[HISTORY: Adopted by the Council of the City
of Schenectady 2-9-1970 by Ord.
No. 15274.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Transient merchants — See Ch. 179.
Peddlers and vendors — See Ch. 194.
Special sales — See Ch. 214.
[1]
Editor's Note: The provisions of this chapter
are derived from Ch. 7 of the former Revised Ordinances, adopted 2-9-1970
by Ord. No. 15274.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Includes any person selling or offering for sale, for another
or for himself, at public auction any goods, wares, merchandise or
real or personal property of any description, except as herein provided.
It shall be unlawful for any person to conduct
or to represent or circulate or place before the public any announcement
that he conducts the business of a public auctioneer without first
having obtained and paid for and having in full force and effect a
license therefor as herein provided.
[Amended 4-11-1983 by Ord. No. 83-24]
Nothing herein contained shall apply to judicial
sales or sales by public officers in the manner prescribed by law;
nor shall anything herein contained apply to sales by executors, administrators,
trustees under deed of assignment or by lienors acting personally
in their official capacity; nor shall any license be required for
the conduct of a public auction by nonprofit, religious or charitable
organizations for fundraising activities.
[Amended 10-29-1973 by Ord. No. 16216]
Every person desiring to procure a license as
herein provided shall file with the Office of Consumer Protection
a verified petition, which shall contain the name; business and residence
addresses of the applicant; the length of time such applicant has
resided in the City; his previous employment and where; whether married
or single; whether he has ever been convicted of a misdemeanor or
felony, and, if so, what offense, when and in what court; whether
he has, either alone or with someone else, ever engaged in the business
of public auctioneer and, if so, when and where. Every applicant for
such a license shall furnish to the Office of Consumer Protection
evidence that he has complied with the laws of the State of New York
regulating auctions and auctioneers. No person shall receive or be
entitled to receive a license pursuant to this article unless he is
a person of good moral character and shall furnish satisfactory evidence
thereof to the Office of Consumer Protection. Such petition shall
be signed and verified before a notary public or other official authorized
to administer oaths in the City.
[Amended 9-8-1997 by Ord. No. 97-25]
An application for a license hereunder shall
be accompanied by a bond to the City in the penal sum of $50,000,
approved as to form, sufficiency and validity by the Corporation Counsel,
conditioned that the applicant will, if granted a license, lawfully
perform his duties as such public auctioneer as required by law and
ordinances heretofore or hereafter enacted and render such accounts
and pay such fees and duties as may be required of him by law.
[Amended 10-29-1973 by Ord. No. 16216]
Upon the filing of the petition and bond as
provided in previous sections, the Office of Consumer Protection shall
ascertain if the applicant is a person of good character and repute
and may, upon his approval of such application and the payment to
the City of the license fee hereinafter provided, issue to the applicant
a license to engage in the business of public auctioneer.
No public auctioneer's license shall be refused
except for a specific reason or in the interests of the public safety,
good order and morals.
All public auctioneers' licenses shall be numbered
in the order in which they are issued and shall state clearly the
date of issuance, the fee paid and the name and business address of
the licensee.
Every public auctioneer's license shall expire
on the first day of January next succeeding the day on which it is
granted.
No applicant to whom a license has been refused
shall make further application until a period of at least six months
shall have elapsed since the last previous rejection, unless he can
show that the reason for such rejection no longer exists.
No public auctioneer's license shall be used
by any person other than the original licensee, and any holder of
such license who permits it to be used by another person and any person
who uses such license granted to another person shall be guilty of
a violation of this article.
[Amended 10-29-1973 by Ord. No. 16216]
Whenever a public auctioneer's license shall
be lost or destroyed, without fault on the part of the holder, a duplicate
license in lieu thereof under the original petition and bond may be
issued by the Director of the Office of Consumer Protection in his
discretion, upon the filing with him of an affidavit by the licensee,
setting forth the circumstances of the loss and what, if any, search
has been made for its recovery.
No person shall destroy, deface or injure a
license in any manner or change the name, numbers or dates on a public
auctioneer's license.
[Amended 3-18-1991 by Ord. No. 91-11]
The license fee for a public auctioneer shall
be $150 per annum, payable at the time the license is issued.
[Amended 10-29-1973 by Ord. No. 16216]
A.
Whenever the Director of the Office of Consumer Protection
believes that sufficient cause exists for the revocation of a license,
he may, upon his own motion or upon complaint made by any person,
revoke any license granted under the provisions of this article; provided,
however, that when a license is revoked, the Director of the Office
of Consumer Protection shall notify the licensee in writing and give
the reasons for such revocation.
B.
Whenever any license shall be so revoked, no refund
of any unearned portion thereof shall be made and no license shall
be granted to any person whose license has been revoked in the discretion
of the Director of the Office of Consumer Protection within a period
of one year of the date of such revocation.
C.
When a license is revoked as herein provided, the
holder shall surrender the same to the Director of the Office of Consumer
Protection or to his duly authorized agents or police officials.
No auctioneer shall make any false representation
as to the character, quality, condition, previous history, value or
ownership of any property offered for sale.
No auctioneer shall substitute any other article
for the article sold to the bidder.
No auctioneer shall bid on any property offered
for sale by himself, and no person shall act as an accomplice, capper,
booster or shiller for the purpose of making mock or false bids at
any auction.
No auctioneer shall employ a bellman, crier,
instrument of music or means of attracting the attention of passersby
other than a sign or flag which shall bear the license number, except
as provided by law or ordinance.
No auctioneer shall conduct any auction sale
for a transient merchant or other person who has not procured a license
or permit as required by law or ordinance or whose license or permit
has expired or been revoked.
No auctioneer shall refuse to exhibit his license
to any police officer under demand at the place where an auction is
being conducted.
No auctioneer shall receive for sale by auction
or sell by auction any goods, wares or merchandise from or to any
minor, knowing him to be such.
A.
Every public auctioneer shall, upon the receipt or
acceptance by him of any goods for the purpose of sale at auction
and before offering the same or any part thereof for sale at auction,
write or cause to be written in a book to be kept by him for the purpose:
(1)
The name and address of the person who employed him
to sell such goods at auction.
(2)
The name and address of the person from whom such
public auctioneer received or accepted such goods.
(3)
The name and address of the person who was the owner,
the authorized agent of the owner or the consignor of such goods,
immediately prior to the receipt or acceptance for the purpose of
sale at auction of the same by such public auctioneer.
(4)
The location, with street and number, if any, of such
goods, immediately prior to the receipt or acceptance of the same
by such public auctioneer for the purpose of sale at auction.
(5)
The date of the receipt or acceptance by such public
auctioneer of such goods for the purpose of sale at auction.
(6)
The place, with street and number, if any, in which
such goods are to be held, kept or stored until sold or offered for
sale at auction.
(7)
The place, with street and number, if any, in which
such goods are to be sold or offered for sale at auction.
(8)
A description of such goods, the quantity thereof
and the distinctive marks thereon, if any.
(9)
The terms and conditions upon which such public auctioneer
receives or accepts such goods for sale at auction.
B.
The expression "goods," as used in this section, signifies
any goods, wares, work of art, commodity, compound or thing, chattels,
merchandise or personal property which may be lawfully kept or offered
for sale, but shall not include goods damaged at sea or by fire and
sold or to be sold for the benefit of the owners, insurers or for
the account of whom it may concern or goods sold by virtue of judicial
decree. Nothing in this section shall apply to the sale of real property
at auction.
[Amended 10-29-1973 by Ord. No. 16216]
Books required to be kept by this article and
the entries therein, made as provided in the preceding section, shall,
at all reasonable times, be open to the inspection of the Office of
Consumer Protection, the Chief of Police and any person who shall
be duly authorized by either of them.
A public auctioneer's license shall not be granted
to any person who has been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor
involving moral turpitude or laws of the State of New York or ordinances
of the City relating to auctions and auctioneers.
No person having a license granted under this
article shall delegate his power to any clerk, partner or person,
but the privilege given shall be personal to the person named in the
license and shall be exercised by him alone.
Any person who shall conduct, engage in, carry
on or represent or announce himself as conducting, engaging in or
carrying on the business of a public auctioneer without having first
obtained a license as provided for in this chapter or who shall violate
any of the provisions of this chapter or who, having had his license
revoked, shall continue to engage in or carry on the business of a
public auctioneer shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. In addition to
the penalty imposed, the license of the person violating the same
shall be canceled or revoked and the bond upon such license shall
be forfeited.
No person, whether acting as principal or agent
or other, shall conduct any such public auction in the City without
first obtaining a license as provided herein.
[Amended 10-29-1973 by Ord. No. 16216]
Any person applying for a license to conduct
any public auction in the City shall apply for such license by verified
petition to the Director of the Office of Consumer Protection, stating
his name, residence or place of business and the street number of
the place where the proposed auction is to take place. There shall
accompany such petition and be made a part thereof an inventory in
detail of the goods which are to be sold and what facts are to be
represented upon said sale as to such goods. The applicant shall also
furnish to accompany said petition such other and further information
as shall be necessary to establish the truth of the facts stated in
said petition.
[Amended 5-8-1978 by Ord. No. 78-28]
No license granted under this article may permit
such auction sale to be held outdoors after 9:00 p.m. or indoors after
12:00 midnight and, in either case, before 8:00 a.m.
A licensee under this article shall, at all
times during the conduct of such public auctions, as shall be operated
under license issued in accordance with this article, allow an inspection
to be made by an official of the City for the purpose of ascertaining
whether or not the goods which are being sold comply with the representations
made concerning said goods, said inspection to be made during business
hours.
[Amended 10-29-1973 by Ord. No. 16216]
The granting of a license under this article
shall rest in the discretion of the Director of the Office of Consumer
Protection. If, for any good and sufficient reason, after investigation,
the Director of the Office of Consumer Protection, in his opinion,
deems the granting of such license inadvisable for the best interest
of the City, he shall not issue it.
A.
Before the issuing of an auction license there shall
be paid to the Office of the Consumer Protection a license fee of
$40 per day, which shall be sufficient to cover the cost of issuing
said licenses and the cost of inspections under this article and any
other expense to the City under this article.
[Amended 10-29-1973 by Ord. No. 16216; 12-22-1975 by Ord. No. 16944; 11-30-1987 by Ord. No.
87-75; 3-18-1991 by Ord. No. 91-11; 1-13-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-1]
B.
No license shall be granted for a longer period than
15 days.
[Amended 10-29-1973 by Ord. No. 16216]
The Office of Consumer Protection, in its discretion,
may, for any good and sufficient reason, revoke the license granted
under the provisions of this article.
