60-1430.02 Franchise termination, cancellation, or noncontinuation; termination, elimination, or cessation of line-make; payments required; mitigate damages.
60-1430.02. Franchise termination, cancellation,or noncontinuation; termination,elimination, or cessation of line-make; payments required; mitigatedamages.(1) Upon the termination, cancellation, or noncontinuationof a franchise by the franchisor orfranchisee pursuant to theMotor Vehicle Industry Regulation Act, the franchisor shall paythe franchisee:(a) The dealer cost, plus any charges made by the franchisor for distribution,delivery, and taxes, less all allowances paid or credited to the franchiseeby the franchisor, of unused, undamaged, and unsold motor vehicles in thefranchisee's inventory acquired from the franchisor or another franchiseeof the same line and make within the previous twelve months;(b) The dealer cost, less all allowances paid or credited to the franchiseeby the franchisor, for all unused, undamaged, and unsold supplies, parts,and accessories in original packaging, except that (i) in the case of sheetmetal, a comparablesubstitute for original packaging may be used if such supply, part, or accessoryis offered for sale by the franchisor and was acquired from the franchisoror the predecessor franchisee as a part of the franchisee's initial inventoryand (ii) in the case of a motorcycle franchise, the payment for such supplies,parts, and accessories shall be based upon the currently published dealercost for all unused, undamaged, and unsold supplies, parts, and accessoriescurrently offered for sale by the franchisor and originally acquired fromthe franchisor or the predecessor franchisee as a part of the franchisee'sinitial inventory, and all such supplies, parts, and accessories shall becurrently identifiable and labeled and in the original packaging or a comparablesubstitute for the original packaging;(c) The fair market value of each undamaged sign owned by the franchiseewhich bears a common name, trade name, or trademark of the franchisor if acquisitionof such sign was recommended or required by the franchisor;(d) The fair market value of all special tools, equipment, and furnishingsacquired from the franchisor or sources approved by the franchisor which wererecommended and required by the franchisor and are in good and usable conditionexcept for reasonable wear and tear; and(e) The cost of transporting, handling, packing, and loading motor vehicles,supplies, parts, accessories, signs, special tools, equipment, and furnishings.(2) The franchisor shall pay the franchisee the amounts specified insubsection (1) of this section within ninety days after the tender of theproperty if the franchisee has clear title to the property and is in a positionto convey that title to the franchisor. Thissection shall not apply to a termination or noncontinuation of a franchisethat is implemented as a result of the sale of the assets or stock of thefranchisee.(3)(a) If the termination,cancellation, or nonrenewal of a franchise is the result of the termination,elimination, or cessation of a line-make by the manufacturer, distributor,or factory branch, then, in addition to the payments to the franchisee pursuantto subsection (1) of this section, the manufacturer, distributor, or factorybranch shall be liable to the franchisee for an amount at least equivalentto the fair market value of the franchise for the line-make, which shall bethe greater of that value determined as of (i) the date the franchisor announcesthe action that results in termination, cancellation, or nonrenewal of theline-make or (ii) the date the action that resulted in termination, cancellation,or nonrenewal of the line-make first became general knowledge. In determiningthe fair market value of a franchise for a line-make, if the line-make isnot the only line-make for which the franchisee holds a franchise in the dealershipfacilities, the franchisee shall also be entitled to compensation for thecontribution of the line-make to payment of the rent or to covering obligationsfor the fair rental value of the franchise facilities for the period set forthin subdivision (b) of this subsection. Fair market value of the franchisefor the line-make shall only include the goodwill value of the franchise forthat line-make in the franchisee's community.(b) If the line-make is the onlyline-make for which the franchisee holds a franchise, the manufacturer, distributor,or factory branch shall also pay assistance with respect to the franchisefacilities leased or owned by the franchisee as follows:(i) The manufacturer,distributor, or factory branch shall pay the franchisee a sum equivalent tothe rent for the unexpired term of the lease or two years' rent, whicheveris less; or(ii)If the franchisee owns the franchise facilities, the manufacturer, distributor,or factory branch shall pay the franchisee a sum equivalent to the reasonablerental value of the franchise facilities for two years.(c) To be entitled tofranchise facilities assistance from the manufacturer, distributor, or factorybranch, the franchisee shall have the obligation to mitigate damages by listingthe franchise facilities for lease or sublease with a licensed real estateagent within thirty days after the effective date of the termination of thefranchise and by reasonably cooperating with the real estate agent in theperformance of the agent's duties and responsibilities. If the franchiseeis able to lease or sublease the franchise facilities on terms that are consistentwith local zoning requirements to preserve the right to sell motor vehiclesfrom the franchise facilities and the terms of the franchisee's lease, thefranchisee shall be obligated to pay the manufacturer the net revenue receivedfrom such mitigation, but only following receipt of franchise facilities assistancepayments pursuant to subdivision (3)(b) of this section and only up to thetotal amount of franchise facilities assistance payments that the franchiseehas received.(d)This subsection does not apply to the termination of a line-make by a franchisorof recreational vehicles.(4) Thissection shall not relieve a franchisee from any other obligation to mitigatedamages upon termination, cancellation, or noncontinuation of the franchise. SourceLaws 1989, LB 280, § 8; Laws 2010, LB816, § 79.