HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance - 477-1930 - Regulating The Sale At Public Auction Of Jewlry ETC. - 12/11/1930IZ.-)\-fQWA
ORDINANCE NO. .
\Z-1'0-t.93o ·
AN ORDINANCE LICENSING AND REGU~ATING THE SALE
AT PUBLIC AUCTION OF ~WELRY, DJ:AMONDS AND OTHER PRECIOUS
OR SEMI PRECIOUS STONES, WATCHES, CLOCKS PIC'J.!URES, PAINT-
INGS, BRIC~A-BRAC OR SUCH LIKE ARTICLES AND _PRESCRIBING A
PENALTY AND PROVIDING FOR AN EMERGENCY. L' , -
WHEREAS, on account o£ the gene~al complaint
which has grown out of the practices of unregulated auctions
and auctioneers of the hereinafter described kind and charac-
ter of goods and the great amount of imposition made upon
the public by m~arepresentation and practices of deceit and
fraud grow~ng o~t of unregulated and irresponsible auction-
eers and auctions itlb\s deemed advisable by the City Com-
mission of the City of Lubbock, Texas, to pass suitable reg-
ulations governing the same so as to secure honesty and fair
dealing and avoid such evtl practices that have gr.own up on
account of the want of proper regulations,now, therefore:
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY CO~~ISSION OF THE CITY
OF LUB BOCK, TEXAS:
SECTION 1: That it shall hereafter be unlawful
for any person, firm or corporation to sell, dispose of or
offer for sale in the City of Lubbock, at a public auction,
or cause or permit to be sold, disposed o~ ouo'{Of£ered for
sale at a public auction within the City of Lubbock, jewel-
ry, diamonds, or other precious or semi-precious stones,
watches, clocks, platinum, gold or silverware or plated ware,
stationery, glassware, porcelain, bric-a-brac or such like
articles, whether the same shall be their own property or
whether the sale of the same shall be by and through agents
or employees or others, without first complying with the pro-
visions or this ordinance and obtaining a license from the
Assessor and Collector of Taxes of the City of Lubbock, and
making an applicatipn therefor as herein provided, provided,
however, that thi~section~shall not apply to judicial a~les
or sales made by executors or administrators, nor to sales
made by or in behalf of licensed pawnbrokers of· unredeemed
pledges, which are made in the manner provided by law.
SECTION 2: That any person desiring to hold an
auction sale for the sale of the goods hereinabove described
shall make written application to the Assessor and Collector
of Taxes of the City of Lubqock, as herein provided, for thir-
ty days before the auction sale begins, and shall state in
the said application the period of days any such person d~sires
to hold the,-6said auction s~le an,d the .said Assessor and Col-
lector of Taxes sha ll issue to 'any such person a license
upon complying with the terms of this ordinance for the period
of time eo designated, provided, that no license shall be is-
sued for a longer period than thirty days.
SECTION 3: Said application for a licepse shall
be in writing arid sworn to, stating the name of the appli-
cant, his residence, the street and number of the proposed
place of s~le, the length of time for which the license is
desired, and if the applicant has been previously e~aged
irt0 \ like or similar business, to designate the places where
the sale was conducted and shall furnish the Assessor and
Collector of Taxes with such further evidence as shall be
• I
necessary •·an'd reasonable to establish the truth of the
statements ~de in s~~d application and the rigpt of the
applicant to a license. ' ·
SECTION 4: Said application ~or ~ license
. ..
shall have attached to it a sworn inventory of such stock
or merchandise setting o~t the quality, quantity, kind or
grade of each item and invoice cost thereof~ To such in-
ventory~~here shall be attached an affidavit that such in-
ventor~v~s in all respects true and corr~ct. !n the case
of an individual, such affidavit shall be made by him as
such; in case of a firm, it shall be made by one of t!le
partners; and in case of a corporation, it shall be made
by the president, general manager, secretary or treasurer.
Such inventory and affidavit when so made shall be kept on
file in the office of the Assessor and Collector of Taxes
as a part of the public records pertaining to the sale. No
merchandise shall be sold a~ su~h auction sale except that
referred t~~~nd included in the ·inventory maue part 0~ the
application: That whenever any extension ~f the license so
granted hereunder is granted to any person holding an auc-
tion, an application shall be made therefor as provided
herein, which shall be gran.ted by, the,. Assessor avd Collec-
tor of Taxes, prov~ded that should ~t app~ar to the said
Assessor and Collector of Taxes, from the application ~o
made, that new or additional' artic"les, commonly known as .
11 fill ins 11 , are added to the list of articles made by any
such person~ then it sha:p. be the duty of t~e said persqn
to turnis~~an additional bond in the amount ~s hereinae~
described ~or the sale of the additional articles, or as is
required for ·the sale of the original articles.
SECTION 5: That all persons desiring a license
shall, upon complying wlth the application herein provided
for, ~d before a license shall be issued to anysuch person
shall tender a bond .to the City o.f Iub.bock duly executed hy
the said ~plicant, as principal, in the sum of Oae Thous-
and Dollars, Which bQnd shall be made payable to the City
of Lubbock, at 4ubbock, Lubbock County, Texas, and when in
compliance witH~~he terms pf tpis orqinance shall ~e ~P
proved by the City Commission of the C1ty ~f Lubbock, Tex-
as, and mall be conditi~ned that the said principal there-
on shall pay all los.ses and damages which may lawfully be
claimed against him qn account of any material misrepresen-
tations o£ fact ~nd belief or any material suppression of
fa~ts concerning the merchandise to be auct~oned at such
sale, or , which may grow out of a violation of any o~ the
terms of this ordinance. Such bond shll be ma~e amenable to ~Y per~on who may sustain any loss or damage on account)~~
of any sqch misreRresentation1 a~d shall cover all auction
sales of merchandise described in the inventory made and re-
quired to b~ filed with the Assessor and Collector of Taxes,
and any such person sustaining any damage or loss may bring
suit in any court o£ com~etent jurisdiction to recover the
same and the provis:L_ons 0f the said bond shall be construed
liberally in favor of any such person on account of an.y loss
or dama.ge sustained by any such person either dir~ctly o:r in-
directly. All remedies upon or under such bond shall .be in
addition .to any cumulat;ive1°&i' all other remedies the partie's
may have at law or in equity for reco~pment qf any such losses
or drumages. The bond sball be signed by twe QP mere sare-
~os, &!le e:f nltom alwz!tl 'N a surety company doing business
in the State .of Texa.s,.and t~ O'Ul&P eatil ee 8; P81i1iL8:enb O"t
Lw:'e:Seelt: Scanty, 'fexas. CUIIlUlative recoveries may be had on
s~id bond to the full amo~t ther~of.
. ....
SECTION 6: That the Asses~or and Collector ot
Taxes may inspect and investigate any pa~t o~ all of such
stock or merchandise c·oming within the purview of this or-
dinance before issuing the license in order tQ determine the
truth of the statements made in the application and the in-
ventory.
~ SECTION 7: T.Qat before any license shall be
issued~ the applicant shalL pay ~o tne C~ty of Lubbock ali-
cense fee in advanne in the sum equal tn $5.00· per day for
each day during which the auction is entitled to be he~d
according to the lice~se.
SECTION 8: It shall be . unlawful for a~ person
acting as auctioneer to make any statements which 'ire false
in any particular, or which have · a tenaency to mi~lead any
person present, or to make an1 misrepresentation whatsoev~r
or at all as to the quality or quantity, character o~ pr~s
ent condition, or 1a1ue, or cost, or general se~ling pr~ce,
or whether new orl0second hand, or partly s.o, of any proper-
ty offered for disposal by auction saTe.
SECTION 9: That it shall be unlawful to sell or
offer for sale any article hereinbefore described as ".fill
in" unless in each and every advertisement of whatsoever
kind with reference to said auction, there ~e contained a
clear and unequivocal statement of the fact th~t goods and mer-
chandise herein described as 11 fill in" have be-en added to
the 11 stock on hand".
SECTION 1~: That it shall be unlawful ~or any
person acting a,s auctioneer to sell or off-er f<ilr sale an~
article hereinbefore desc:p~ibed \\~ "fill inn without first
stating such fact in a ctear and audible tone of voice· ~o
any and all persons present at said auction. -
SECTION 11: (Definitions) That a sale, or offer-
ing for sale, to th~ highest bidder of any jewelry, diamonds,
or other precious or semi-precious stones, stationery, watch-
es, clocks, platinum, gold o~ silverware o~ plated ware, glass-
ware, porce.lain, bric-a-brac, or such like articles, in any
building, o~ in any of the streets or alleys, or in any othe~
public place, where any and all persons who choose are per-.
mitted to attend and offer bids, shall be deell)~q. t9 cons~i-/
tute a public auction within th~ meaping of. th1s ordinance.
That by the words "stock on hand" '
as herein used is meant such jewelry, diamonds, or otper pre-
cious or semi-precious stones, watches, clocks, platinum,
gold or silverware or plated ware, glass ware, porcelain,
stationery, brio-a-brae and such like articles which a mer-
chant usually and ordinarily carries throughout the year,
and does not include jewelry, diamonds, or other precious
or semi-precious stones, watches, clocks, platinum, gola or
silverware or plated ware, glass war~, porcelain, station-
ery, brio-a-brae and such like articles purchased or other-
wise acquired especially and purposely fo#~sale at public
auction; -and by the. term "fill in" is meant such other jew-
elry, diamonds, or other precious qr semi-precious stones, watch-
es, clocks, platinum, gold or silverware or plated ware, glass
ware, porcelain, stationery, bric-a-brac and such like arti-
cles as may be added to the stack on hand as above defined and
intended to be sold at pub~ic auction. ·
.,!"' •••
SECTION 12: It shall be unlawful for anY.
person to act as by-bi~der or what· is commonly' known as
a u cappe-r" or ."booster" at any such auction or pla:ce where
any su._ch auction sha7-1 t!ike. place, or t.·o ·offer o~'ln$tre ahy
false bid or. to. offer any false bi4 to buy or pr~tend to
buy any such article so~d or offered fpr sale 'at ~Y such
auction.
SECTION 13: That the term "person" as_ used
herein shall inol~de and comprehend any person, firm, or
associa~ion of persons or any corporation, their agents,
servants or employees.
SECTION 1~: That any per~on, firm, association
of persons, or any corporation, their ag~nts, servants o~
employees violating any of th~ provisions of this ordinance
shall, upon c'onviction in the corporation cou,rt, be fined
in any. suin not exceeding, Two Hundred ( $2J 0 • 00) Do 11 ar s, and I () .,
each and ev~ry day ·t~t a violation of this ordinance oc-
curs shall be deemed a separate offense. That in addition
to the penalty herein provided ~or any such person convict-
ed in the corporation court, or upon appeal thereof, the
judge of the s aid co~poration court, Qr an_y jud~upon ap-
peal thereof, may revoke the license under whteh the said
auction is being held and it shall thereafter be unlawful
for any person whose license is· revoked to hold any auction
under the terms of this ordinanca,provided, however, that
any p~rson whose license is revoked,', may make application
to thd~~yor and City Commission, and after ~ hearing upon
such application for a re-~ssuance of any such license and
may have a new license granted any such person upon the o~
der of the mayor and City Commission to the Assessor and
Collector o~ Taxes,provided, that any such peraon .whose li-
cense is revoked shall comply with the terms and provisions
o£ this ordinance.
SECTION 15: That should any portion·or part of.
this ordinance be held for any reason invalid or unen~or
ceable, the same shall not be construed to affect ~Y other
valid portion hereof, ,but all valid portidd~ sh~ll remain
in full force and effect.
SECTION 16: Whereas, on account o! the promis-
cuous auction sales ma..de by traveling auctioneers, ·S:S well
as on account of the many acts of exto~tion and oppression,
growing out of misrepresentations and deceits practiced on
the pub.lic·by unregulated auctioneers engaged in th& sale
r of articles hereinabove described creates an urgency and.
am emergency in behalf of th~ preservation of the public
peace, health an~ safety t~at requires this ordinance to
become effective upon its passage and it is accordingly s'o
ordained that tnis ordinance shall become effective i~e
diately upon its paiwage as in the charter in such ca~es is '
made and provided.
Passed, approved and adopted by ~ unanimous vote
of the Ci~y Commission this the //~day of 3tJ11mber, ~930.
~~; t~:z< ~-?~cR. l"-~~ / · -t:J~ ~ .De~ 1 1~ o ~
if?~.~~ ATTEST: ~
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