempt to sell in any form, whether spoken or written. A gift or delivery of any recreational vehicle as a bonus on account of the sale of another vehicle or otherwise shall be deemed a sale of the recreational vehicle; and
(12) “Vehicle salesperson” means a person licensed as a motor vehicle salesperson pursuant to part 1 of this chapter.
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