Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-17-102 (2026)

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

• (1) "Automobile auction" means:
  • (A) Any person offering motor vehicles for sale to the highest bidder where buyers are licensed motor vehicle dealers or their duly authorized agents;
  • (B) Any person who provides the facilities for or is in the business of selling in an auction format motor vehicles that in the opinion of the commission are antique or unique; or
  • (C) Any motor vehicle dealer licensed to sell used motor vehicles, and which dealer is licensed as an auctioneer by the Tennessee auctioneer commission, and is auctioneering on consignment by and between persons, motor vehicles originally manufactured for mass transportation and exceeding thirty-four feet (34') in length;

• (2) "Automotive dismantlers and recyclers" means any person, firm, association, corporation, or trust resident or nonresident, who is engaged in the business and/or providing facilities for the purpose of recovering parts from automobiles and trucks, which have been wrecked or otherwise rendered inoperable as transportation vehicles with the parts recovered being for resale and further reduce used automobiles and trucks to a condition capable of salvage for their metal scrap content by scrap processors;

• (3) "Closed title" means an executed certificate of title indicating the motor vehicle dealer as the current owner or transferee;

• (4) "Commission" means the motor vehicle commission created by this part;

• (5) "Distributor" or "wholesaler" means any person who in whole or in part sells or distributes any new and unused motor vehicles to motor vehicle dealers or who maintains distributor representatives;

• (6) "Distributor branch" means a branch office similarly maintained by a distributor or wholesaler for the same purpose a factory branch is maintained;

• (7) "Distributor representative" means a representative employed by a distributor or employed by a distributor branch or wholesaler for the purpose of making or promoting the sale of motor vehicles or for supervising, servicing, instructing, procuring, contracting or contacting for any reason motor vehicle dealers or prospective motor vehicle dealers or their employees;

• (8) "Established place of business" means a permanent structure or structures owned, leased or rented by a motor vehicle dealer providing signs, facilities and office space used exclusively for buying, selling, displaying, advertising, demonstrating, servicing or repairing motor vehicles or functional or nonfunctional parts of motor 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;

• (9) "Factory branch" means the branch office maintained by a manufacturer for the sale or transfer of motor vehicles to distributors or to motor vehicle dealers or which is maintained for directing and supervising the representatives of the manufacturer;

• (10) "Factory representative" means a representative employed by a manufacturer or employed by a factory branch for the purpose of making or promoting the sale of motor vehicles or for supervising, servicing, instructing, procuring, contracting or contacting for any reason motor vehicle dealers or prospective motor vehicle dealers or their employees;

• (11) "Franchise" means an oral or written agreement for a definite or indefinite period in which a manufacturer or distributor grants to a motor vehicle dealer a license to use a trade name, service mark, or related characteristic and in which there is a community of interest in the marketing of motor vehicles or services related thereto at wholesale, retail, leasing or otherwise;

• (12) "Fraud," in addition to its normal legal connotation, means a misrepresentation in any manner, whether intentionally false or due to gross negligence, of a material fact; a promise or representation not made honestly and in good faith; or an intentional failure to disclose a material fact;

• (13) "Manufacturer" means any person who manufactures or assembles new and unused motor vehicles or recreational vehicles, or who maintains factory representatives;

• (14) "Motor vehicle" means any self-propelled motor-driven vehicle of the type and kind required to be registered and titled under chapter 1 of this title, and includes, but is not limited to, "motor vehicle" as defined in § 55-1-103; "motorcycle" as defined in § 55-1-103; and "truck" as defined in § 55-1-104; and does not include a recreational vehicle as defined in § 55-28-102;

• (15) "Motor vehicle dealer" means any person not excluded by subdivision (17), engaged in the business of selling, offering to sell, soliciting or advertising the sale of motor vehicles or used recreational vehicles, or possessing motor vehicles or used recreational 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;

• (16) "Motor vehicle salesperson" or "vehicle salesperson" means any person who is not excluded by subdivision (17), and who is:
  • (A) Employed by a licensed motor vehicle dealer who is engaged in the business of effecting or attempting to effect the sale or purchase of motor vehicles or used recreational vehicles owned by some other person to residents of the state, for which service some form of remuneration is expected, whether the remuneration be designated as a salary, fee commission, rental, or otherwise, and regardless of whether the remuneration is paid by the buyer, seller, or a third party; or
  • (B) Employed by a recreational vehicle dealer licensed pursuant to part 4 of this chapter, and who is engaged in the business of effecting or attempting to effect the sale or purchase of recreational vehicles or used motor vehicles owned by some other person to residents of the state, for which service some form of remuneration is expected, whether the remuneration be designated as a salary, fee commission, rental, or otherwise, and regardless of whether the remuneration is paid by the buyer, seller, or a third party;

• (17) "Motor vehicle dealer" and "motor vehicle salesperson" do not include the following:
  • (A) Receivers, trustees, administrators, executors, guardians, or other persons appointed by or acting under a judgment or order of any court;
  • (B) Public officers while performing or in the operation of their duties;
  • (C) Employees of persons, corporations, or associations enumerated in subdivision (17)(A) when engaged in the specific performance of their duties as employees;
  • (D) News or other advertising media and their employees while in the performance of their usual duties with regard to the sale of advertising;
  • (E) All banks, finance companies, loan companies, insurance companies, auto body shops or garages that have not obtained a motor vehicle for the purpose of resale, selling or offering to sell used motor vehicles directly to the public without the intervention of any other person, when these sales are merely incidental to their primary business activities;
  • (F) Persons when selling motor vehicles that have been designated by the seller as nonrepairable vehicles, as defined in § 55-3-201, whether or not such vehicles have been issued a nonrepairable vehicle certificate to licensed automotive dismantlers and recyclers, or registered scrap metal dealers or scrap metal processors, solely for recycling, dismantling, or scrap;
  • (G) A recreational vehicle dealer licensed pursuant to part 4 of this chapter 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;

• (18) "Person" means every natural person, partnership, corporation, association, trust, estate, or any other legal entity;

• (19) "Public automobile auction" means a person that offers motor vehicles for sale to the highest bidder, where buyers are members of the public, by a motor vehicle dealer licensed to sell used motor vehicles that holds a public auto auction license and uses the services of a public automobile auctioneer licensed by the Tennessee auctioneer commission; provided, that a public automobile auction does not otherwise limit the auctioning of used motor vehicles exclusively to licensed motor vehicle dealers or their duly authorized agents;

• (20) "Public automobile auctioneer" means any individual who, for a fee, commission, or any other valuable consideration, or with the intention or expectation of receiving a fee, commission, or any other valuable consideration, by the means or process of auction or sale at auction, offers, negotiates, or attempts to negotiate a listing contract, sale, purchase or exchange of goods, including motor vehicles;

• (21) "Recreational vehicle" has the same meaning as defined in § 55-28-102; and

• (22) "Sale" means 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, as well as any option, subscription or other contract, or solicitation looking to a sale, offer or attempt to sell in any form, whether spoken or written. A gift or delivery of any motor vehicle or franchise with respect thereto with or as a bonus on account of the sale of anything shall be deemed a sale of the motor vehicle or franchise.

Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 585,s 5, eff. 3/15/2024.

Amended by 2016 Tenn. Acts, ch. 781, Secs.s 2, s 3 eff. 1/1/2017.

Amended by 2016 Tenn. Acts, ch. 1015, s 3, eff. 7/1/2016.

Amended by 2015 Tenn. Acts, ch. 344, s 3, eff. 7/1/2015.

Acts 1955, ch. 79, § 2; 1957, ch. 56, §§ 1-3; 1959, ch. 25, §§ 1, 2; 1963, ch. 109, § 1; 1974, ch. 452, §§ 1, 2; 1977, ch. 162, §§ 2-13; 1977, ch. 450, § 1; T.C.A., § 59-1702; Acts 1984, ch. 718, § 1; 1986, ch. 804, § 6; 1994, ch. 922, § 2; 2003 , ch. 159, § 1; 2005, ch. 379, §§ 15, 18 - 20; 2008 , ch. 724, § 5.