	Title
1	Short Title.
2	Interpretation.
3	No person to sell by auction unless licensed.
4	Application for certificate.
5	Local authority to hear application.
6	Certificate.
7	Duration of licenses.
8	License fee apportioned.
9	Governor to provide for issuing licenses in some parts of New Zealand.
10	License and other fees to be paid to local authority.
11	Exception.
12	Issue of license to be notified.
13	Licensed auctioneer may appoint substitute.
14	Auctioneer not to sell after appointing substitute until after notice.
15	In case of death or bankruptcy of auctioneer, license to be transferred.
16	Auctioneer may hold a wholesale license, but not a publican’s license.
17	Night auctions prohibited, saving as to cattle-sales, &c.
18	Account-sales to be rendered within fourteen days.
19	Penalty in default.
20	Sale-moneys to be paid to trust account.
21	Proceeds of sales, how to be applied.
22	Misappropriation, theft; falsifying accounts.
23	Unlicensed person pretending to be an auctioneer.
24	Not exhibiting license on demand.
25	Pawnbroker not to hold auctioneer’s license.
26	Selling contrary to Act.
27	Forging licenses.
28	Lending or hiring, &c., a license.
29	Onus of proof of license on person charged with offence.
30	Licenses may be cancelled.
31	Recovery and application of fines.
32	Fresh fish may be sold at auction at any hour, day or night.
33	Sales exempted from Act.
	FIRST SCHEDULE Enactments consolidated
	SECOND SCHEDULE
	THIRD SCHEDULE
	FOURTH SCHEDULE
	FIFTH SCHEDULE

An Act to consolidate certain Enactments of the General Assembly relating to the Licensing of Auctioneers.

BE IT ENACTED by the General Assembly of New Zealand in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

1 Short Title.

(1.)

The Short Title of this Act is “The Auctioneers Act, 1908.”

Enactments consolidated.

(2.)

This Act is a consolidation of the enactments mentioned in the First Schedule hereto, and with respect to those enactments the following provisions shall apply:—

Savings.

(a.)

All districts, offices, appointments, licenses, Orders in Council, orders, instruments, and generally all acts of authority which originated under any of the said enactments, and are subsisting or in force on the coming into operation of this Act, shall enure for the purposes of this Act as fully and effectually as if they had originated under the corresponding provisions of this Act, and accordingly shall, where necessary, be deemed to have so originated.

(b.)

All matters and proceedings commenced under any such enactment, and pending or in progress on the coming into operation of this Act, may be continued, completed, and enforced under this Act.

2 Interpretation.

1891, No. 24, sec. 2 1894, No. 12, secs. 2, 3

In this Act, if not inconsistent with the context,—

“Auctioneer” means any person who sells or attempts to sell by auction, or offers for sale or resale by auction, property of any kind, or any interest or supposed interest in any property:

“Chairman” includes the Mayor or other principal executive officer for the time being of a local authority:

“Clerk” means the Clerk of any local authority, and includes any person appointed by the Governor to receive fees and issue licenses in any part of New Zealand where the Governor is the local authority:

“District” means any portion of New Zealand under the administration of a local authority as herein defined:

“Local authority” means and includes the Council or Board of any borough or town district, and the Council of a county, and, within any county where there is no County Council, means the Road Board; and in all other parts of New Zealand means the Governor:

A town district, for the purposes of this Act, shall be deemed not to form part of the county wherein it is comprised:

“Outcry” includes any request, inducement, puff, device, or incitement made or used by means of signs, speech, or otherwise in the presence of not less than six people by any person for the purpose of selling any property offered or available for sale, whether such property is or is not the same as that shown or referred to by him when making or using such request, inducement, puff, device, or incitement

“Sales by auction” or “sell by auction” means the selling of property of any kind, or any interest or supposed interest in any property, by outcry, by the auctioneer saying “I’ll take,” and commencing at a higher figure and going to a lower figure, by what is known as Dutch auction, knocking-down of hammer, candle, lot, parcel, instrument, machine, or any other mode whereby the highest, the lowest, or any bidder is the purchaser, or whereby the first person who claims the property submitted for sale at a certain price named by the person acting as auctioneer is the purchaser, or where there is a competition for the purchase of any property or any interest therein in any way commonly known and understood to be by way of auction; and shall be deemed to include the selling of any property by outcry in any public place, as the same is defined in “The Police Offences Act, 1908,” or in any room, or mart, or place, to which the public are admitted or have access, whether or not the sale of the goods has been advertised to take place.

3 No person to sell by auction unless licensed.

1891, No. 24, sec. 3

No person, except as hereinafter mentioned, shall sell by auction unless he is the holder of an auctioneer’s license as hereinafter provided; and every person who offends against this provision is liable for each offence to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds and net less than ten pounds.

4 Application for certificate.

Ibid, sec. 4

Any person who desires to obtain an auctioneer’s license shall lodge with the Clerk of the local authority in the district within which such person resides or has his place of business a notice, in the form in the Second Schedule hereto, that he intends at the first meeting of such authority to apply for a certificate for an auctioneer’s license.

5 Local authority to hear application.

1891, No. 24, sec. 5

At such meeting of the local authority such application shall be dealt with and granted, unless the members of the local authority, by resolution of a majority of two-thirds of those present and voting, decide that the applicant is not a fit and proper person to receive such license.

6 Certificate.

Ibid, sec. 6 License.

If such application is granted, the Chairman of the said local authority shall sign a certificate in the form in the Third Schedule hereto, and hand the same to the Clerk, and, upon payment to the said Clerk of the license fee as hereinafter mentioned, he shall issue to the applicant a license in the form in the Fourth Schedule hereto, signed by such Clerk, which license shall, for the period of its continuance, authorise the person therein named to sell by auction in any part of New Zealand, subject to forfeiture as hereinafter provided.

7 Duration of licenses.

Ibid, sec. 7

Every license shall take effect from the date of the issue thereof, and shall expire on the thirty-first day of December next following such date.

8 License fee apportioned.

Ibid, sec. 7

There shall be paid in respect of every license granted under this Act the following license fee, that is to say: If such license takes effect at any time during the months of January, February, or March, the sum of forty pounds; if during the months of April, May, or June, the sum of thirty pounds; if during the months of July, August, or September, the sum of twenty pounds; and if during the months of October, November, or December, the sum of ten pounds.

9 Governor to provide for issuing licenses in some parts of New Zealand.

Ibid, sec. 8

The Governor may from time to time by Order in Council declare special districts for the purposes of this Act, comprising any parts of New Zealand which are sparsely populated, or are excepted from the operation of “The Counties Act, 1908”; and the Governor may appoint persons to grant auctioneers’ licenses for such special districts upon payment of a license fee not exceeding ten pounds, and may prescribe the mode of applying for and issuing such licenses.

10 License and other fees to be paid to local authority.

Ibid, sec. 9

Except in the case of special districts, all sums received as license fees or registration fees under this Act shall be paid by the Clerk receiving the same to the fund of the local authority of the district wherein the licensee has his usual place of business, or, if he has no such place, then his usual place of residence, which place shall be mentioned in the license.

11 Exception.

Ibid, sec. 9

All sums as aforesaid received in any special district shall be paid into the Public Account, and, after deducting therefrom all expenses incident to the administration of this Act in such special district, shall be paid to the local authority of the district wherein the licensee has his principal place of business; and, if there is no such local authority, shall form part of the Consolidated Fund.

12 Issue of license to be notified.

Ibid, sec. 10

Every Clerk or person appointed by the Governor to issue auctioneers’ licenses shall, within ten days after the issue of any license by him, publicly notify in the form in the Fifth Schedule hereto that the same has been so issued.

13 Licensed auctioneer may appoint substitute.

Ibid, sec. 12

In case of the illness of any licensed auctioneer, whose license has not been forfeited or cancelled, or of his absence or intended absence from the district in which his principal or sole place of business is situated, he may give notice in writing to the Clerk who issued such license that he intends to appoint some other specified person to sell by auction as his substitute for a period in such notice mentioned, not exceeding six months; and such substitute may, if approved of in writing by the Clerk by whom such license was issued, be registered upon payment of a registration fee of ten shillings, and may act as such substitute accordingly, and shall while so acting be deemed the holder of such license and a licensed auctioneer within the meaning of this Act.

14 Auctioneer not to sell after appointing substitute until after notice.

1891, No. 24, sec. 13

A licensed auctioneer who has appointed another person to sell by auction as his substitute shall not sell by auction until ten days after he has delivered to the Clerk by whom his license was issued a notice in writing that he intends to resume business personally as an auctioneer, and upon the expiration of such period of ten days such substitute shall cease to be a licensed auctioneer, and his right to sell by auction shall absolutely cease and determine.

15 In case of death or bankruptcy of auctioneer, license to be transferred.

Ibid, sec. 14

(1.)

If a licensed auctioneer dies or is adjudged a bankrupt, his executors or administrators, or the Official Assignee in Bankruptcy of his property, as the case may be, shall be entitled to transfer the license to any other person, with the previous consent in writing of the local authority having jurisdiction in the district in which such license was issued: Provided that—

(a.)

Notice in writing of any such intended transfer, stating the name, occupation, and principal or sole place of business of the intended transferee, shall be delivered to the Clerk who issued the license; and that

(b.)

A fee of ten shillings shall be paid to the Clerk for the registration of any such transfer.

(2.)

On and after such registration the transferee shall be deemed to be the holder of the license, and to be a licensed auctioneer within the meaning of this Act.

16 Auctioneer may hold a wholesale license, but not a publican’s license.

Ibid, sec. 15

Notwithstanding anything in “The Licensing Act, 1908,”—

(a.)

A wholesale license within the meaning of that Act may be granted to any licensed auctioneer, subject otherwise to the provisions thereof; but no person holding a publican’s license thereunder shall be competent to become a licensed auctioneer:

(b.)

An auctioneer shall not, by reason only of owning the freehold of any land upon which any house or premises are erected, be deemed to be directly or indirectly interested in such house or premises within the meaning of the last-named Act.

17 Night auctions prohibited, saving as to cattle-sales, &c.

Ibid, sec. 16 1894, No. 12, sec. 4

Except as hereafter mentioned, an auctioneer shall not sell by auction any property except between the hours of six o’clock in the morning and six o’clock in the evening of the same day, saving that—

(a.)

Any auction sale of live-stock commenced at any time not later than two o’clock in the afternoon of any day may be continued until eight o’clock in the evening of the same day, but not any later;

(b.)

Land, plans of which have been exhibited in the auction-room for at least two clear days prior to the date of sale, may be sold without limit as to time;

(c.)

Tallow, wool, and books, sold only from catalogues after daylight inspection, may be sold without limit as to time; and

For charities, &c.

(d.)

All goods or articles of any kind being the bona fide property of any Church Committee, Charitable Aid Board or Committee, or School Committee, or any exhibits of fruit, vegetables, or flowers exhibited at any horticultural show, may be sold by any auctioneer without limit as to time; provided that an auctioneer shall not be entitled to make any charge for conducting any such sale.

18 Account-sales to be rendered within fourteen days.

1891, No. 24, sec. 18

Every auctioneer shall, within fourteen days after a sale, render to the person on whose behalf such sale took place a correct account of that sale, and shall, subject to the deductions authorised by section twenty-one hereof, within such period of fourteen days, pay to such person the balance of the proceeds of such sale received by the auctioneer.

19 Penalty in default.

Ibid, sec. 18

Every auctioneer who, after a written demand from such person in that behalf, fails for seven days to render such account or to pay such balance to such person, commits an offence, and is liable for every such offence to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

20 Sale-moneys to be paid to trust account.

Ibid, sec. 18

(1.)

All moneys received by an auctioneer in respect of the sale of real property shall be paid by him into a general or separate trust account, as provided by section twenty-one hereof, and it shall not be obligatory upon such auctioneer to pay over the said moneys to the vendor until the sale is completed according to the conditions of sale, notwithstanding a written demand has been made on him for such moneys.

(2.)

Every auctioneer who fails for seven days after completion of such sale to render such account or to pay such moneys to the vendor commits an offence under this Act, and is liable to the fine provided in the last preceding section.

21 Proceeds of sales, how to be applied.

Ibid, sec. 19

(1.)

Every auctioneer shall apply the proceeds of sale, when realised, as follows:—

(a.)

In or towards payment of the expenses, commission, and other charges of or incidental to the sale:

(b.)

In or towards payment of any moneys owing to such auctioneer by the person on whose behalf the property was sold.

(c.)

The balance of such proceeds shall be held by the auctioneer exclusively for such person, to be paid to him or as he may direct, and until so paid such balance shall be paid into a bank within the meaning of “The Banking Act, 1908,” to a general or separate trust account, and such balance shall not be available for payment of the debts due by such auctioneer to any other creditor, nor shall such balance be liable to be attached or taken in execution under the order or process of any Court at the instance of any such creditor.

(2.)

Any auctioneer who knowingly commits a breach of this section is liable for each offence to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

22 Misappropriation, theft; falsifying accounts.

1891, No. 24, sec. 20

Every auctioneer is liable to two years’ imprisonment who—

(a.)

Fraudulently converts to his own use the balance of the proceeds of any property sold by auction by him, or any part of such proceeds, or fraudulently omits to pay such proceeds or any part thereof to the person entitled thereto; or

(b.)

With intent to defraud, renders any account of the proceeds of any property sold by auction by him knowing the same to be false in any material particular.

23 Unlicensed person pretending to be an auctioneer.

Ibid, sec. 21

Every person, not being a licensed auctioneer, who has any words written, painted, or inscribed, or allows to remain unobliterated, or not thoroughly obliterated, any words written, painted, or inscribed, over or about his house, window, or premises which lead to the belief or supposition that such person is an auctioneer, or who places or causes to be placed any placard, board, writing, matter, or thing in the public view to the intent that it may be believed or supposed that such person is an auctioneer, or that any property of any kind whatever or any interest therein is to be sold by auction by such person, is liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

24 Not exhibiting license on demand.

Ibid, sec. 22

Every person acting as a licensed auctioneer who does not at the time of any sale by auction, or within three days thereafter, on demand of any constable, produce and show to such constable a proper license granted or deemed to be granted to him under this Act is liable to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

25 Pawnbroker not to hold auctioneer’s license.

Ibid, sec. 17

A person holding a pawnbroker’s license under any Act in reference to pawnbrokers shall not be competent to hold an auctioneer’s license.

26 Selling contrary to Act.

Ibid, sec. 23

Every licensed auctioneer who exercises his business at any time or in any manner contrary to this Act is liable for each offence to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

27 Forging licenses.

Ibid, sec. 24

Every person who forges, counterfeits, or alters, or causes to be forged, counterfeited, or altered, any license, or any signature to any license, or uses or tenders in evidence any such forged, counterfeited, or altered license or signature, knowing the same to be forged, counterfeited, or altered, is liable to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years with or without hard labour.

28 Lending or hiring, &c., a license.

Ibid, sec. 25

Every person is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds for each offence who lets out, or hires, or lends any license granted to him, or, except as hereinbefore provided, trades with or under colour of any license granted to any other person, or any license in which his own name is not inserted as the name of the person to whom the same is granted.

29 Onus of proof of license on person charged with offence.

Ibid, sec. 26

In all proceedings against any person for having acted as an auctioneer without a license, such person, unless he produces his license, or brings other satisfactory proof of his having been licensed at the time at which the offence was committed, shall be deemed to have been unlicensed.

30 Licenses may be cancelled.

Ibid, sec. 27

If any licensed auctioneer is convicted of an offence against section twenty-one, twenty-two, or twenty-seven hereof, his license shall be ipso facto forfeited; and if he is convicted of any other offence against this Act, and within twelve months thereafter is convicted of a second or any subsequent offence of any kind against this Act, the Court may, if it thinks fit, in addition to any other penalty, cancel his license.

31 Recovery and application of fines.

1891, No. 24, sec. 28

All fines imposed by this Act may be recovered in a summary way before a Magistrate or any two Justices, and shall be paid into the Public Account and form part of the Consolidated Fund.

32 Fresh fish may be sold at auction at any hour, day or night.

Ibid, sec. 30

(1.)

Notwithstanding anything in this Act, or in any by-law made by any Borough or County Council or Town Board, it shall be lawful for fishermen, or for any person appointed by them in that behalf, to sell newly caught fish of any kind, except shellfish, by auction at any hour of the day or night, in the manner usual at auction sales, or in any other manner customary in the fish trade, or to hawk and carry such fish for sale at any private houses by retail, without taking out a license either as auctioneer or as hawker.

(2.)

Every person who in any way exceeds the authority granted by this section, and sells any articles under colour of this section that are not hereby authorised to be sold, is liable to the penalties prescribed for selling goods without an auctioneer’s license or a hawker’s license, as the case may be.

33 Sales exempted from Act.

Ibid, sec. 31

Nothing in this Act—

(a.)

Shall extend to any sale made by order of the Governor or of any Collector of Customs, or to any sale under any writ or process issued by or out of any Court of justice, or to any sale of animals sold under the law relating to public pounds, or to any sale held under any Act authorising any person who does not hold an auctioneer’s license to conduct a sale by auction, or to any sales of Crown lands, or of any lease or license in respect of Crown lands where such sale is made on behalf of the Government under statutory authority; or

Saving of civil remedies. Ibid, sec. 29

(b.)

Shall be deemed to take away or limit any civil right or remedy that any person has against an auctioneer in respect of any matter constituted an offence under this Act, or any liability of such auctioneer in respect of any such matter; or

(c.)

Shall be construed to repeal any enactment authorising particular sales to be conducted without an auctioneer’s license; or

Illegal sales not validated. Ibid, sec. 32

(d.)

Shall render legal any sale that is contrary to law.

SCHEDULES

FIRST SCHEDULE Enactments consolidated

1891, No. 24.—“The Auctioneers Act, 1891,”

1894, No. 12.—“The Auctioneers Act Amendment Act, 1894.”

SECOND SCHEDULE

Section 4. 1891, No. 21, First Schedule.

Application for Auctioneer’s License

To the Clerk of the .

I, A. B., residing at , and whose occupation is that of a , hereby give notice that I intend to apply, at the next meeting of the said County Council [Borough Council, or Town Board], for a certificate for an auctioneer’s license, and that my residence [or sole or principal place of business as an auctioneer] is within the said county [borough, or town district]; and that my sole or principal place of business [or residence] is in the County [Borough, or Town District] of .

A. B.

THIRD SCHEDULE

Certificate for Issue of License

District of

I, C. D., the Chairman [or Mayor] of the County [Borough, or Town District], do hereby certify that the said local authority has ordered that A. B., who resides [or has his sole or principal place of business] within the District of , and has his sole or principal place of business [or residence] in the County [Borough, or Town District] of , is a fit and proper person to receive an auctioneer’s license.

Dated at , this day of , 19 .

C. D.,

Chairman [or Mayor].

FOURTH SCHEDULE

License

District of

I, the undersigned, Clerk of the local authority, do hereby, in pursuance of “The Auctioneers Act, 1908,” license A.B., whose residence [or place of business] is within this district, and whose place of business [or residence] is within the County [Borough, or Town District] of , to sell by auction in any part of New Zealand.

This license shall continue in force until the thirty-first day of December ensuing next after the date hereof, and no longer, provided it be not forfeited or cancelled in the meantime.

Dated the day of , 19 .

E. F.,

Clerk [Local authority].

FIFTH SCHEDULE

Notice of Issue of License

District of

I hereby give notice that A. B., whose residence [or place of business] is within this district, has been duly licensed to sell by auction, such license to continue in force until the day of , 19 .

E. F.,

Clerk [Local authority].