I 111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 3450 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 31, 2009 Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas (for herself, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Fudge, Ms. Kilpatrick of Michigan, Ms. Clarke, Mr. Hare, Mr. Poe of Texas, Mr. Massa, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Berry, Mr. Faleomavaega, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Reyes, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, and Mr. Rothman of New Jersey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To prohibit certain restraints of competition adversely affecting automobile dealers.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Automobile Dealers Fair Competition Act of 2009.

2.

Prohibition against certain restraints of trade

(a)

Prohibition

It shall be unlawful for any new automobile manufacturer (as defined in subsection (c)) engaged in commerce, in the course of such commerce, directly or indirectly, to unreasonably discriminate against, or unreasonably deny a franchise to, an automobile dealer (as defined in subsection (d)) in any case in which the automobile dealer applies to such manufacturer, within 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, for the retention of its franchise and presents adequate evidence that it is a going concern. (b)

Expedited actions To protect franchise agreements

In order to protect the economic rights of automobile dealers, if at the end of 90 days following the date of the enactment of this Act, if a new automobile manufacturer has not entered into an agreement with an automobile dealer to restore its franchise, the automobile dealer, at the dealer’s option, shall be able to seek enforcement of its rights under subsection (a) by filing an action therefor in a United Stated district court under a procedure in which a master appointed by the court shall hear the matter and make a recommendation to the court within 90 days after the filing of the action. The court shall adopt the master’s recommendation if in accord with the law and facts. The provisions of this subsection shall not be in derogation of any rights an automobile dealer otherwise has under this section. (c)

Definition of new automobile manufacturer

As used in subsection (a), the term new automobile manufacturer means an automobile manufacturing company established in 2009 that is the successor to another automobile manufacturing company and acquires in such year the assets of the predecessor automobile manufacturing company in a transaction governed by section 363 of title 11 of the United States Code. (d)

Definition of automobile dealer

As used in subsection (a), the term automobile dealer means any automobile dealer in the United States that, on January 1, 2009, held a franchise granted by an automobile manufacturing company that was the predecessor company to a new automobile manufacturer to sell that company’s automobiles, but that, on the date of the enactment of this Act, has not entered an agreement with the new automobile manufacturer that is a successor to that company to continue serving as a franchisee.