[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of
the City of Kingston 8-7-1984 by L.L. No. 3-1984, approved 8-28-1984,
as Ch. 13 of the 1984 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
No person, firm or corporation, whether acting as
principal or agent for another, shall act as a public auctioneer of
personal property, and no person shall hold or cause to be held any
public auction or public vendue of personal property within the City
of Kingston, New York, without first obtaining a license from the
Mayor.
B.
The applicant for such license shall apply by verified
petition, stating his or its name, residence, street and number of
the proposed place of sale and setting forth in detail the goods to
be sold and what facts are to be represented or advertised as to the
same, and the length of time for which the license is desired, and
shall furnish to the Mayor and Chief of Police such further proof
as shall be necessary to establish the proof of the facts stated in
such petition. Every applicant for such license shall furnish to the
Mayor and Chief of Police 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 under the provisions
of this chapter unless he is a person of good moral character and
shall furnish satisfactory evidence thereof to the Mayor.
C.
For every such license, the Mayor shall charge and
the City shall receive a license fee at a rate set forth in the fee
schedule to be established by resolution of the Common Council of
this City.[1]
[Amended 4-5-1988; approved 4-7-1988; 9-2-2014 by L.L. No.
2-2014, approved 9-11-2014]
D.
Every license issued shall expire on the first day
of January next succeeding the day on which it is granted. Every such
license issued shall contain the name and residence address of the
auctioneer to whom it is issued, and no other person than the one
named therein shall act as auctioneer under such license.
E.
The license required for an auctioneer under this
section of the City Code shall be waived for any auctioneer who obtains
a permit to operate a place of auction, and who holds auctions exclusively
within that establishment.
[Added 7-12-1988; approved 7-14-1988]
[Amended 4-5-1988; approved 4-7-1988]
The Mayor shall have authority to issue such
license as aforesaid, except as to auction sales between 11:00 p.m.
and 8:00 a.m., which are forbidden, and except as hereinafter provided,
and which license shall state that it is issued upon condition that
such goods are as represented in said application and that the same
shall not be represented or advertised otherwise and that no other
goods shall be advertised, represented or sold under said license,
and that such sales shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions
of the Penal Law and the general laws of the state and of local ordinances
applicable thereto.
The Chief of Police shall cause such inspection
to be made from time to time as may be necessary to determine whether
the conditions of said license are being complied with.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or
corporation to sell, dispose of or offer for sale in the City of Kingston,
New York, at public auction, or to cause or permit to be sold, disposed
of or offered for sale in said City, at public auction, any gold-
or silver-plated ware, precious stones, watches, clocks, jewelry,
books, bric-a-brac, furniture, rugs, clothing, shoes, china, porcelain,
crockery, glassware, art goods, linens, laces or leather goods, whether
the same shall be their own property or whether they shall sell the
same as agents or employees of others; provided, however, that this
shall not apply to legal or judicial sales or sales by executors or
administrators or to sales by or on behalf of licensed pawnbrokers
of unredeemed pledges in the manner provided by law, nor to the sale
of farm products, farming implements, livestock nor to the sale of
horses, nor to the sale of household goods sold from private homes,
real estate, machinery and equipment, nor personal property not in
the general line of merchandise, nor to the sale at public auction
of the stock on hand of any person or persons, firm or corporation
that shall, for the period of two years last preceding such sale,
have been continuously in business in the City of Kingston, New York,
a retail or wholesale merchant of gold- or silver-plated ware, precious
stones, watches, clocks, jewelry, books, bric-a-brac, furniture, rugs,
clothing, shoes, china, porcelain, crockery, glassware, art goods,
linens, laces or leather goods; provided, further, however, that such
sale at public auction of the stock on hand of such merchant or merchants
shall be held on successive days, Sundays and legal holidays excepted,
and shall not continue for more than 30 days in all within the period
of one year, and that such sale at public auction shall not be held
between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.
No auctioneer of personal property shall misrepresent
the quality, kind or value of any article at any auction sale.
No person, firm or corporation shall sell or
offer for sale any goods, wares and merchandise by auction or advertise
for sale any goods, wares or merchandise, falsely representing or
pretending that such goods, wares or merchandise, in whole or in part,
are a part of a bankrupt or insolvent stock or damaged goods or goods
saved from fire, or make any false statement as to the purchase, history
or character of such goods, wares or merchandise.
No person shall act as a by-bidder, or what
is commonly known as a "copper," "booster" or "shiller," at any public
auction, or place or offer to make any false bid to buy, or to pretend
to buy, any such article sold or offered for sale at any public auction
sale.
Whenever the Mayor or Chief of Police 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 issued hereunder. Before so revoking any such license, he
shall cause to be served upon such licensee a notice specifying the
grounds of complaint or the alleged reasons for revocation, which
notice shall fix a time and place at which the Mayor shall hear and
determine said complaint. The person against whom said complaint is
made shall have an opportunity to be heard in answer to said complaint,
and at the time specified in said notice, and to make defense thereto.
The Mayor may revoke the license of any person against whom charges
brought as above are, in his opinion, substantiated; provided, however,
that when a license is revoked, the Mayor shall notify the licensee,
in writing, and give the reasons for such revocation.
The violation of any of the provisions of this
chapter is hereby declared to be a misdemeanor and shall be punishable
by a fine not exceeding $150 or by imprisonment not exceeding six
months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each day said business
is carried on in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter
shall constitute a separate offense.
This chapter shall be published twice in each
of the official papers of the City and shall take effect immediately
after the publication thereof.
