Of interest to auctioneers, the UCC 2-328 is the law of the land in 49 of the 50 states.
The only state which did not adopt the UCC 2-328 into their state law is Louisiana, however their courts regularly rule as if they had.
As such, the UCC 2-328 is essentially the law in all of the United States.
However, states are free to modify their own state law in regard to their adoption of the UCC 2-328. For instance, Kentucky has written other laws that conflict with the traditional wording of the UCC 2-328.
We addressed Kentucky’s particular case here:http://mikebrandlyauctioneer.wordpress.com/2010/05/13/aberrant-auction-law-kentucky-10/
We have long advocated that states not modify the UCC 2-328, as one of the beauties of the UCC 2-328 is its uniformity, especially as many auctioneers now work all over the United States, and buyers and sellers conduct business in these same 50 jurisdictions.
While Louisiana generally uses the UCC 2-328 as their guiding law, auction law there does differ in one extraordinary way.
Per the UCC 2-328, all auctions are “with reserve” by default, and are otherwise without reserve (absolute) if expressly noted.
However, in Louisiana:
All auctions (in Louisiana) are absolute unless otherwise stated.
In my opinion, this is the way all states should modify the UCC 2-328. In fact, we wrote about that here: http://mikebrandlyauctioneer.wordpress.com/2011/08/20/if-i-had-written-the-ucc-2-328/
Some say that the “with reserve” default is needed to protect sellers, and properly gives them a choice to sell (or not) up until the pronouncement of, “Sold!” However, Louisiana’s default perspective gives the seller a choice as well — either sell at auction, or not.
We applaud Louisiana’s position. An auction should mean that something is indeed selling, and not that it “might” be selling.
Mike Brandly, Auctioneer, CAI, AARE has been an auctioneer and certified appraiser for over 30 years. His company’s auctions are located at: Mike Brandly, Auctioneer, Keller Williams Auctions and Goodwill Columbus Car Auction. His Facebook page is: www.facebook.com/mbauctioneer. He serves as Adjunct Faculty at Columbus State Community College and is Executive Director of The Ohio Auction School.
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