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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 1769 ORDINANCE NO. 11104 AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR LICENSING AND REG- ULATING THE SALE AT PUBLIC AUCTION OF JEWELRY, DIAMONDS OR OTHER PRECIOUS OR SEMI-PRECIOUS STONES, WATCHES, CLOCKS, PICTURES, PAINTINGS, GOLD OR SILVER WARE OR PLATED WARE, RUGS, CAR- PETS, TRUNKS, SUITCASES, SATCHELS, CURIOS, BED SPREADS, TABLE COVERS, TABLE CLOTHS, NAPKINS, DOILIES, SHAWLS, STATIONERY, GLASS HARE, POR- CELAIN AND BRIC-A-BRAC, AND PRESCRIBING PENAL- TIES AND PROVIDING FOR AN EMERGENCY. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS: SECTION I. That it shall hereafter be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to sell, dispose of or offer for sale in the City of Fort Worth at public auction, or cause or permit to be sold, disposed of, or offered for sale at public auction within the City of Fort Worth, jewelry, diamonds or other precious or semi-precious stones, watches, clocks, pictures, paintings, gold or silver ware or plated ware, rugs, carpets, trunks, suitcases, satchels, curios, bed spreads, table covers, table cloths, nap- kins, doilies, shawls, stationery, glass ware, porcelain or bric- a-brac, whether the same shall be his own property or whether the sale of the same shall be made by or through him as agent or em- ployee of the owner thereof, or in any capacity, without first complying with the provisions of this ordinance and obtaining and having a license issued by the Assessor and Collector of Taxes of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, provided, however, that this ordinance shall not apply to judicial sale or sales made by exec- utors or administrators or to sales by trustees, mortagees, or assignees under the terms of any instrument given to secure a bona fide indebtedness under which he exercises the power of sale, nor to sales made by or in behalf of licensed pawn brokers of un- redeemed pledges, nor to sales of unclaimed freight or express as provided by law, nor to sales by sheriffs, constables, or other officers as provided by law, nor to any other particular kind of auction sale expressly authorized by the laws of Texas or by the laws of the United States. SECTION II. That any person desiring to hold an auction sale or sale.9 for the purpose of the .sale of any of the goods hereinabove described, shall make application to the Assessor and Collector of Texas of Fort Worth as herein provided for a lioensu th=r=, and the said Assessor and Collector of Texas may issue to any such person a license upon his complying with the terms of this ordinance, such a license to be made for a period of time to be designated therein, provided that no license shall be issued for a longer period than one year from date thereof. SECTION III. Said application for a license shall be in writing, signed and sworn to before a notary public of Tarrant County, Texas, stating the name of the applicant, his residence, the street and number of the proposed place of sale or sales, the length of time for which the license is desired, whether the applicant was previously engaged in a like or similar business, designating the place where such business or businesses were conducted, and the length of time conducted, and such applicant shall furnish the said Assessor and Collector of Taxes with such further evi- dence as may be required by such official. SECTION IV. Said application for a license shall have attached to it a sworn description of such goods to be auctioned, showing the kind and character thereof. In the case of an individual, any affidavit under this ordinance shall be made by him as such; in the case of a firm, it shall be made by one of the partners; in the case of a corporation, it shall be made by the president, general manager, secretary or treasurer. Such application and description when so made, shall be kept on file in the office of the Assessor and Collector of Taxes as a part of the public record, and an index of the persons, firms and corporations to whom li- censes have been issued shall be kept in the office of such offi- cial. No goods mentioned in this ordinance shall be sold at such auction sale except that referred to and included in such descrip- tion. SECTION V. That any person desiring.a license shall in addition to complying with the provisions of this ordinance and before a license shall be issued, furnish a bond to the City of Fort Worth duly executed by such applicant as principal in the sum of $5,000.- 00, which bond shall be payable to the City of Fort Worth at Fort Worth, Texas, to be approved by the Assessor and Collector of Taxes of this city, and conditioned that the said principal shall pay all loss and damage which may lawfully be claimed against him on account of any material misrepresentation of fact or any material suppression of fact concerning the goods to be auctioned at any such sale or auctioned at any such sale, or which may grow out of violation of any of the provisions of this ordinance. Such bond shall inure to the benefit of any and all persons who sustain any loss or damage on aecount"'of any such misrepresentation or viola- tion of this ordinance and any such person sustaining any such loss or damage✓may bring suit in any court of competent jurisdic- tion in Tarrant County, Texas, to recover the same, and the provi- sions of said bond shall be construed liberally in favor of any such person sustaining such loss or damage. All remedies upon or under such bond herein provided, shall be in addition to and cum- ulative of all other remedies the parties may have at law or in equity for recovery of any such losses or damages. The bond shall be executed by two or more good and solvent sureties who shall be residents of Tarrant County, Texas or by some solvent surety com- pany having a permit to do business in Texas. Cumulative recover- ies may be had on said bond to the full amount thereof. SECTION VI. That the Assessor and Collector of Taxes of the City of Font Worth or his deputies or agents may inspect and investi- gate any part or all of such goods coming within the purview of this ordinance before issuing the license, or at any time there- after while such license is in existence. SECTION VII. That before any license shall be issued, the applicant shall pay to the City of Fort north a license fee of 425.00. SECTION VIII. It shall be unlawful for any person acting as auctioneer to make any material misrepresentation of fact or any material suppression of fact concerning the goods to be auctioned at such sale or auctioned at such sale or any other material misrepresen- tation of fact whatsoever as to the quality, or quantity, or character or present condition or value or cost of general selling price of any goods within the purview of this ordinance offered for disposal by auction sale or sold at auction sale. SECTION IX. It shall be unlawful for any person to act as by-bidder or what is commonly known as "capper" or "booster" at, any such auction or place where any such auction shall take place, or to offer or make any false bid or to offer any false bid to buy or pretend to buy any goods sold or offered for sale at any such auction. SECTION X. It shall be the duty of the auctioneer to make reason- able description of the person making the bid at the time each bid is announced and to point to or otherwise designate the posi- tion of the bidder on the premises. SECTION XI. It shall be the duty of the person, firm or corporation whose goods are thus being sold at public auction to give each and every purchaser of an article, the selling price of which amounts to the sum of :'fro Dollars and Fifty Cents or more, an invoice containing a full description of the article and the sell- ing price thereof. Duplicate copies of said invoice shall be kept. SECTION XII. The term "person" as used in this ordinance shall in- clude any person, firm or association of persons or any corpora- tion or their agents, servants or employees. SECTION XIII. .That any person, firm, association of persons, or any corporation, their agents, servants or employees, violating any of the provisions of this ordinance shall, upon conviction in the Corporation Court of Fort Worth, Texas, or in any court to which such case is appealed, be fined in any sum not less than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) nor more than Two Hundred Dollars (4200.00). Each and every sale in violation of this ordinance shall be deemed to be a separate offense. In addition to the penalty above pro- vided for, the court above referred to in which such conviction is had may revoke the license under which such person was acting, and it shall thereafter be unlawful for any such person whose li- cense is revoked to hold any auction in the City of Fort Worth of goods covered by the provisions of this ordinance; provided, however, that no revocation provided for in this ordinance shall prohibit or disqualify the licensee from making application to the Assessor and Collector of Taxes for a new license. SECTION XIV. No auction sale shall be held or conducted on any pub- lic vacant lot, public street, public sidewalk, public alley, or public square or public plaza in this city. SECTION XV. In event the application provided for in this ordinance is refused by the Assessor and Collector of Taxes, the applicant shall have the right to present said application to the City Council of the City of Fort Worth, whose action thereon, granting or re- fusing the same, shall be final and conclusive. SECTION XVI. The City Council of the City of Fort Worth shall have the right at any time they may see fit to revoke any license theretofore granted under this ordinance. SECTION XVII. No auction sale shall be held or conducted between the hours of six p. m. on one day and eight a. m. on the following day unless the license granted expressly authorizes sales during these hours. SECTION XVIII. This ordinance shall be and is hereby declared to be cumulative of all other ordinance's of the City of Fort ''dorth af- fecting transients, itinerant vendors and temporary businesses, and shall not operate to repeal or affect any such ordinance or ordinances except insofar as the provisions of such ordinance or ordinances are inconsistent or in conflict with the provisions of this ordinance, in which instance or instances those provisions shall be and they are hereby repealed. SECTION XIX. Should any portion or part of this ordinance be held for any reason invalid or unenforcible, the same shall not be construed to affect any other valid portion hereof, but all valid portions hereof shall remain in full force and effect. SECTION XX. WHEREAS, on account of promiscuous auction sales made by traveling auctioneers, as well as on account of the many acts of fraud, extortion and oppression growing out of misrepresentations and deceit practiced at auction sales on the public by unregulated auctioneers engaged in the selling of the goods above described, there is created an urgency and emergency in behalf of the preser- vation of the public peace, health and safety and requires this ordinance to become effective upon its passage and publication. It is accordingly so ordained that this ordinance shall become effective immediately upon its passage and publication as required by law. APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: City Attorney 1 ORDINANCE No. r � Titl Date_ Z�. Filed _-- day of_- ----__- 19_ City Secretary