Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Auctioneers Act 2013

Offences

24: Offences

You could also call this:

“Rules to follow if you're an auctioneer to avoid getting in trouble”

If you are an auctioneer, you need to be careful not to break the law. There are some serious offences that you should know about.

If you keep the money from selling something at an auction when you shouldn’t, or if you don’t give the right amount of money to the person who owned the item, or if you lie about how the sale went to trick the owner, you’re breaking the law. This is a big deal. If you’re caught, you could go to jail for up to 2 years if you’re an individual. If it’s not an individual (like a company), they might have to pay up to $200,000.

There are also other things you’re not allowed to do. If you do any of these, you could be fined up to $10,000 if you’re an individual, or up to $30,000 if you’re not an individual:

  1. Working as an auctioneer when you’re not registered
  2. Telling people you’re a registered auctioneer when you’re not
  3. Getting someone to run an auction for you if you know they’re not allowed to be registered
  4. Lying to the Registrar when you’re trying to get registered or stay registered
  5. Not telling the Registrar about important changes like the law says you should in section 16
  6. Not keeping proper records like the law says you should in sections 17 and 18

Remember, being an auctioneer comes with responsibilities. It’s important to follow the rules to avoid getting into trouble.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM5788551.

Topics:
Business > Industry rules Money and consumer rights > Consumer protection Crime and justice > Criminal law
Previous

23: Interim order by District Court, or

"The court can temporarily stop an auctioneer's registration from being cancelled"

Next

25: Regulations, or

"Rules for becoming an auctioneer"

24Offences

  1. A person who fraudulently retains the proceeds of property sold at auction, or fraudulently fails to pay the correct balance to the vendor, or, with intent to defraud the vendor, gives a false account of the sale, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to,—

  2. in the case of an individual, a term of imprisonment not exceeding 2 years; or
    1. in any other case, a fine not exceeding $200,000.

      1. A person who does any of the following commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 (if an individual) or $30,000 (in any other case):

      2. carries on business as an auctioneer, contrary to section 5, while not being a registered auctioneer:
        1. holds out as being a registered auctioneer while not being a registered auctioneer:
          1. engages a person to conduct an auction on his or her behalf, knowing that the person is disqualified from registration:
            1. gives or makes any statement that is false in a material particular to the Registrar in connection with an application for registration or confirmation of registration:
              1. fails to comply with any of the obligations in section 16 (which relate to notifying the Registrar):
                1. fails to comply with the requirements of sections 17 and 18 (which relate to record-keeping).