Auction License in Ohio

Baldwin's Ohio Revised Code Annotated
Title XIII. Commercial Transactions (Refs & Annos)
Chapter 1318. Auctions (Refs & Annos)

1318.01 Definitions

As used in sections 1318.01 to 1318.08, inclusive, of the Revised Code:
(A) “New merchandise” means all goods, wares, and merchandise not previously sold at retail.
(B) “New merchandise public-auction sale” means the offering for sale or selling of new merchandise to the highest bidder or offering for sale or selling of new merchandise at a price and then offering the same at successive lower prices until a buyer is secured.
(C) “Taxpayer” means a person, firm, or corporation who is required to file and has filed a personal property tax return, listing tangible personal property used in business and has been assessed and has paid tangible personal property tax thereon in the county wherein new merchandise is offered for sale or sold.

1318.02 Application for license

Any person, firm, or corporation which desires to conduct a new merchandise public-auction sale shall file with the county auditor of the county in which such sale is proposed to be held an application for a license to conduct such sale. The application shall be verified by the applicant and shall be filed not less than ten days prior to the date such sale is to be held and shall include the following:
(A) The name and address of the person, firm, or corporation making the application, and in the case of a firm the names and addresses of all members of such firm, and in the case of a corporation the date and place of incorporation, the names and addresses of its officers, and also, if a foreign corporation the date of qualification to do business in this state.
(B) The name and address of the auctioneer who will conduct such sale.
(C) A complete inventory and description of new merchandise to be sold and the total value thereof.
(D) The exact place and date of the proposed sale.
Prior to filing with the county auditor the application to conduct a new merchandise public-auction sale, the applicant shall send to the state department of taxation by registered mail a notice of intent to conduct such sale, including the time and place thereof. A copy of such notice shall be attached to the application to the county auditor.

1318.03 Applicant to give penal bond

An applicant for a license to conduct a new merchandise public-auction sale shall give a penal bond to the state with sufficient surety, approved by and filed with the auditor of the county in which such sale is proposed to be held, in the sum of the value of the new merchandise described in the application required by section 1318.02 of the Revised Code, for the satisfaction of all judgments, tax assessments, or fines against the applicant arising out of or by reason of such sale and for which an action or prosecution is commenced within one year after such sale, or in the case of taxes, the assessment of which is within one year after such sale.
In such bond the applicant and surety shall appoint the county auditor as their agent for the service of process in any civil suit or proceeding instituted against the applicant or surety and arising out of or by reason of such sale. Such process shall be served by the officer to whom the service is directed upon the auditor by leaving at his office a true and attested copy thereof, and by sending to the defendant by registered mail and addressed to the defendant at his last known address a duplicate copy with an endorsement thereon of the service upon the auditor.

1318.04 License fee

The fee for a license to conduct a new merchandise public-auction sale shall be $10.00 per day for each day the sale is proposed to be conducted. Such fee is payable to the county treasurer of the county in which the sale is proposed to be held and the treasurer shall issue a receipt therefor. The fee shall be deposited in the county treasury to the credit of the general fund of such county.

1318.05 Issuance of license

Upon compliance with sections 1318.02 to 1318.04, inclusive, of the Revised Code, and upon presentation of the receipt provided for in section 1318.04 of the Revised Code, the auditor of the county in which a new merchandise public-auction sale is proposed to be held shall issue to an applicant therefor a license for such sale. Such license shall not be transferable, shall not be issued for more than one person, firm, or corporation, and shall not be necessary for a sale in a municipal corporation that has adopted regulations under section 715.24 of the Revised Code, unless such regulations have not been complied with. Such license shall state the name of the licensee and the precise place and day the sale is to be held. The auditor shall keep a record of such licenses in a book provided for that purpose which shall at all times be open to public inspection.

1318.06 Filing of inventory

Not later than ten days after the last day of the new merchandise public-auction sale licensed under section 1318.05 of the Revised Code, the licensee shall file in duplicate with the auditor of the county in which such sale was held an inventory, verified by such licensee, of all new merchandise sold at such sale and the price received therefor. The auditor shall forthwith forward a copy of such inventory and report to the state department of taxation.

1318.07 Sale without a license prohibited

No person, firm, or corporation shall sell, dispose of, or offer for sale at a new merchandise public-auction sale any new merchandise unless such person, firm, or corporation and the owner of such new merchandise offered for sale or sold shall have been licensed under sections 1318.05 and 5739.17 of the Revised Code and shall have complied with the requirements of sections 1318.02 to 1318.05, inclusive, of the Revised Code.

1318.08 Exemptions

Sections 1318.01 to 1318.07, inclusive, of the Revised Code, shall not extend to:
(A) Livestock, produce, used farm machinery, other used items commonly sold at farm sales, and other used merchandise.
(B) A sale ordered by a court or directed by law.
(C) A taxpayer who has filed a personal property tax return and has been assessed in the county in which the new merchandise is offered for sale by the taxpayer at his place of business. Such taxpayer shall file with the county auditor annually at least ten days prior to the first sale claimed to be exempt under the provisions of this paragraph an affidavit stating that such taxpayer or the consignor of such merchandise has filed a personal property tax return and has been assessed in the county in which the new merchandise auction sale is to be held. Such affidavit shall further contain the full name of the taxpayer, address of his place of business in the county, and the date on which the first sale is to be held. A taxpayer who files such affidavit shall be the taxpayer within the meaning of sections 5711.01 to 5711.36 of the Revised Code with respect to all new merchandise which he sells on commission or otherwise.

1318.99 Penalty

[Proposed Legislation]

R.C. 1318.01 - 1318.99