Section 4517.261 | Documentary service charge for sale or lease.
(A) For the purposes of this section, "consumer price index" means the index, as prepared by the United States bureau of labor statistics (U.S. city average for urban wage earners and clerical workers: all items) or, if that index is no longer published, a generally available comparable index as determined by the registrar of motor vehicles.
(B) A motor vehicle dealer may contract for and receive a documentary service charge for a retail or wholesale sale or lease of a motor vehicle. A documentary service charge shall be specified in writing without itemization of the individual services provided. A documentary service charge shall be not more than the lesser of the following:
(1) The amount allowed in a retail installment sale, adjusted as required by division (C) of this section;
(2) Ten per cent of the amount the buyer or lessee is required to pay pursuant to the contract, excluding tax, title, and registration fees, and any negative equity adjustment.
(C)(1) On the effective date of this amendment, and on the last day of each September that begins thereafter, the registrar of motor vehicles shall adjust the documentary service charge allowed under division (B)(1) of this section in connection with the sale or lease of a motor vehicle by adding two hundred fifty dollars to the product of two hundred fifty dollars times the cumulative percentage change in the consumer price index since July 1, 2006, based on the most recently published data, and rounding to the nearest one-dollar increment.
(2) Subject to division (C)(3) of this section, the adjusted documentary service charge computed under division (C)(1) of this section applies as follows:
(a) For the first adjustment required by division (C)(1) of this section, from the effective date of this amendment until the last day of December following the second adjustment required by that division;
(b) For the second and all subsequent adjustments required by division (C)(1) of this section, for the full calendar year following the date of the adjustment.
(3) If the adjustment required by division (C)(1) of this section results in an amount less than the documentary service charge allowed at the time the adjustment is made, then the maximum documentary service charge per sale at the time the adjustment is made applies for the following calendar year.
(4) The registrar shall publish the adjusted documentary service charge amount and the dates to which it applies on a web site maintained by the department of public safety.
(5) The adjusted documentary service charge determined under division (C) of this section applies only with respect to the sale or lease of a motor vehicle by a motor vehicle dealer, and only if the adjusted documentary service charge does not exceed the amount described in division (B)(2) of this section.
Last updated August 27, 2024 at 3:55 PM
Available Versions of this Section
- September 29, 2007 – House Bill 119 - 127th General Assembly [ View September 29, 2007 Version ]
- October 24, 2024 – Amended by Senate Bill 94 - 135th General Assembly [ View October 24, 2024 Version ]