Auction Laws

Here in Queensland auctioneers and real estate agents are licensed by the Office of Fair Trading. The Office of Fair Trading is part of the Department of Justice and Attorney-General as part of the Queensland government.

As auctioneers and agents we fall under the Property Agents and Motor Dealers Act 2000

The industry call it PAMDA.

When conducting auctions of residential real estate throughout the state of Queensland there a number of interesting points that effect both the agent and the auctioneer.

Point 1 is displaying the auctioneer’s details at the auction.

If you read through section 13 of the act (as noted below)

The auctioneers name, license type and best practice would say your license number and the lettering must be a minimum of 1.5 centre metres. The one part of this that is constantly overlooked is that the details must be displayed for the entire auction period. This means that from the 1^st inspection of the property with the agent the auctioneer’s details have to be displayed. My recommendation for agents is to do up a contract board when the property is listed for sale i.e. a copy of the contract, title search, disclosure statements if it is a unit and of course the auctioneer’s details.

13 Display and publication of licensee’s name

(1) This section applies for sections 123, 158, 195, 252, 273, 328 and 3528 of the Act.

(2) The principal licensee must display in lettering at least 1.5cm in height at each place of business-

(a) the licensee’s name followed by the word ‘licensee’; and

(b) if the licensee is not the person in charge of the business at the place, the name of the person in charge at the place; and

(c) the category of the licensee’s licence.

Example for paragraph (c)-

Property agents and motor dealers licence (real estate agent).

(3) The names and category must be displayed in a conspicuous position at each of the principal licensee’s places of business so it is clearly visible when entering the place of business.

Examples for subsection (3)-

1 Display in a prominent position on the reception counter.

2 Display at eye level on a wall that customers view on first entering the place of business.

(4) In addition to the requirements in subsection (2), an auctioneer who conducts an auction must display the auctioneer’s name at the place of the auction-

(a) in lettering at least 1.5cm in height; and

(b) in a conspicuous position so it is clearly visible when entering the place; and

(c) for the entire period of the auction.

Point 2 is in relation to a bidders register.

It is now law that prior to the auctioneer accepting a bid the bidder has to be registered. Registration requires a name and address and produces evidence of such i.e. a drivers license

The bidder also has to be given an identification number.

My recommendation is to use Bidders Mate these paddles can be purchased through The Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ)

Bidders can be registered at any point. I suggest agents commence the register at the first inspection. Even if a buyer says that they may be interested it is best to register them.

32 Auction conduct-bidder registration

(1) An auctioneer must, for each auction sale the auctioneer conducts at the same place on the same day, keep a register of all bidders at the auction registered under this section (the register of bidders).

(2) The auctioneer must-

(a) announce to persons present at the auction that bids will only be accepted from registered bidders; and

(b) subject to subsection (3)-ensure each bidder at the auction is registered as a bidder before accepting a bid from the bidder.

17 Property Agents and Motor Dealers (Auctioneering Practice Code of Conduct) Regulation 2001

Schedule (continued)

(3) If a bidder has previously been registered at an auction for the sale of livestock or used motor vehicles, the bidder’s previous registration may be applied to one or more subsequent auctions, provided the auction is conducted by the same auctioneer.

(4) The auctioneer may register a person as a bidder at an auction only if the person-

(a) gives the auctioneer the person’s name and address; and

(b) produces to the auctioneer satisfactory evidence of the person’s identity; and

Example for paragraph (b)-a driver licence with the person’s photo on it

(c) gives the auctioneer the name and address of any other person for whom bids are intended to be made on instructions given by the other person by telephone.

(5) If the auctioneer is satisfied of the person’s identity, the auctioneer must-

(a) record in the register of bidders for the auction-

(i) the person’s name and address; and

(ii) the bidder number assigned by the auctioneer to the bidder; and

(b) give the person a card or other thing with the bidder number on it for use by the bidder during the auction.

(6) The auctioneer must ensure the number on the card or other thing given to the bidder under subsection (5)(b) can be easily read by the auctioneer when the bidder uses it to make a bid

during the auction.

(7) The auctioneer must keep the register of bidders for 5 years after the date of the last entry made in it.

(8) Subsection (5)(b) and subsection (6) do not apply to livestock auctioneers.

Point 3 is about Sellers bids or Vendor Bids or Auctioneers Bids.

The auctioneer has to declare to the potential bidders that the seller or there representative has the right to bid. In doing so it must be declared to all parties. If there is a reserve price, then the sellers bid can not be placed at or above the reserve price.

When this was 1^st introduced a lot of the old school auctioneers were up in arms about it. From the consumers point of view it had to be done. It now has offered full transparency to all parties involved.

A lot of people are still confused about this seller bidding. The easiest way to explain it is as follows.

If the property was not going to auction and a buyer wanted to make an offer on the property, the agent would get the offer and take it to the seller. The seller then has a couple of choices, they can either accept the offer or they make a counter offer. Now you would hope that each party would keep making offer and counter offer until they agree (sale made). It is no different with the auction. A bidder puts up there hand (an offer) and if this bid is not at level acceptable to the seller then the auctioneer has the ability to make a counter offer(sellers bid). Two things can happen, we all hope that there is enough competition in the market place that the auctioneer does not need to make a sellers bid. If there is not enough competition then the offer counter offer scenario needs to be done to achieve a sale.

32A Auction conduct-seller bidder

(1) This section applies in relation to a seller of property offered for sale by auction.

(2) If the seller bids for the property when it is offered for sale, the auctioneer must announce to the other bidders that the bid is made by the seller.

(3) Also, if the seller sets a reserve price for the property under the Act, section 574A, the auctioneer must not accept a bid from the seller that is higher than the reserve price set for the property.

These processes are fairly straight forward and a very easy to comply with.

If you have any questions, please place them in the comments section below or talk with your auctioneer about them.

I hope this adds some clarity to the auction process.

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