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Penalties and Infringements - Motor vehicle dealers
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Motor industryThe Motor Vehicle Dealers Act imposes serious obligations on licensed dealers, yard managers and salespersons and the way they operate their business. Failing to meet those obligations can result in the Department prosecuting offending licence holders before a Court, or initiating disciplinary action against them in the State Administrative Tribunal, or giving them an infringement notice.
Maximum penalties can range from fines as high as $50,000, infringements as high as $1000, and the State Administrative Tribunal has the power to take a licence holder's licence away from them. The offences most commonly detected by the Department are listed below. This is not an exhaustive list, and licence holders should read it in context with the full provisions of the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act and relevant Regulations.
Penalties
|
Motor Vehicle Dealers Act 1973 |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Section |
Description of Offence |
Penalty |
|
21 |
A dealer must include the business name and dealer's licence number: On a sign of reasonable dimensions at every authorised premises, and, In every advertisement published by him or on his behalf. |
$1,500 |
|
27 |
Except in certain circumstances, dealers must keep their second-hand, trade owned vehicles at their authorised premises. |
$5,000 |
|
31A and 31B |
A person cannot work for a dealer as a Yard Manager or a Salesperson, unless he or she holds a Yard Managers or Salespersons licence, or an Interim Authorisation. |
$5,000 and a daily penalty of $100 |
|
31C |
A dealer cannot employ or engage an unlicensed Yard Manager or Salesperson. |
$5,000 and a daily penalty of $100 |
|
Division 2 |
This division extensively regulates sales on consignment. A dealer should be conversant with the whole of Division 2 of the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act, and Part 3 - Trust Accounts in the Motor Vehicle Dealers (Sales) Regulations 1974. |
$5,000 (For breach of any section within the division) |
|
32B and 42A |
A dealer cannot sell a vehicle, unless the contract or agreement for the sale of that vehicle is in writing, signed by all parties, and includes the prescribed particulars, terms and conditions. |
$5,000 |
|
45 |
It is an offence for any person to wilfully and with intent to deceive another person, alter, cause to be altered, or connive in the alteration of the reading of an odometer on the vehicle. |
$50,000 |
|
Motor Vehicle Dealers (Sales) Regulations 1974 |
||
|
14, relating to 11 |
Where a dealer advertises a second-hand vehicle for sale, the advertisement must contain;
|
$2,000 |
Infringements
|
Motor Vehicle Dealers Act 1973 TABLE of DESCRIPTIONS of OFFENCES |
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|---|---|---|
| Section | Description of Offence | Penalty |
| 20G(3) | Failing to display the 'Certificate of Authorised Premises' in a conspicuous position at the premises to which the certificate applies. | $150 |
| 21(a) | Failing to cause the business name and licence number to appear on a sign of reasonable dimensions at every premises. | $150 |
| 21(b) | Failing to cause the business name and licence number to appear in every advertisement published by him or on his behalf. | $150 |
| 21C(3) | Failing to display a ‘certificate for car market operator's premise' in a conspicuous position at the premises to which the certificate applies. | $150 |
| 21D | Failing to cause the business name and licence number to appear on a sign of reasonable size at every premises, and/or in every advertisement published by the operator or on his behalf. | $150 |
| 22A(3) | Failing to return a licence or certificate of registration upon cancellation of an authorisation. | $150 |
| 23(1) | Failing to notify the Commissioner of a change in the membership of a licensed firm. | $200 |
| 23(2) | Failing to notify the Commissioner of a change in the membership of a licensed body corporate. | $200 |
| 24(3) | Being a licensed salesperson or yard manger, failing to notify the Commissioner of a change in residential address. | $150 |
| 25(1) | Failing to have a register in the prescribed form at every authorised premises. | $500 |
| 25(1a) | Failing to have a register in the prescribed form (financiers and car hire operators). | $500 |
| 25(2a) | Failing to have a register in the prescribed form (car market operators). | $500 |
| 25(2e) | Making, or causing to be made, a false entry, in the register kept by a licence holder. | $100 |
| 26(1) | Failing to immediately notify the licensing authority of the acquisition or sale of a second-hand vehicle, and if the vehicle is not licensed in WA, fail to forthwith return the number plates. | $200 |
| 26(2) | Failing to return the number plates of a second-hand vehicle where the licence has expired or is cancelled. | $200 |
| 27(3) | Keeping a second-hand vehicle elsewhere than at the premises. | $500 |
| 28(10) | Failing to comply with an order to remedy defects or surrender number plates. | $200 |
| 28(11) | Removing, damaging or obliterating a remedy notice attached to a vehicle. | $200 |
| 30(2) | Carry on business at premises that was not in accordance with an authorisation or permit. | $500 |
| 31A | Acting as a yard manager without a licence. | $1,000 |
| 31B | Acting as a salesperson without a licence. | $1,000 |
| 31C | Employing an unlicensed yard manager or salesperson. | $1,000 |
| 31D(2) | Carrying on business at a premise that is not an authorised premise. | $500 |
| 32B(1) | Failing to follow requirements when accepting a vehicle under a consignment agreement. | $500 |
| 32B(3) | Failing to provide a copy of a consignment agreement to the consignor. | $500 |
| 32C | Accepting a vehicle for sale under a consignment agreement without holding a trust account. | $500 |
| 32D(1) | Failure to pay money from a consignment sale into a trust account within the required time. | $500 |
| 32I(1) | Failure to have trust account audited. | $500 |
| 33(1) | Offering for sale a second-hand vehicle without a notice in the prescribed form attached. | $200 |
| 33(4) | Inserting, or allowing to be inserted, a false or misleading statement, in a material particular. | $500 |
| 33(7) | Failing to complete and maintain required notices (e.g. Form 4, Form 6, etc) | $100 |
| 40B(1) | Being a licensed car market operator, allowing a vehicle to be displayed for sale without the required notice attached. | $200 |
| 43(1) | Failing to provide a purchaser with a written note stating the monetary value of the item used as a trade-in. | $100 |
|
Motor Vehicle Dealers (Sales) Regulations 1974 |
||
| 14, relating to 10C(1) | Failing to include required information in the name of a trust account. | $200 |
| 14, relating to 10C(2) | Failing to inform the Commissioner when a trust account is opened or closed. | $200 |
| 14, relating to 10D(1) | Failing to keep record of a trust account. | $200 |
| 14, relating to 10E(1) | Failing to provide a written receipt when money is received. | $200 |
| 14, relating to 10H(1) | Failing to appoint an auditor when opening a trust account. | $200 |
| 14, relating to 11(2) | Causing an advertisement to be published which fails to conform to regulatory advertising requirements. | $200 |
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