STATE OF MICHIGAN

FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL

Opinion No. 6881

November 22, 1995

AUTOMOBILE DEALERSHIPS:

Long-term leasing of automobiles on Sunday

1953 PA 66 prohibits a person from engaging, on Sundays, in the business of leasing automobiles for periods of longer than 30 days.

Honorable Art Miller, Jr.

State Senator

The Capitol

Lansing, Michigan

You have asked if 1953 PA 66 prohibits a person from engaging, on Sundays, in the business of leasing automobiles for periods of longer than 30 days.

Section 1 of 1953 PA 66, MCL 435.251 et seq; MSA 9.2701 et seq, provides:

Under section 3 of the act, a violation of this prohibition constitutes a misdemeanor. Section 4 of the act states that it does not apply to counties with a population under 130,000. The prohibition contained in this act has been repeatedly upheld by the courts. See, The Irishmen's Lot, Inc v Secretary of State, 338 Mich 662, 668-669; 62 NW2d 668 (1954) (1953 PA 66 is within the police power of the State and is constitutional); and McDonald Pontiac-Cadillac-GMC v Saginaw County Prosecuting Attorney, 150 Mich App 52, 60; 388 NW2d 301, lv den 426 Mich 867 (1986); cert den 484 US 823, 108 S Ct 86, 98 L Ed 2d 48 (1987) (1953 PA 66 does not violate equal protection and is neither unreasonable nor arbitrary).

1953 PA 66 does not expressly list the "leasing" of automobiles as one of the activities prohibited on Sundays. Significantly, however, the language utilized by the Legislature is not limited to outright sales of motor vehicles but expressly extends to attempts to "buy, sell, trade or exchange any motor vehicle or interest therein." (Emphasis added.) A lease, by definition, involves the conveyance of an interest in the leased property. Royal Oak Wholesale Co v Ford, 1 Mich App 463, 466; 136 NW2d 765 (1965). The question, then, is whether the conveyance of such an interest is sufficient to trigger application of 1953 PA 66. Examination of the provisions of the Michigan Vehicle Code (MVC), MCL 257.1 et seq; MSA 9.1801 et seq, strongly suggests that the answer to this question must be in the affirmative with respect to leases for periods of more than 30 days.

Section 37 of the MVC defines the "owner" of a motor vehicle, for purposes of that act, as follows:

Also, section 401(2) of the MVC, which governs the potential civil liability of "owners" of vehicles, and excludes from the definition of "owner" a "person engaged in the business of leasing motor vehicles who is the lessor of a motor vehicle under a lease providing for the use of the motor vehicle by the lessee for a period that is greater than 30 days."

Applying these provisions, the courts have held that, where a motor vehicle has been leased for a period in excess of 30 days, it is the lessee rather than the title holder who is the "owner" of the vehicle for purposes of determining civil liability. See, e.g., Moore v Ford Motor Credit Co, 166 Mich App 100, 104; 420 NW2d 577, lv den 431 Mich 858 (1988) and Barksdale v National Bank of Detroit, 186 Mich App 286, 290; 463 NW2d 258 (1990) lv den 437 Mich 1055 (1991). Given the Legislature's treatment of these leases in the MVC, it is clear that the leasing of a motor vehicle for a period of more than 30 days must be considered to be the conveyance of an "interest" in that vehicle sufficient to trigger application of 1953 PA 66.

I am, of course, aware of the conclusions reached by my predecessors in OAG, 1952-1954, No 1615, p 94 (December 30, 1952), and 1 OAG, 1955-1956, No 2086, p 218 (April 27, 1955). Those opinions concluded that persons engaged in the business of leasing automobiles were not required to be licensed as automobile dealers under sections 11 and 248 of the MVC. That conclusion, however, was predicated upon the definition of "dealer" used in section 11 of the MVC which encompassed only persons "engaged in the business of purchasing, selling, exchanging, or dealing in vehicles." Applying established canons of construction, my predecessors concluded that the acts of "purchasing, selling, exchanging, or dealing" did not include merely leasing such vehicles. In 1953 PA 66, in contrast, the Legislature deliberately adopted much more sweeping language, expressly including not only outright sales of vehicles, but also the sale or exchange of an "interest" therein. This additional language may not be treated as mere surplusage; it must be given meaning and effect. Stowers v Wolodzko, 386 Mich 119, 133; 191 NW2d 355 (1971).

It is my opinion, therefore, that 1953 PA 66 prohibits a person from engaging, on Sundays, in the business of leasing automobiles for periods of longer than 30 days.

Frank J. Kelley

Attorney General