Title 31
Motor and Other Vehicles

Chapter 1
Definitions and General Code Provisions

R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-1-19

§ 31-1-19. Types of business.

(a) “Applicant” means any person, firm, corporation, or association making application under chapters 1 — 27 of this title.

(b) “Dealer” means every person engaged in the business of buying, selling, or exchanging vehicles required to be registered under chapters 3 — 9 of this title, and who has an established place of business for that purpose in this state.

(c) “Distributor” means every person, resident, or nonresident of this state, who sells or distributes motor vehicles to motor vehicle dealers in this state, or who maintains a distributor representative in this state.

(d) “Factory branch” means every branch office maintained by a manufacturer for the sale of motor vehicles to distributors, or for the sale of motor vehicles to motor vehicle dealers or for directing or supervising, in whole or in part, its representatives in this state.

(e) “Factory representative” means every representative employed by a manufacturer or by a factory branch for the purpose of making or promoting the sale of its motor vehicles, or for supervising or contacting its dealers or prospective dealers.

(f) “Licensee” means any person receiving a license under chapters 1 — 27 of this title.

(g) “Licensor” means either the administrator, an authorized representative, or both, who are authorized to issue a license under chapters 1 — 27 of this title.

(h) “Manufacturer” means every person engaged in the business of constructing or assembling vehicles required to be registered under chapters 3 — 9 of this title at an established place of business in this state.

(i) “New and unused motor vehicle dealer” means every person, firm, or corporation which sells, solicits, or advertises the sale of new and unused motor vehicles; holds a bona fide contract or franchise in effect with a manufacturer or distributor of the vehicle(s) to be dealt in; maintains adequate space in the building or structure where the established business is conducted for the display of those vehicle(s); provides for vehicle repair and servicing; and stores parts and accessories for those motor vehicles.

(j) “Transporter” means every person engaged in the business of delivering vehicles required to be registered under chapter 3 of this title from a manufacturing, assembling, and distributing plant to a point of destination or for the purpose of weighing, testing, transporting, or delivering that vehicle, or for the purpose of moving that vehicle in connection with making installations on or improvements to it, or for repossession of or foreclosure of it.

(k) “Wrecker” means every person engaged in the business of wrecking or dismantling motor vehicles for the resale of the parts or material from them.

History of Section.
P.L. 1950, ch. 2595, art. 1, § 18; G.L. 1956, § 31-1-19; P.L. 1960, ch. 155, § 1; P.L. 1966, ch. 189, § 1.