[HISTORY: Adopted by the Council of the City of Mount Vernon 11-13-1957 as Ch. 6 of
the General Ordinances, approved 11-15-1957. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any person who sells or offers goods, wares and chattels
at public auction.
Includes but shall not be limited to all commodities, compounds,
chattels, merchandise, watches, clocks, jewelry and all other 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 owner's insurers or for the account of
whom it may concern or goods sold by virtue of judicial decree.
No person shall carry on the trade of auctioneer or shall act
as an auctioneer without having first secured a license therefor,
and no sale at public auction of goods, wares and chattels shall be
held within the City unless such sale shall be directly conducted
by a licensed auctioneer pursuant to this chapter.
Nothing herein contained shall apply to judicial sales or sales
by or for the account of executors or administrators, by trustees
under deed of assignment, by lienors or by public officers in the
manner prescribed by law.
Every person desiring to procure a license as herein provided
shall file with the City Clerk a written application upon a blank
form prepared and furnished by the City. Such application shall contain
the name, business and residence address of the applicant; his previous
employment and 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 auctioneer, and if so, when and where. Such application shall be
signed and verified before a notary public or other officer authorized
to administer oaths in the State of New York. Such application shall
be accompanied by a photograph of applicant, in triplicate, taken
in such position as the City Clerk may direct, within 30 days preceding
the filing of the application.
[Amended 4-24-1991, approved 4-25-1991]
When an application is filed, the City Clerk shall request the
Commissioner of Public Safety to investigate whether the applicant
is of good character. Every applicant for a license must file, together
with the application, fingerprints of both hands. The fingerprints
shall be placed upon cards provided by the Commissioner of Public
Safety and shall be taken under the Commissioner's supervision
by a senior police officer designated to do so, at such place as the
Commissioner shall designate. The Commissioner of Public Safety shall
have the authority to submit the fingerprints of the applicant, together
with the required fees, to the Division of Criminal Justice Services
or other appropriate agency for processing and investigation. No application
for an auctioneer's license shall be approved nor any license
issued until after investigation and examination of the fingerprints
of the applicant. No license shall be granted to any applicant who
has been convicted of any felony or any misdemeanor involving violence,
dishonesty or deceit. The Commissioner of Public Safety shall furnish
to the City Clerk, in writing, the information derived from such investigation,
accompanied by a recommendation as to whether the license should be
granted or refused.
[Amended 9-24-2003, approved 9-25-2003]
Such application shall be accompanied by a bond in favor of
the people of the City of Mount Vernon, approved as to sufficiency,
form and manner of execution by the Corporation Counsel, in the penal
sum of $5,000, conditioned that the applicant will faithfully perform
his duties as such auctioneer as required by law and ordinances now
or hereafter enacted and render such accounts and pay such duties
as may be required of him by law.
Upon the filing of the application, bond and information as
herein provided and upon the payment to the City Clerk of the license
fee herein provided for, the Mayor is hereby authorized to grant to
the applicant, under his hand, to be sealed with the corporate seal
and countersigned by the City Clerk, a license to engage in the business
of auctioneer, as hereinbefore provided. No license shall be refused
except for a specific reason and for the protection of the public
safety, good order and morals. All licenses shall be numbered in the
order in which they are issued and shall state clearly the dates of
issuance and expiration of the license, the fee paid and the name
and business address of the licensee. 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 such applicant can show that the reason for such rejection
no longer exists or unless such application was erroneously refused.
[Amended 9-24-2003, approved 9-25-2003]
The annual fee for an auctioneer's license or any renewal
thereof shall be the sum of $200.
Every license shall expire on the 31st day of December next
after its issuance. Every license may be renewed as of the first day
of January upon payment of the required fee.
A.
No license under the provisions of this chapter shall be transferred
or assigned to any person or used by any person other than the licensee
to whom it was issued.
B.
No person having a license granted under this chapter shall delegate
his power to any Clerk, servant, agent, employee, partner or person,
but the privilege given shall be personal to the person named in the
license and shall be exercised by him alone.
If a license shall be lost, stolen or destroyed without fault
on the part of the holder, a duplicate in lieu thereof under the original
application may be issued by the Mayor upon the filing of an affidavit
satisfactorily explaining the facts of such loss or theft and upon
the payment of $1 for such duplicate license. No person shall destroy,
deface or injure a license in any manner or change the name, numbers
or dates thereon.
The City Clerk, at any time, for such cause as he, upon investigation, may deem sufficient, may suspend or revoke any license granted under the provisions of this chapter. Violation of any of the prohibitions set forth in § 88-13 of this chapter shall be deemed sufficient cause. Whenever any license shall be so revoked, no refund of any unearned portion of the license fee shall be made, and no license shall be granted to any person whose license has been revoked, within a period of two years from the date of such revocation. Notice of the suspension or revocation and the reason or reasons therefor, in writing, shall be served by the City Clerk upon the person named in the application by mailing the same to the business address given in the application and upon filing a copy of same with the Mayor. Within 48 hours after service of the notice of suspension or revocation, the licensee may apply to the Mayor to hear and review the act of the City Clerk, and the Mayor shall affirm or disaffirm said suspension or revocation.
No auctioneer shall:
A.
Make any false representation as to the character, quality, condition,
previous history, value or ownership of any property offered for sale.
B.
Substitute any other article for the article sold to the bidder.
C.
Bid in any property offered for sale by himself, and no person shall
act as an accomplice or "capper" for the purpose of making mock bids
at any auction.
D.
Employ a bellman, crier, musical instrument or device, loudspeaker
or other means of attracting the attention of any passersby, other
than a sign or flag, which shall bear the license number.
E.
Conduct any auction sale for a transient merchant or other person
who has not procured a permit as required by law or ordinance or whose
permit has expired or been revoked.
F.
Refuse to exhibit his license to any police officer upon demand at
the place where an auction is being conducted.
G.
Receive for sale by auction or sell by auction any goods, wares or
merchandise from or to any minor, knowing him to be such.
Every 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 the name and
address of the person who employed him to sell such goods at auction;
the name and address of the person for whose benefit, behalf or account
such goods are to be sold at auction; the name and address of the
person from whom such auctioneer received or accepted such goods;
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 auctioneer; the location, with street and number,
if any, of such goods immediately prior to the receipt or acceptance
of the same by such auctioneer for the purpose of sale at auction;
the date of the receipt or acceptance by such auctioneer of such goods
for the purpose of sale at auction; 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; the place, with street and number,
if any, in which such goods are to be sold or offered for sale at
auction; a description of such goods, the quantity thereof and the
distinctive marks thereon, if any; and the terms and conditions upon
which such auctioneer receives or accepts such goods for sale at auction.
Such book and the entries therein made as provided for herein shall
at all reasonable times be open to the inspection of the City Clerk,
the Commissioner of Public Safety or their duly authorized agents.
Any person intending to sell at public auction any goods, wares
or chattels shall make application to the City Clerk for a permit
to hold such sale and shall not hold such sale until issuance of such
permit by the Mayor.
Such application for a permit shall be in writing and shall
be verified and filed not more than 15 nor less than five days before
the commencement of such sale. It shall set forth the name and address
of the applicant, the name and address of the auctioneer, the street
and number of the premises in which it is proposed to conduct such
sale and the place of business of the applicant for the two years
next preceding the date fixed for the sale.
There shall be attached to the application a verified inventory,
in triplicate, showing in detail the quality, quantity, kind of grade
of goods, wares and chattels proposed to be sold and the established
current retail prices, if any, of the said goods, wares and chattels,
and specifically stating the ownership of the items or articles. The
inventory shall be verified by the applicant if he is an individual,
by one of the partners if a partnership, or by a duly authorized officer
if a corporation. No goods, wares or chattels shall be added to the
verified inventory after same has been filed, nor shall any goods,
wares or chattels be sold which are not included in such verified
inventory.
The City Clerk or the duly authorized agent of the City Clerk,
before issuing a permit, shall examine and investigate the goods,
wares and chattels specified in the inventory to be offered for sale,
to determine whether said inventory correctly sets forth the items
to be sold and their true value. The City Clerk may, upon examination
of the inventory filed, require such additional information as may
be necessary to ascertain the correctness of the items set forth in
said inventory.
All auction sales conducted hereunder shall be subject to inspection
by any police officer or duly authorized agent of the licensing authority
to determine whether the provisions of law and the conditions of this
license are being complied with. Any such agent or officer, upon complaint
or reasonable suspicion of violation, may temporarily interrupt any
such auction sale for the purpose of making such an inspection where
such interruption is reasonably necessary to ascertain compliance
with the law and the conditions thereof.
[Amended 9-24-2003, approved 9-25-2003]
Upon filing the application for a permit to conduct such sale
at public auction, the applicant shall pay to the City Clerk a fee
in the sum of $100 for a one-day permit and a fee in the sum of $100
per day for a permit in excess of one day but not to exceed 10 days
in duration. If any application is disapproved, said payment shall
not be returned but shall be retained by the City to cover the cost
of investigating the statements contained in such application.
A.
No sale at public auction of the goods, wares and chattels specified
in the inventory shall continue for a longer period than that for
which the permit was issued, Sundays and legal holidays excluded,
except that the City Clerk may extend such sale for an additional
period not to exceed the period for which the permit was originally
issued upon the payment of an additional fee of $100 per day; nor
shall the same person, firm or corporation, after the expiration of
said permit to conduct an auction sale or any renewal thereof, dispose
of his goods, wares or chattels at public auction either by himself
or another for a period of 12 months from the last day of the former
sale.
[Amended 9-24-2003, approved 9-25-2003]
B.
The twelve-month period between sales, hereinbefore provided, shall
not apply to auction sales of used household or office furniture and
effects purchased from or sold on account of a householder or the
owner of office furniture who has actually used such furniture and
effects in his household or office, provided that a complete list
of said furniture and effects, with the name and address of the person
from whom they were received or purchased, shall have been previously
filed with the City Clerk.
[Amended 10-5-1979, approved 10-5-1979; 10-10-1979, approved 10-11-1979]
No permit shall be issued and no person shall conduct a sale
at public auction on legal holidays. However, on Sundays, sale at
public auction is only permitted between the hours of 2:00 p.m. and
8:00 p.m.
[Amended 3-28-1962, approved 3-29-1962]
No permit shall be issued for and no person shall conduct a
sale at public auction except between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and
10:00 p.m.
