NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1975 SESSION

CHAPTER 648

HOUSE BILL 617

AN ACT TO MAKE VARIOUS CHANGES IN THE AUCTIONEER LICENSING LAW, INCLUDING CLARIFICATION OF LICENSE RENEWAL DATES AND FEE SCHEDULES, ADDITION OF THE REQUIREMENT OF THE USE OF ESCROW ACCOUNTS, AND CLARIFICATION OF WHICH ESTATES SALES ARE EXEMPT FROM THE REQUIREMENT OF USING A LICENSED AUCTIONEER.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 85B-3, as it appears in the 1974 Cumulative Supplement to Volume 2C of the General Statutes, is amended by rewriting subsection (g) to read as follows:

"(g)       Members of the commission shall receive the compensation set for members of occupational licensing boards by G.S. 93B-5."

Sec. 2.  G.S. 85B-4, as it appears in the 1974 Cumulative Supplement to Volume 2C of the General Statutes, is amended by deleting the word "Committee" in the last line of the second paragraph of subsection (d), and replacing it with the word "Commission".

Sec. 3.  G.S. 85B-4, as it appears in the 1974 Cumulative Supplement to Volume 2C of the General Statutes, is further amended by rewriting the first sentence of subsection (e) to read as follows:

"Each license issued under this Chapter shall be valid from July 1 of the year issued, or from the date issued, whichever is later, to June 30 of the succeeding year and may be renewed for one year at a time, except an apprentice auctioneer license may not be renewed for more than three times."

Sec. 4.  G.S. 85B-4, as it appears in the 1974 Cumulative Supplement to Volume 2C of the General Statutes, is amended by rewriting subsection (g) to read as follows:

"(g)       A sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation which in the regular course of business promotes auctions, employs auctioneers to conduct auctions in its facilities, or uses or allows the use of its facilities for auctions, must be licensed as an auctioneer business even though no owner or officer of that business acts as an auctioneer. To be licensed as an auctioneer business the sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation must file an approved bond as required for a licensed auctioneer by subsection (f) and must pay the proper fees as set out in G.S. 85B-6, but is not otherwise required to meet qualifications for an auctioneer license. Licensed auctioneer businesses shall be covered by the provisions of G.S. 85B-8."

Sec. 5.  G.S. 85B-6, as it appears in the 1974 Cumulative Supplement to Volume 2C of the General Statutes, is amended by deleting the words "partnership or corporation" from lines 6 and 7 of the first paragraph and inserting in their place the word "business".

Sec. 6.  G.S. 85B-8, as it appears in the 1974 Cumulative Supplement to Volume 2C of the General Statutes, is amended by changing the period at the end of subdivision (6) of subsection (a) to a semicolon and by adding the following new subdivision (7):

"(7)      Commingling the money or property of a client with his own or failing to maintain and deposit in a trust or escrow account in an insured bank or savings and loan association located in North Carolina money received for another person through sale at auction."

Sec. 7.  G.S. 85B-9, as it appears in the 1974 Cumulative Supplement to Volume 2C of the General Statutes, is amended by deleting the word "or" in the second line of subsection (a) and replacing it with the word "of".

Sec. 8.  This act shall become effective upon ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 17th day of June, 1975.