Suspension or Revocation of Class II Auto Dealers License
Municipal licenses are subject to suspension, revocation, or non-renewal at the whims of the town’s licensing board. Often these occur summarily, without a hearing and without just cause, or without sufficient evidence. And the loss of your municipal license means the loss of your livelihood.
But unbeknownst to many licensees, not all license suspensions, revocations or non-renewals are valid. There are due process rules to which all licensing committees must adhere, or else the suspension, revocation, or non-renewal may have violated your constitutional rights.
Due process includes:
- a hearing,
- sufficient notice of any hearing, which includes ample time (found to be at least greater than three business days) and the issues to be discussed, and
- an opportunity to be heard at the hearing.
Once the hearing has concluded, even if the town did all of the above correctly, it must also provide you with a “statement of reasons” that identify the basis for the suspension, revocation, and (in some cases) non-renewal. You could also make an argument that the failure to give a contemporaneous (to the decision or vote to suspend or revoke) statement of reasons makes the decision void.
The Jacobs Law has successfully litigated these type of cases to reinstate improperly suspended or revoked auto dealers licenses.
