On May 6, 2011, the Florida Senate failed to pass the bill that would have completely deregulated all brick and mortar auction businesses in the state of Florida. Whew! That was a really close call.
In an effort to cut costs within an already bulging budget, the Florida House of Representatives passed bill HB 5055 on April 7th. This bill called for the deregulation of 19 different industries to include auctioneers and auction houses. The uproar from the auction community, which has always had a love/hate relationship with the current rules and regulations, was loud and immediate. Guess when the chips were down this relationship ended up being more love than hate.
While the house voted their wallets, the senate voted to keep the auction industry moving in the right direction. Slowly but surely, auction houses have cleaned up their act during the last seventy-five years and it seems that the senate wanted to maintain the status quo.
Much of the credit for the increased credibility that brick and mortar auctions enjoy today can be credited to the existing rules and regulations that the governor and the house were so anxious to eliminate. The remainder of the credit belongs to the individual auctioneers and auction house owners who go to great lengths to police themselves. Unlike many of their predecessors, they realize that word of mouth is the best and cheapest form of advertising. Most members of the auction industry want to do it right because not only do they want John Doe’s business, they also want his neighbor’s business.
No one likes excessive regulation. However, at the same time, the auction industry doesn’t want to return to the days of yesteryear when so many people thought they were being cheated. Some of it stemmed from people not understanding auctions and how they work but some of it didn’t.
Florida almost succeeded in keeping more money in the coffers but it would have been at the expense of customers who want and deserve a fair shake from everyone they do business with.
Thanks to the state senate listening to what the auction community had to say about HB 5055, fly-by-night auction houses won’t be setting up shop on every street corner just long enough to take advantage of an unsuspecting public. Now that HB 5055 is dead, potential customers can continue to go to the government’s website and research a specific auctioneer or auction house. They can see if there are any issues or complaints they need to worry about.
Everyone who loves the auction industry in Florida can once again rest easy.