AGO 00-74.

• Case Date: August 17, 2000
• Court: South Carolina

South Carolina Attorney General Opinions 2000. AGO 00-74. 201August 17, 2000OPINION NO. 00-74The Honorable James E. Smith, Jr. Member, House of Representatives P.O. Box 50333 Columbia, South Carolina 29250 Re: Informal Opinion Dear Representative Smith: By your letter of May 16, 2000, you have requested an opinion of this Office. You wish to know "whether South Carolina law prohibits the staffing of dealership sales personnel at manufacturer/promoter sponsored motor vehicle shows, even where the selling of motor vehicles is strictly prohibited." South Carolina's regulation of manufacturers, distributers, and dealers of automobiles is codified at Chapter 15 of Title 56 of the South Carolina Code of Laws. Section 56-15-310 requires a dealer to obtain a license before engaging in business and prohibits "the sale of any type of motor vehicles other than mobile homes at authorized temporary locations." Section 56-15-330 further provides, in part, that a dealer may not receive a license unless:

The dealer maintains a bona fide established place of business for conducting the business of selling or exchanging motor vehicles which must be the principal business conducted from the fixed location.... A bona fide established place of business does not mean a residence. tent, temporary stand, or other temporary quarters.

These provisions have been interpreted as requiring motor vehicle sales to be made only from a fixed location or established place of business. See Op. Atty. Gen. Mar. 10, 1989. Sales of motor vehicles at shows or exhibitions would therefore violate these provisions. You now ask if simply staffing the exhibitions with a dealer's sales personnel would also violate State law. Your question turns not so much on for whom the personnel actually work, but how they conduct themselves at the exhibition.

South Carolina Code of Laws Section 56-15-10 defines "sale" as including:

202

... the issuance, transfer, agreement for transfer, exchange, pledge, hypothecation, mortgage in any form, whether by transfer in trust or otherwise, of any motor vehicle or interest therein or of any franchise related thereto; and any option, subscription or other contract, or solicitation, looking to a sale, or offer or attempt to sell in any form, whether spoken or written. A gift or delivery of any motor vehicle or franchise with

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