Governor DeSantis Re-Opens Florida

  • Florida was subject to a stay-at-home order from April 3 to May 4

  • Opens 11 new testing sites for COVID-19 virus

  • 40% of Florida unemployment claims are ineligible; only 20% have been processed

  • Restaurants and retail will open at 25% occupancy, with additional outside seating allowed

  • South Florida (Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach) is the exception

  • Titling and registration data reflects that sales are down 35% month over month
Is Florida lucky?

Most businesses in Florida were shut down for the last 31 days, but Florida dealerships have remained open for sales and service for many very good reasons. Much of the country is still closed. I thought you would enjoy a note we received from the New Jersey dealers’ association regarding test drives:

"To be clear, today’s clarification eliminates one of the more confusing aspects of Governor Murphy’s Executive Order limiting new car sales operations and allows test drives under certain controlled circumstances. It does NOT permit showrooms to reopen or lift restrictions on sales activity at this time. Dealers are allowed to continue offering online sales and “contactless” delivery.

Under the terms of today's clarification to Executive Orders 107 and 122, car dealerships may permit customers that have ordered and/or purchased a vehicle online or by phone to test drive the vehicle at the time of pick-up or prior to delivery, provided the dealership adopts social distancing policies, the individual is given access to the vehicle alone, and the dealership appropriately cleans and sanitizes the vehicle after such test drive, if the customer does not purchase the vehicle."
- New Jersey Dealers Association
PPP Update

As everyone knows, the new round of PPP applications started Monday morning. Please know that applications already in the hopper will be processed first.

  • Here is what we learned from our FADA survey on the PPP:

  • The positive experience we saw came from smaller banks throughout the state. You may wish to make applications through a number of different sources, knowing however, that only one source can fund you.

  • Only 14 dealer groups out of 96 respondents failed to receive funding – BOA was the most common denominator for those not receiving funding.

  • Truist, BOA and Ally were the largest sources of approvals at 47 of the 82 dealers approved.

  • These six lenders approved 2-5 dealer groups – Chase, Hancock, PNC, Citizens, First Southern and Flagler.

  • 21 lenders approved one dealer group.

  • Click HERE for information on some available lenders in Round 2

  • Florida businesses received 5% of the PPP money nationwide – 4th behind CA, TX and NY.    

  • Only 1.5% of the loans were over $2 million with the vast majority being loans under $150,000 (if you received over $2M you are in the audit path).

  • All major lenders announced new scrutiny coming from the Feds on those receiving loans – they will look at the necessity for your loan and your eligibility to receive the financing, especially if you are over 500 employees.

  • All recipients of PPP funding may be subject to audit focusing on why you believed it was a necessary to apply for these funds and your certification that:

  • Current economic uncertainty made the loan necessary to support your ongoing operations at the time of application.

  • Your request was made in good faith, taking into account your current business activity and your ability to access other sources of liquidity sufficient to support your ongoing operations.

  • The SBA has expressly said that forgiveness of and loans in excess of $2,000,000 will get greater scrutiny.

  • If you repay the loan by May 7, you will be deemed to have made the required certification in good faith.

  • Highly relevant in the consideration of your “necessity” will be whether you made the decision to seek the funds in order to avoid terminating or furloughing employees. CLICK HERE for more info.

  • SBA and Treasury are paying particular attention to publicly traded companies, and also to private equity companies. It is unclear to what extent this standard of access to other sources of liquidity will be applied to smaller and private companies.

  • Ultimately, whether your application was made in good faith depends on each dealer’s individual circumstances. We encourage you to consider the question with the assistance of your legal and professional advisors.
FADA working on e-Signatures for all DMV forms

We have been advised that dealers using the DMV form 82101/ Application for Duplicate Title - used when a customer has an old title and there is no copy or electronic copy available - have not been able to get this form approved with an electronic signature .

This form was not approved with the recent DMV approval memo and is now under consideration as it contains an odometer statement and there may have been instances of fraud related to this form. We are nearing a solution on this and will advise you. DMV will also provide an alert.
Phishing Alert from Florida DHSMV

We have been advised by several dealers that the phishing e-mail below from this fraudulent e-mail address   info.sales@concealed.company  is being sent to dealers and manufacturers misusing the Department’s name (The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles). 
 
Please note that the e-mail address  info.sales@concealed.company  does not belong to the Dealer License Section or the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. 
 
Please disregard and delete any phishing e-mails from this fraudulent e-mail address  info.sales@concealed.company . 
RESOURCES

Click on the image (right) to visit our COVID-19 resource page on our website.

As always, please send all questions and concerns to FADA here .
May 1, 2020 | 12:00pm EST