[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of
the City of Troy 3-1-1973 as Ch. 7 of the 1973 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Any person, who shall conduct, engage in, carry
on or represent or announce himself/herself 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/her 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 cancelled or revoked, and the bond upon such license
shall be forfeited.
The term "public auctioneer" when used in this
chapter shall mean and include any person selling or offering for
sale for another or for himself/herself 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/she 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.
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.
Every person desiring to procure a license as
herein provided shall file with the Mayor 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/her
previous employment and where; whether married or single; whether
he/she has ever been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony, and, if
so, what offense, when and in what court; whether he/she 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 Mayor evidence that he/she 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 chapter unless he/she be a person of good moral character
and shall furnish satisfactory evidence thereof to the Mayor. Such
petition shall be signed and verified before a notary public or other
official authorized to administer oaths in the City.
An application for a license hereunder shall
be accompanied by a bond to the City in the penal sum of $5,000 approved
as to form, sufficiency and validity by the Corporation Counsel, conditioned
that the applicant will, if granted a license, lawfully perform his/her
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/her by law.
Upon the filing of the petition and bond as
provided in previous sections, the Mayor shall ascertain if the applicant
is a person of good character and repute and may, upon his/her 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/she
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 chapter.
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 Mayor in his/her discretion, upon the filing with him/her
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.
The license fee for a public auctioneer shall
be as set by resolution of the City Council, payable at the time the
license is issued.
A.
Whenever the Mayor believes that sufficient cause
exists for the revocation of a license he/she may, upon his/her own
motion, or upon complaint made by any person, revoke any license granted
under the provisions of this chapter; provided, however, that when
a license is revoked, the Mayor 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 Mayor 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 Mayor or to his/her 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/herself, 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/her
license to any police officer upon 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/her to be such.
A.
Every public auctioneer shall, upon the receipt or
acceptance by him/her 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/her for the
purpose:
(1)
The name and address of the person who employed him/her
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; and
(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, works of art, commodities, compounds or things,
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.
Books required to be kept by this chapter and
the entries therein, made as provided in the preceding section, shall,
at all reasonable times, be open to the inspection of the Mayor, 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
chapter shall delegate his/her 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/her alone.
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.
Any person applying for a license to conduct
any public auction in the City shall apply for such license by verified
petition to the Mayor, stating his/her 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.
No license shall be granted under this chapter
which shall permit such auction sale to be conducted between the hours
of 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.
A licensee under this chapter shall at all times
during the conduct of such public auctions as shall be operated under
the license issued in accordance with this chapter 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.
The granting of a license under this chapter
shall rest in the discretion of the Mayor. If, for any good and sufficient
reason, after investigation, the Mayor in his/her opinion deems the
granting of such license inadvisable for the best interest of the
City, he/she shall not issue it.
Before the issuing of an auction license, there
shall be paid to the Mayor a license fee of $10 per day which shall
be sufficient to cover the cost of issuing said licenses and the cost
of inspections under this chapter and any other expense to the City
under this chapter; this fee shall be waived for charitable institutions;
no license shall be granted for a longer period than 15 days.
The Mayor in his/her discretion may for any
good and sufficient reason revoke the license granted under the provisions
of this chapter.
