Unlawful to be an automobile broker; definition; criminal penalties

(a) No person, except as provided below, shall arrange or offer to arrange for a fee, commission, or other valuable consideration, a transaction involving the sale of more than two new or used motor vehicles per calendar year. Such person shall be deemed an automobile broker: Provided, That a licensed new or used motor vehicle dealer in the State of West Virginia or an agent or employee of such dealer; an authorized distributor or an agent or employee of such distributor; an authorized automobile auction held by a licensed auctioneer; any person who sells a motor vehicle pursuant to a pledge of security and lien as established in §17A-4a-1 et seq. of this code; and an individual or corporation, including banks and financial institutions, who is the owner of the new or used motor vehicle titled in the State of West Virginia which is the object of a sale are not automobile brokers. (b) Any person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $1,000, or imprisoned in the county jail not more than 60 days, or both fined and imprisoned. (c) For purposes of this section, volunteer fire departments and part-volunteer fire departments are hereby exempt from being considered “automobile brokers” or “unlicensed dealers”, so long as such organizations hold a valid charitable raffle license or valid online charitable raffle license and raffle no more than four vehicles per month.