“Yes, you can make a right turn there …” was not the best advice for motorists as the interstate had collapsed. Indeed you could head toward the disaster, or away from it.
Auctioneers are certainly advised to secure an attorney for any legal advice. Yet, the advice that any certain action/plan is permitted by law — or likely successfully litigated in court — is only part of the story. “What’s the rest of the story?” should be your next question.
For example, you can sell “as-is” allowing no previews whatsoever, but you deserve to know the consequences. In our example here, the buyer in your “as-is” auction has recourse if you deny an opportunity to preview.
I’m not an attorney, but as an attorney’s client, you and I both deserve to know the law is, what the law prohibits, what the law permits, and the consequences of your or my choice. Legal advice with no discussion of the related costs and benefits is misleading at best.
I’ve viewed countless auctioneers’ terms and conditions, advertising, contracts, and related. I routinely see paragraph after paragraph of text citing essentially permission to do virtually anything — reopen bids, void bids, retract bids, refuse bids, misrepresent property, deny previews, settle any dispute unilaterally … the list goes on.
You could argue that all of this is legal (I might debate that) but are these types of auction bidder/buyer terms and conditions without repercussions? I can assure you they are not, and those who believe bidders/buyers are vacuous, my experience has been quite different in high-dollar transactions.
The traditional auction industry has tremendous competition from other large retail players, auction platforms, and those entering the business with an Internet connection and otherwise no training and no license.
It will be more critical than ever for every auctioneer moving forward to secure education and training coupled with complete and comprehensive legal counsel. Hearing only what you can do (or worse — only what you want to hear) is dangerous and not complete nor comprehensive.
Mike Brandly, Auctioneer, CAI, CAS, AARE has been an auctioneer and certified appraiser for over 30 years. His company’s auctions are located at: Mike Brandly, Auctioneer, RES Auction Services and Goodwill Columbus Car Auction. He serves as Distinguished Faculty at Hondros College, Executive Director of The Ohio Auction School, an Instructor at the National Auctioneers Association’s Designation Academy and America’s Auction Academy. He is faculty at the Certified Auctioneers Institute held at Indiana University and is approved by the The Supreme Court of Ohio for attorney education.
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