(a) Applicability. (1) Eligible Requesters. To qualify for an exception under this subpart, a requester must be a dealer registered in accordance with the requirements of § 599.200.

(2) Filing deadline. A request for an exception must be postmarked no later than October 13, 2009.

(3) Availability of funds. An exception shall be approved under this subpart only if Federal funds are available for payment.

(4) Exclusion. No exception may be approved for an application for reimbursement that was successfully submitted to the CARS system.

(b) Threshold requirements. Subject to the requirements of § 599.600(a), a registered dealer may submit a request for exception and seek reimbursement of a CARS credit under this subpart if the dealer:

(1) Prior to August 24, 2009, 8 pm EDT, completed a qualifying deal meeting the requirements of § 599.300 and § 599.301;

(2) Took ownership and possession of a trade-in vehicle and transferred ownership and possession of a new vehicle to the purchaser; and

(3) Prior to August 25, 2009, 8 pm EDT, attempted to submit an application for reimbursement meeting the requirements of § 599.302, but was prevented from submitting the application for any of the reasons identified in § 599.600(c).

(c) Exception cases. A dealer is eligible for an exception if:

(1) Password rejection. The dealer's account password was locked out and not reset by NHTSA;

(2) Transaction rejection. The application was rejected at submission because the dealer entered a State identification number, a trade-in vehicle VIN, or a new vehicle VIN that was already entered into the CARS program system, but that State identification number, trade-in vehicle VIN, or new vehicle VIN was never used for a CARS deal; or

(3) Other hardship. The dealer experienced any other hardship attributable to NHTSA action or inaction that the Administrator determines in his or her discretion should be redressed, consistent with the purposes of the CARS Act.