ABSENTEE BIDDER : A person (or entity) who submits, in advance, a written or oral bid that is the top price he/she will pay for a given property but who does not attend the sale.
ADMINISTRATOR : A person appointed by the court to administer the Estate of a deceased person. He resembles an Executor but differs in that he is not named by the deceased but rather by the court.
ADVERTISING : Non-personal, paid communication directed toward the general public or, in some cases, specific prospective client groups. Usually used in the auction world to provide information about the time, place, contents, and arrangements of an auction.
AFFIDAVIT : A written or printed declaration or statement of facts made voluntarily and Confirmed by oath before an officer having authority to administer such oath.
AGENT : A person who attends an auction and bids for someone else who is actually the purchaser.
ANTIQUES : Products manufactured or handcrafted that are unchanged from their original state and date from a period at least 100 years prior to being offered for sale. They reflect aesthetic, artistic, or craftsman like qualities of the period of their creation. The value of such antiques is based on availability, intrinsic or market value, age, prominence of the creator, and physical condition. In practice, antiques often include any objects made before living memory or more recent objects of intrinsic value.
APPRAISAL : An estimate, for a fee, of what real or personal property might bring if sold at auction or, if used for insurance purposes, what it would cost to replace. Can either be a verbal opinion or a written document, although only the latter is valid for legal purposes such as probate.
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION : Articles subscribed to by the members o f a corporation organized under a general law and which create the general union between stockholders or corporate members. Such articles commonly specify the form of organization, amount of capital, kind of business to be pursued, location of company, etc.
ARTIFACT : Technically, the term should be used only for archaeological finds, such as Indian arrowheads, but often used to refer to any kind of antique.
AS IS : The “caveat emptor”(let the buyer beware) phrase of the auction business. Most items sold at auction are sold “as is” in that the buyer is responsible for examining and judging the property for his/her own protection and the auctioneer does not offer warranties.
ASSESSMENT : A charge made against property by a unit of government to cover the proportionate cost of an improvement, such as a street, sewer, or curbing or water drainage ditch.
ASSIGNEE : A person to whom an assignment is made – also called grantee.
ASSIGNMENT : A transfer or making over to another, any property or right of real or personal property.
ATTACHMENT : The act or process of taking, apprehending, or seizing persons or property, by virtue of a writ, summons, or other judicial order, and bringing the same into custody of the law to accomplish the purpose of such attachment, such as to compel an appearance, or furnish security for debts.
AUCTION : The method of sale of personal or real property to the highest bidder.
AUCTION BLOCK : The podium or raised platform where the auctioneer stands while conducting the auction.
AUCTIONEER : The agent of the seller who, for a fee, conducts the auction, recognizing the bidders and acknowledging the highest bidder who becomes the buyer. In many states and communities, auctioneers must be licensed and bonded.
AUCTIONEER SUBCONTRACTOR : An auctioneer hired by the principal auctioneer to sell specific or special property that requires a level of expertise beyond his/her own.
AUCTION WITH RESERVE : An auction in which the seller or his agent reserves the right to accept or decline any and all bids. A minimum acceptable price may or may not be disclosed and the seller reserves the right to accept or decline any bid within a specified time.
AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE (ABSOLUTE AUCTION): An auction where the property is sold to the highest qualified bidder with no limiting conditions or amount. The seller may not bid personally or through an agent. Also known as an auction without reserve.
BANK LETTER OF CREDIT : A letter from a banker certifying that a person named is worthy of a given level of credit. Often requested from prospective bidders or buyers who are not paying with currency at auctions where they are unknown by the auctioneer or those managing the sale.
BID : A prospective buyer’s indication or offer of a price he/she will pay to purchase property at auction. Bids are usually in standardized increments established by the auctioneer, such as $5, $10, 515.
BID CALLER : The person who actually “calls,” “cries or “auctions” the property at an auction, recognizing bidders and acknowledging the highest bidder. Commonly known as the auctioneer.
BIDDING LIMIT : The top price the bidder sets in his/her own mind that he/she will be willing to pay for a given property.
BIDDING NUMBER : The numbers sued to each person who registers at an auction. When that bidder buys an item, the auctioneer’s staff notes the bidding number, the item purchased, and the price.
BIDDER’S CHOICE : A method of sale whereby the successful high bidder wins the right to choose a property or properties from a grouping of similar or like-kind properties. After the high bidder’s selection, the property is deleted from the group, and the second round of bidding commences, with the high bidder in round two choosing a property, which is then deleted from the group and so on, until all properties are sold.
BIDDER PACKAGE : The package of information and instructions pertaining to the property to be sold at an auction event obtained by prospective bidders at an auction. Sometimes called a bidder packet or due diligence package.
BIDDING PADDLE : A paddle-shaped device with a number printed on it that is the same number assigned to the potential bidder when he/she registered for the auction. The participant bids by raising his/her paddle.
BID RIGGING : The unlawful practice whereby two or more people agree not to bid against one another so as to deflate value.
BILL : A formal declaration. Complaint or statement of particular things in writing.
BINDER : An agreement to cover a down payment for the purchase of property as evidence of the good faith of the purchaser.
BLACK LIGHT : A type of fluorescent light used to detect repairs, if any, or additions to paintings, glass, or ceramics.
BOND : A certificate or evidence of a debt.
BOOKKEEPER OR CLERK : The person who is responsible for the accounting and paperwork at an auction sale.
BOUGHT-IN : See “reserve”.
BOX LOT : Usually the leftovers that hold little value and are collected in a box to be sold together.
BREACH OF CONTRACT : The failure without legal excuse to perform any promise which forms the whole or pal-t of a contract.
BRUCELLOSIS : Commonly known as “Bangs”. A disease that is infectious to animals and man. Also known as “undulant fever”. Usually first infecting animals which in turn transmit the disease to man.
BUYER’S PREMIUM : A percentage (usually 10%, but varying) added to the purchase price (“hammer price”). Paid by the buyer for services of the auctioneer.
BUY-BACK : An item that is withdrawn from the sale because it does not attract the reserve price established by the seller. See “reserve”.
CASHIER : The employee of the principal auctioneer or auction firm who, working from the auction clerk’s records, collects all the proceeds from an auction, disperses the receipts, and submits a complete report of the auction to the seller.
CATALOG : A printed listing of items being offered to prospective bidders at an auction. The more elaborate the sale, usually, the more elaborate the catalog. If an auction company makes a catalog available to you, be sure to get one. It can help you to know the description of the items sold and also how it will be sold. There may be a quantity of the commodity in each lot being sold and they may be for all one bid or so much apiece. Auction staff will be happy to explain these differences to you and your catalog will help you follow along. This way you won’t miss an item that is important to you.
CATALOG SALE : A sale for which a printed or mimeographed list of items to be sold is prepared in advance. At the sale, bids are taken on the numbered lots in the order in which they appear in the catalog.
CATTLE : Animas used by man for labor or food.
CATTLE GUARD : A device to prevent cattle from straying across property lines or onto railroad tracks, etc. CERTIFICATE : A written assurance or official representation that some act has or has not been done, or some event has occurred or some legal formality has been complied with.
CHARGE : The right, in France, to conduct auctions; a license that is sold by the state of auctioneers.
CHATTEL : An article of personal property – not amounting to a freehold or fee in land.
CHATTEL MORTGAGE : A mortgage on chattels.
CHOICE : The privilege extended to the successful bidder to select, for the price he/she bid, one or more of the identical or similar items from the group of’ such items that has been presented at auction.
CLERK : The person employed by the principal auctioneer or auction firm to record what is sold, to whom, and the amount of the highest bid.
COMMISSION :The fee charged to the seller by the auctioneer for providing his/her services; usually a percentage of the gross selling price of the property and established by the contract (the listing agreement) to the auction.
COMMISSIONER : A person to whom a commission is directed by the government of a court.
CONDITIONS OF SALE : The legal terms that govern the conduct of the sale, including acceptable methods of payment, terms, buyer’s premiums, delivery, storage, reserves, etc. Usually included in published advertisements or announced by the auctioneer prior to the start of the auction.
CONSIGNEE : In mercantile law, one to whom a consignment is made. The person to whom goods are shipped for sale.
CONSIGNMENT : Property turned over to an auctioneer by its owner or those representing the owner to be sold on a commission basis and usually under specific conditions. Such property is often combined with property from other consignors at an auction house or gallery where it is sold. Consignment agreements are usually written.
CONSIGNOR : The owner or representative of the owner who places property with an auctioneer for sale on a consignment basis.
CONTINGENCY : Quality of being contingent or casual; the possibility of coming to pass; and event which may occur.
CONTRACT : A written agreement upon sufficient consideration to do or not to do a particular thing.
CONVEY : To pass or transmit the title to property from one to another.
CORPORATE : Belonging to a corporation. As a corporate name or body.
CORPORATION : An artificial person or legal entity created by or under the authority of the laws of a state or nation. A franchise possessed by one or more individuals who subsist as a body politic, under special denomination, and are vested by the policy of the law with the capacity of perpetual succession, and the acting in several respects, however numerous the association may be – as a single individual.
COUNTERFEIT : Property that is not what it appears or is represented to be; often a forgery or copy. Some owners and auctioneers, not knowing of the deception themselves, will make refunds when the counterfeit is proven – the one notable exception to the “as is” practice in the auction business.
COVENANT : An agreement. convention, or promise of two or more parties, by deed in writing, signed, sealed, and delivered, by which either of the parties pledges himself/herself to the other that something if either done or shall be done, or stipulates to the truth of certain facts.
CREDITOR : A person to whom debt is owed by another person who is the debtor.
CURTESY : The right which a husband has in his wife’s estate upon her death.
DCS : DR. of common sense.
DEBT : A sum of money due by certain and express agreement.
DEFAULT : The failure to meet an obligation when due. Non performance of duty.
DEFICIENCY JUDGMENT : A lack, shortage, or insufficiency. The difference between the indebtedness and the sale price or market value after a foreclosure sale.
DEPOSIT : ’The sum of money paid by the bidder for the privilege of bidding or as a percentage of the purchase price, especially on large-dollar property. Used to discourage casual or unqualified bidders. Unused deposits are returned at the end of the auction.
DESK : The term applied to auction employees as a group, especially clerks, who enter absentee and telephone bids.
DOWER : The provision which the law makes for a widow out of the lands or tenements of her husband after his death.
EARNEST : The payment of a part of the price of goods or property sold, or the delivery of part of such items for the purpose of binding the contract.
EARNEST MONEY : Down payment y purchaser as evidence of good faith to close the transaction or complete the agreement.
ESCHEAT : Signifies a reversion of property to the state in consequence of a want of any individual competent to inherit.
ESCROW : A writing, or deed delivered by the grantor, promisor , or obligor into the hands of a third person, to behold by the latter until the happening of a contingency, or performance of a condition and by hill1 delivered to the grantee, promisee , or oblige.
ESTATE : The interest which one has in lands, or in any subject of property. This interest can vary from absolute ownership down to naked possession.
ESTATE SALE : The sale of property left by a person at his/her death. May be sold “on site,” at an auction house or gallery, or at a location that allows proper display and bidder crowds.
ETHICAL : Professionally right or befitting: conforming to professional standards of conduct.
ESTIMATE : An opinion – not an appraisal – of what price a property will bring at auction, based on past sales of similar properties at recent auctions.
ETHICAL : Professionally right or befitting; conforming to professional standards of conduct. ET AL : And others.
EVICT : To dispossess or tun1 out of the possession of lands by process of law
EXECUTION : Includes performance of all acts necessary to render instrument complete and of every act required to give instrument validly or to carry it into effect.
EXECUTOR : A person named or appointed by a Testator to call-y out the directions and requests in his will, and to dispose of the property according to the provisions of this will after his decease. Executor differs from Estate Administrator in that Executor is named in a will and as Administrator is appointed by the Court, usually in the absence of a named Executor.
EXHIBITION : The showing of property prior to its presentation at auction: arranged by the auctioneer and/or owner to allow prospective bidders to inspect and evaluate the property.
FAIR MARKET VALUE : Price at which a willing seller and a willing buyer will trade.
FAST KNOCK : A technique used to stimulate excitement and/or reward cooperative bidders. The auctioneer asks for a low opening bid and suddenly “knocks it down” to the first bidder. Also, the “deaf ear.”
FEE SIMPLE : A fee simple is an estate limited absolutely to a man and his heirs and assigns forever without limitation or condition.
FINDER’S FEE : An amount paid to a person who provides an auctioneer with information regarding consignable property or possible listings.
FLOOR : The area where the auction is conducted. Also used to indicate the reserve or bottom price that the seller will accept.
FORFEITURE : A deprivation or destruction of a right in consequence of the non-performance of obligation or condition.
FREE ENTERPRISE : The right to conduct a legitimate business for profit.
FREEHOLD : An estate for life or in fee. A11 estate to be a freehold must possess these two qualities: 1) immobility, that is, the property must be either land or some interest issuing out of or annexed to land; and 2) indeterminate duration, for if the utmost period of time to which an estate can endure be fixed and determined it cannot be a free hold.
FUNCTIONAL DEPRECIATION : Results from necessary replacement of equipment before it is worn out, by reason of invention and improved appliances which render for efficient or satisfactory service.
GALLERY : The permanent place of business where the agent, or auctioneer, displays and sells property that is usually on consignment. Although previously used only to describe display areas for works of art, now often used interchangeable with “auction house.”
GENERAL SALE : An auction that includes various types of property – household, antiques, farm equipment, autos, etc.
GOODS : Shall mean any goods, wares, chattels, merchandise or personal property, including domestic animals and farm products. A general term to distinguish from real property.
GRANTEE : One to whom a grant is made – the buyer.
GRANTOR : The person by whom a grant is made – the seller.
GUARDIAN : A guardian is a person lawfully invested with the duty of taking care of the person and managing the property and rights of another person, who for some peculiarity of status, or defect of age, understanding or self control, is considered incapable of administering his own affairs. Can be appointed by the Court.
HAMMER PRICE : The price established by the last bidder and acknowledged by the auctioneer before he drops his hammer. The purchase price.
HEIR : A person who succeeds by the rules of law, to an estate in lands, tenements, or hereditaments , upon the death of his ancestor, by descent and right of relationship.
HEREDITAMENTS : Things capable of being inherited -be it corporeal of incorporeal, real, personal, or mixed.
HOLDING COMPANY : A super corporation which owns or at least controls such a dominant interest in one or more other corporation that it is enabled to dictate their policies through voting power. A corporation organized to hold the stock of other corporations; any company whether incorporated or unincorporated which is in a position to control or materially influence the management of one or more other companies by virtue, in part at least, of its ownership or securities in the other company or companies.
HOUSEHOLD GOODS : Those pieces of property that usually have been used in a private home and that are without particular significance for collectors.
ILLEGAL : Not authorized by law
INCOMPETENT : Lack of ability, legal qualifications, or fitness to discharge the required duty.
INCORPORATE : To create a corporation.
INCORPORATION : The act or process of forming a corporation; the formation of a legal or political body, with the quality of perpetual existence and succession, unless limited by the act of incorporation.
INCUMBERANCE : A claim, lien, charge, or liability attached to and binding upon real or personal property.
INDEBTEDNESS : The state of being in debt without regard to the ability or inability of the part to pay the same.
INDEMNITY : To save harmless.
INDENTURE : A deed or formed written instrument to which two or more persons are parties, and in which these enter into reciprocal and corresponding grants or obligations towards each other.
INDUCEMENT : In contracts. The benefit or advantage which the promisor is to receive from a contract is the inducement for making it.
INJUNCTION : A prohibitive writ issued by a court of equity, at the suit of a party complainant, directed to a patty defendant for that purpose, forbidding the latter to do some act, or to permit his servants or agents to do some act, which he is threatening, or attempting to commit, or restraining him in the continuance thereof, such act being unjust and inequitable, injurious to the plaintiff, and not such as can be adequately redressed by an action of law.
INSOLVENT : The condition of a person who is unable to pay his debts; one who is not solvent; one who has not means or property upon an installment basis.
INSPECTION : See “exhibition.”
INSTRUMENT : A written document – such as a contract, deed, will, bond or lease.
INSURANCE : An agreement by which one party for a consideration promises to pay money or its equivalent, or to do an act valuable to another party upon destruction, loss, or injury of something in which other party has interest.
INTEREST : General term means to denote a property in lands or chattels, it may be absolute or conditional. ”Money Interest” is the compensation allowed by law or fixed by the parties for the use or forbearance or detention of money.
INVENTORY : A list, or schedule of itemized articles or property constituting a collection, estate, stock in trade, etc. usually with their estimated or actual values.
JOINT : United; combined; undivided; done by or against two or more unitedly ; shared by or between two or more; coupled together in interest or liability.
JUDGMENT : A sense of knowledge sufficient to comprehend nature of transaction. The official and authentic decision of a court of justice upon the respective rights and claims of the parties to an action or suit litigated and submitted to its determination.
JURISDICTION : The word is a term of a large and comprehensive pact, and embraces every kind of judicial action. It is the authority, capacity, power or right to act. It is the power of him who has the right of judging. It is of three kinds, of the subject matter, of the person, and to render particular judgment which was given.
KEEP : to continue.
KNOCK-DOWN PRICE : See “hammer price.”
KNOWLEDGE : Acquaintance with the fact or truth.
LACHES : Laches Estopped By – A failure to do something which should be done or to claim, or enforce a right at a proper time. A neglect to do something which one should do, or to seek to enforce a right at a proper time.
LAYOUT : The sequence in which property will be sold at auction, allowing for logical groupings of similar items and stimulation of bidder interest.
LEADERS : Choice items that will attract bidders to a sale and elevate the impression made by the entire inventory. Often featured in pre-sale advertisements and scheduled in the auction sequence strategically.
LEASE : Contract for professional and profits of lands and tenements either for life, or for a certain period of time, or during the pleasure of the parties.
LESSEE – LESSOR : The person who conveys is termed the “ lessor ”, and the person to whom they are conveyed, the “lessee.”
LEASEHOLD : As estate in property held under the lease.
LEGAL AGE : The age at which the person acquires full capacity to make his own contracts and deeds and transact business generally. Legal age may be full or partial – a person may be of legal age for certain purposes before arriving at the age of 2 1 years – both at the common law and under the statutes. Such as age to marry.
LEGAL ASSETS : Such assets as can be reached in the hands of an executor or administrator by a suit at law against him.
LEVY : To assess; raise; execute; exact; collect; gather; take up; seize. Theirs to levy a tax – a fine. In reference to taxation the word may mean the legislative function and declaration of the subject and rate or amount of taxation.
LIABILITY : The word in a broad legal term. It has been referred to as the most comprehensive significance, including almost every character of hazard, or responsibility, absolute, contingent, or likely. Condition of being responsible for a possible or actual loss, penalty, evil, expense, or burden. An obligation that may or may not ripen into a debt.
LICENSE : A privilege or right granted by the state to operate a profession or business. A privilege to enter or remain on land by virtue of possessor’s consent, whether it be by invitation or permission.
LICENSEE : A person licensed.
LIEN : A charge, a claim, or security or incumbrance upon property usually for payment of some debt, obligation, or duty. Conditional sales contract can constitute a lien. A lien is not a property in or right to the thing itself, but constitutes a charge or security thereon. An “estate” in land is the right to the possession and enjoyment of it, while a “lien” on land is the right to have it sold or otherwise applied in satisfaction of a debt.
LIFE ESTATE : An estate or interest held during the term of some certain person’s life or some other person.
LIQUIDATE : To pay and settle. To adjust. To assemble and mobilize the assets, settle with the creditors and debtors and apportion the remaining assets if any, among stockholders or owner.
LISTING : An oral or written agreement to employ to sell or lease property, procured by a broker or auctioneer.
LISTING AGREEMENT : The contract establishing the auctioneer as agent for the property owner with the specific responsibility of selling, at auction, the property specified. Includes the fee to be paid by the seller to the auctioneer and all obligations of both parties.
LOSS : A decrease in value of resources or increase in liabilities.
LOT : A property or group of properties that may be assigned a single number in a catalog and offered at one time at the sale.
MAIL AND TELEPHONE BID : The bid submitted by an absentee bidder; his/her top price to be entered in the bidding by the auctioneer or his/her designate (often the clerk) during the sale.
MALPRACTICE : Any professional misconduct, unreasonable lack of skill or fidelity in professional or fiduciary duties, evil practice, or illegal or immoral conduct.
MANDATE : A command, order, or direction, written or oral, which court is authorized to give and person is bound to obey. A precept or order directing action to be taken or disposition to be made of.
MARK : The manufacturer or craftsman’s name or symbol that appears on items such as furniture, pottery, textiles. Items with authentic marks generally bring higher prices.
MARKET PRICE : The price at which a seller is ready and willing to sell and a buyer ready and willing to buy in the ordinary course of trade. The actual price at which a commodity is currently sold in the open market -that is not a forced sale.
MARKET VALUE : The highest price in terms of money which a property will bring in a competitive and open market under all conditions requisite to a fair sale, the buyer and seller, each acting prudently, knowledgeably and assuming the price is not affected by undue stimulus.
MARSHALING : Where a creditor has two or more funds from which to satisfy a debt, he cannot elect to deprive another individual who has but one fund of his security. Second creditor has the right in equity to compel first credit to resort to the other fund of his security. Second creditor remedies if it is necessary for satisfaction of both creditors and will not prejudice rights or interest of party entitled to double fund, do injustice to debtor, or operate inequitably on other person’s interest.
MECHANIC LIEN : A claim created by law for the purpose of securing priority of payment of the price or value of work performed and material furnished in erecting or repairing a building or other structure, and or attaches to the land as well as building or improvements erected thereon.
MEMORANDUM : An informal or formal note or instrument embodying something that the parties desire to fix in memory by the written evidence, or that is to serve as the basis of a future formal contract or deed.
MERCHANDISE : All commodities which merchants usually buy and sell, whether at wholesale or retail. The term is never understood to include real estate.
MERCHANTABLE TITLE : One that can be held without reasonable apprehension of being assailed and readily transferable in market.
MISREPRESENTATION : Any manifestation by words or conduct by one person to another that under thecircumstances, amounts to an assertion not in accordance with the facts.
MULTI-PROPERTY AUCTION : A group of properties offered through a common promotional campaign. The properties to be auctioned may be owned by one seller or multiple sellers.
MULTI-SELLER AUCTION : Properties owned by many sellers, offered through a common promotional campaign are auctioned in a single event.
MUTUAL : Common both parties. Interchangeable. Relation in which like duties or obligations are exchanged.
NEGLIGENCE : The omission to do something which a reasonable man, guided by those ordinary considerations which ordinarily regulate human affairs, would do, or the doing of something which a reasonable and prudent man would not do. Failure to exhibit case, which is to be exhibited, whether it beslight, or great. Failure to exercise due case. Negligence is not intentional conduct.
NET LISTING : A price is agreed upon, below which the seller will not sell and which price the broker or auctioneer will not receive a commission. The broker or auctioneer does not receive all proceeds excess over the prearranged price as satisfactory to seller giving the seller his required net amount or price.
NEGOTIABLE : Transferable quality – capable of being transferred by endorsement or delivery. An instrument embodying an obligation for the payment of money is called “negotiable” when the legal title to the instrument self and to the whole amount of money expressed upon its face, with the right to see therefore in his own name, may be transferred from one person to another without a formal assignment, but by mere endorsement and delivery by the holder or by delivery only.
NOTARY PUBLIC : A person or public officer whose function is to administer oaths, to attest and certify, by his hand and official seal certain classes of documents in order to give them credit and authenticity. Such notary public legal status is acquired from County and State Government. Bond is also required for a Notary Public. Note: A unilateral instrument containing an absolute promise of signer to pay to a specified person or order, or bearer, a definite sum of money at a specified time.
NOTICE -NOTIFY : Information; a written warning, advise or intent of action, to give notice to, to inform by words in writing, in person or by message, to make known. In legal proceedings, and in respect to public matters these words are generally, if not universally used as impacting a notice given by some person whose duty it was to give it in some matter prescribed.
NUISANCE : That which annoys and disturbs one in possession of his property, rendering its ordinary use or occupation physically uncomfortable to him.
OATH : Any form of attestation by which a person signifies that he is bound in conscience to perform an act faithfully and truthfully, and that the attestation or promise or pledge is made under an immediate sense of responsibility to God.
OBLIGATION : That which a person is bound to do or forbear; any duty improved by law, promise, contract, relations of society, courtesy, kindness and etc. As legal term the word originally meant a sealed Bond, but now it extends to any certain written promise to pay money or do a specific thing.
OBSOLESCENCE : Impairment of desirability and usefulness brought about by physical, economic, or other changes. A depreciation .
OCCUPANCY : Holding possession. Occupancy is never constructive, save in the sense that land may be occupied through the actual possession of another. Occupancy is not an “act” of taking or holding possession and does not necessarily include residence. Merely being “Occupant” is not foundation for title.
OCCUPY : To hold or keep for use, to possess, to do business in.
ON-SITE AUCTION : An auction conducted on the premises of the property being sold.
OPENING BID : The first bid offered by a bidder at an auction.
OPINION : A document prepared by an attorney for his client, embodying his understanding of the law as applicable to a state of facts submitted to him for that purpose. Reasons forgiving judgment.
OPTION : In Contracts. A continuing offer or contract by which owner stipulates with another that latter shall have right to buy property at fixed price within certain time, and an agreement is only a “option” when no obligation rests on party to make any payment except such as may be agreed on between parties as consideration to support option until he has made up his mind within time specified to complete purchase.
ORAL BID : Any bid made on the auction floor – whether it is spoken or signaled.
ORAL CONTRACT : One which is partly in writing and partly depends on spoken words, or none of which is in writing; one which so far as it has been reduced to writing, is incomplete or expresses only a part of what is intended, but is completed by words; or one which was originally written has afterwards been changed orally.
ORDINANCE : A rule established by authority; a law or statute, designates the enactments of the legislative body of a municipal corporation.
OWNER : The person in whom is vested the ownership, dominion, or title of property. He who has dominion of a thing, real or personal, corporate or incorporate, which he has a right to enjoy and do what he pleases, even to spoil or destroy it, as far as the law permits, unless he be prevented by some agreement or covenant which restrains his right.
PADDLE : See “bidding paddle.”
PARTIES : The persons who take part in the performance any act, or who are directly interested in any affair, contract, or conveyance, or who are actively concerned in the prosecution and defense of any legal proceeding.
PARTNERSHIP : A voluntary contract between two or more competent persons to place their money, effect, labor, skills, or some or all of them in lawful commerce or business, with the understanding that there shall be a proportional sharing of the profits and losses between them.
PARTY : A person concerned or having or taking part in any affair, matter, transaction, or proceeding, considered individually.
PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS : Most auction companies ask that you pay when you are finished bidding. Some may ask for downpayments when you register, as in auction of real estate. In many equipment auctions bid-assistants will ask for deposits as your purchases are increasing. It’s good to ask about this prior to attending so you are prepared when you arrive. For absentee bidding you may need to give a credit car and expiration date for payment, if you are successful.
PER CAPITA : By the heads or polls; according to the number of individuals: share and share alike.
PERCENT : An abbreviation of the Latin word “per centum” meaning by the hundred, or so many parts in the hundred, or so many hundredths.
PER DIEM : By the day; an allowance or amount of so much per day.
PERIOD : The approximate dates between which an item was manufactured. Periods are named for their predominant designer or for the reigning monarch of the time.
PERMANENT : Fixed, continuing, lasting, stable , enduring, abiding, not subject to change. Generally opposed to “temporary”, but no always meaning “perpetual.”
PERMIT : To suffer; allow, consent, let, to give lease or license, to acquiescence by failure to prevent, or to expressly assent or agree to the doing of an act.
PERPETUAL : Never ceasing; continuous, enduring, lasting, unlimited in respect of time; without intermission or interval.
PERSON : A person shall mean and include an individual, film, co-partnership, association, or corporation, but applied to association shall mean the partners, or members, of any partnership, limited partnership, or any form of unincorporated enterprise, owned by two (3) or more persons, and as applied to corporation shall mean the officers or directors and employees thereof. (Taken from Indiana Auctioneer’s License Act as applied to auctioneers.)
PETITION : An application made to a court or where there are no parties in opposition, praying for the exercise of the judicial powers of the court in relation to some matter which is not the subject of a suit or action, or for authority to do some act which requires the sanction of the court; or as to the appointment of a guardian, for lease to sell trust property, etc.
PHANTOM BID : A non-existent bid “acknowledged” by the auctioneer to give an illusion that encourages other bidders to raise their own bids. An improper practice that is illegal in many jurisdictions.
PIGEON : A bidder who is easily lured into bidding above his/her self-imposed “bidding limit.”
PLAINTIFF : A person who brings an action; the party who complains or sues.
POINT OF SALE : The location where the auction will take place and where signs are placed to advertise the auction.
POLICY OF INSURANCE : A mercantile instrument in writing, by which one party in consideration of a premium, engages to indemnify another against a contingent loss, by making him a payment in compensation, whenever the event shall happen by which the loss is to accrue.
POLICY – BLANKET POLICY : A policy of fire insurance which contemplates that the risk is shifting, fluctuating, or varying, and is applied to a class of property rather than to a particular article or thing.
POSSESSION : The detention and control, or the manual or ideal custody of anything, which may be the subject of property, for one’s use and enjoyment, either as owner or as the proprietor of a qualified right in it, and either held personally or by another who exercises it in one’s place and name. Act or state of possessing. That condition of facts under which one can exercise his power over a corporal thing at his pleasure to the exclusion of all other persons. Actual possession exists where the thing is in the immediate occupancy of the pasty. P
OSSESSION – ADVERSE POSSESSION : The actual, open, and notorious possession and enjoyment of real property, or of any estate lying in grant, continued for a certain length of time, held adversely and in denial and opposition to the title of another claimant, or under circumstances which indicate as assertion or color of right of title on the pact of the person maintaining it, as against another person who is out of possession.
POSSESSOR : One who possesses; one who has possession.
POWER OF ATTORNEY : To administer the person’s wishes – while he is alive.
PREMIUM, BUYER’S : The percentage added to the purchase price for the buyer to pay for the services of the auctioneer.
PRESALE EXHIBITIONS : See “exhibitions.”
PREVIEW: Be sure to take advantage of the preview times made available for you to look over the items being offered for sale. Many times, auction items are slightly used so you will want to know if there are any defects, such as loose or missing table legs, a vehicle that doesn’t start, or glassware that has chips or cracks. While these may be acceptable to you, it may affect the amount you want to bid, so look before you bid. You will feel much more confident if you do this. Also see “exhibitions.”
PRINCIPAL : The source of authority or right; chief; highest in rank; a fundamental truth or doctrine, as a law. The capital sum of a debt or obligation, as distinguished from interest or other additions to it.
PRIVILEGE : An exceptional or extraordinary power or exemption. A particular and peculiar benefit or advantage enjoyed by a person, company, or class, beyond the common advantages of other citizens.
PROBATE : Originally relating to proof; afterwards relating to the proof of wills. The act or process of proving a will. The proof before an ordinary, surrogate, register, or other duty authorized person that a document produced before him for official recognition and registration, and alleged to be the last will and testament of a certain deceased person, is such in reality. A judicial act or determination of a court having competent jurisdiction establishing the validity of a will.
PROCEEDS : Issues; income; yield; receipt; produce, money or articles or any other thing of value arising or obtained from the sale of property. The sum, amount, or value of property sold or converted into money or into other property.
PROCESS : A writ, summons, or order issued in a judicial proceeding to acquire jurisdiction of a person or his property, to expedite the cause or enforce the judgment. In a wide sense this tern may include all the acts of a court from beginning to the end of proceedings in a given case. A series of actions; motions or occurrences; progressive act or transaction; normal or actual course of procedure; as process of nature. More specifically for purpose it means the writ, summons, mandate, or other process which is used to inform defendant of the institution of proceedings against him and to compel his appearance in either civil or criminal cases.
PROFESSION : A public declaration respecting something. A vocation calling, occupation, or employment involving labor, skill, education, special knowledge and compensation or profit, but the labor and skill involved is predominantly mental and intellectual, rather than physical or manual. Persons of technical or scientific training.
PROFIT : The advance in the price of goods sold beyond the cost of purchase. The gain made by the sale of property after deducting the value of all expenses.
PROPERTY : That which is peculiar or proper to any person; in the strict legal sense, an aggregate of rights which are guaranteed and protected by the government; ownership; the unrestricted and exclusive right to a thing; that which belongs exclusively to one; the right to dispose of a thing in every legal way; to possess it, to use it, and to exclude everyone else from interfering with it. The highest right a man can have to anything; being used for that right which one has to lands, or tenements, goods, or chattels, which in no way depends on another man’s courtesy.
PROPERTY PURCHASED FOR SALES : Property purchased outright by an auctioneer to be sold later at auction.
PROVENANCE : Documentation of the history of an antique, including its origin, past ownership, prior sale or exhibition, etc.
PROXY : A person who is substituted, or deputed by another to represent him and act for him, particularly in some meeting or public body. The instrument containing the appointment of such person.
PUFFING : A price-enhancing technique that may originate with a person employed by the seller to raise the price by fictitious bids. Such is forbidden by law, and contracts resulting are void or voidable. Puffing also may simply be the auctioneer’s exaggeration about properties he is promoting.
PURCHASE : Transmission of property from one person to another by voluntary act and agreement , founded on a valuable consideration.
PURCHASER : One who acquires either real or personal property by buying it for a price in money. A buyer. Vendee.
PYRAMIDING : An unorthodox ploy that uses false absentee bids and phantom bids in succession to raise the bid several jumps between legitimate bids.
QUANTITY OPTIONS : A lot including two or more items is sold on a per unit price basis. After the price is established, the successful bidder (the buyer) may take whatever quantity He/she wishes at that price.
QUIET : To pacify; to render secure or unstable by the removal of disgusting causes or disputes. This is meaning of the word in the phrase “action to quiet title” which is a proceeding to establish the plaintiffs title to land by bringing into court an adverse claimant and there counseling him either to establish his claim or be forever after estopped from asserting it.
QUIT : To leave; remove from; surrender possession of; to receive a “notice to quit.”
RATE : Proportional or relative value, measure, or degree; the proportion or standard by which quantity or value is adjusted. Thus the rate of interest is the proportion or ratio between the principal and interest. A charge – as for public utilities; tax rate; cost to the shipper – that is the net amount the carrier receives from the shipper and retains.
REAL THINGS : Such things as are permanent, fixed and immovable, which cannot be carried out of their place – as lands and tenements. Things substantial and immovable and the rights.
RECORD : To commit to writing, to printing, to make an official of, to write, to transcribe, or enter in a book for the purpose of preserving authentic evidence of “Record” – done by a proper official and designed to remain as a memorial or permanent evidence of the matters to which it relates. Public records by a public officer.
REDEEM : To buy back – to liberate an estate or article from mortgage or pledge by paying the debt for which it stood or security. To redeem one’s lands from a tax sale. To repurchase in a literal sense.
REGROUP : A process used in real estate auctions where a bidder has the opportunity to combine several parcels of land previously selected by other bidders, thereby creating one larger parcel out of several smaller parcels. This process is often used in conjunction with bidder’s choice.
RELEASE : The relinquishment, concession, or giving up of a right, claim, or privilege, by the person in whom it exists, or to who111 it accrues, to the person against whom it might have been demanded or enforced. Selling free. The release or discharge of a debt. Deed of release.
RENT : Consideration paid for the use or occupation of property.
RESALE NUMBER : A number issued to dealers who buy merchandise at auction to resell; holders of resale numbers are exempt from paying sales tax on such purchases at auction.
RESERVE : The minimum price that a seller is willing to accept for a property sold at auction. Sales “with reserve” are advertised or announced as such in advance of the auction or bidding.
RESERVE AUCTION : An auction in which the seller reserves the right to establish a reserve price, to accept or decline any and all bids or to withdraw the property at any time prior to the announcement of the completion of the sale by the auctioneer. See also Auction with Reserve.
RESOLUTION : A formal expression of the opinion or will of an official body or public assembly, adopted by vote.
RESTRICTION : To limit; to restrain within bounds, to confirm; a device in a deed, for controlling the use of property conveyed.
REVERSION OR ESTATE IN REVERSION : The estate left in the grantor during the continuance of a particular estate and also the residue left in grantor or his heirs after termination of particular estate. Differs from remainder in that it arises by the act of the law and remainder is by act of the parties.
RIGHT : An interest or title in an object of property; a just and legal claim to hold, use or enjoy it, or to convey it as he may please, or to receive fro111 others, all within the limits prescribed by law.
RIGHT OF REDEMPTION : The light to disencumber property or free it from a claim or lien. As to free property from the incumbrance of a foreclosure or other judicial sale, or to recover the title passing thereby, by paying what is done, with interest, costs, etc. This is specifically the right granted by statute only. Not to be confounded with the “equity of redemption” which exists independently of statute but must be exercised before sale.
RINGMAN : A person accepting bids from the crowd for the auctioneer
RINGMEN : Employees of the auctioneer who are usually positioned through the crowd of bidders on the “auction floor” to help the auctioneer spot bidders and to help control and influence the crowd. Ringmen often wear special attire (caps, vests, etc.) so they can be identified easily.
RINGS : Groups of bidders, who agree among themselves not to bid against each other, then later divide among themselves the properties they have purchased cooperatively. A practice that is of questionable legality and may lead to the auctioneer’s stopping the bidding.
RULE : An established standard, guide, or regulation, a principle or regulation set up by authority – as the authority a court, company, public office, of ethics. A regulation made by a court of justice or public office with reference to the conduct of business there in.
RUNNER : An auction company employee who delivers lots (purchased merchandise) to successful bidders, runs errands, and relay bids to the auctioneer.
RUNNING BIDS : The unethical practice of raising bids through the use of price-enhancing tactics, such as phantom bids.
RUN-UP : Inducing the bidder to bid more than his self-imposed bidding limit through false stimulation of bidding competition, such as non-existent absentee bids.
SALE : A contract between two parties, called respectively, the “seller” (or vendor) and the “buyer” (or purchaser) by which the former, in consideration of the payment or promise of payment of a certain price in money, transfer to the latter the title and possession of the property. Sale consists of two separate and distinct elements. First the contract of sale which is completed when offer is made and accepted (as in an auction) and second, delivery of the property which may precede , be accompanied by, or follow, payment of price as may have been agreed on between the parties. Sales can be absolute or conditional.
SALE COST : The expenses paid by the seller for services and supplies related to the auction. Usually includes advertising, photography, insurance, and transportation.
SALE MANAGER : The person designated by the auction company who is responsible for organizing the details of an auction. Also known as project manager.
SALES TAX : The state or local tax based on a percentage of the purchase price. Dealers who hold resale numbers usually are exempt from sales tax.
SALES TAX EXEMPTION : The need to provide a tax exemption certificate will vary from state to state in the U.S. If you are a dealer, call to ask what will be needed. If you have a dealer number for tax exemption purposes, carry it with you when you attend auctions.
SALTING : Increasing interest in a box lot of merchandise b y adding to it one or more items of higher quality. Also, when a prospective buyer moves one item from a box lot and places it in another.
SEALED BID : A method of sale utilized where confidential bids are submitted to be opened at a predetermined place and time. Not a true auction in that it does not allow for reaction from the competitive market place.
SECONDARY OR RE-AUCTION : The procedure used by members of a ring to redistribute among themselves the collection of items they have bought as a group.
SEIZURE : To take possession of forcibly, to grasp, or to put in possession. The act performed by an officer of the law, under the authority and esigence of a writ, in taking into the custody of the law the property, real or personal, of a person against whom the judgment of a competent court has passed, condemning him to pay a certain sun1 of money, in order that such property may be sold, by authority and due course of law, to satisfy the judgment. Seizure even though hostile, is not necessarily capture, though such is usual and probable result.
SELL : To dispose of property.
SELLER : Entity that has legal possession, (ownership) of any interests, benefits or rights inherent to the real or personal property. One who sells anything.
SERVICE : Has a variety of meanings, depending upon the context or sense in which it is used. The being employed to serve another; duty or labor to be rendered by one person to another, the former being bound to submit his will to the direction and control of the latter. “Constructive Service of Process” – any form of service other than actual personal service – Notification of an action or proceeding therein, given to a person affected by sending it to him in the mails, personal service, or newspaper service. The exhibition or delivery of a writ, notice, injunction, etc., by an authorized person, to a person who is thereby officially notified of some action or proceeding in which he is concerned, and is thereby advised or warned of some action or step which he is commanded to take or to forbear.
SETTLE : Parties are said to settle an account when they go over its items and ascertain and agree upon the balance due from one to another.
SETTLEMENT : Settle; an agreement by which parties having disputed matters between them reach or ascertain what is coming from one to another; determination by agreement; agreeable arrangement of difficulties.
SHILL : An employee of the auctioneer or auction house who bids against legitimate bidders to run-up the price.
SILENT AUCTION : A procedure often used at charity or benefit auctions. Prospective bidders write in their bids on sheets bearing the numbers of the respective items. Each bid must be higher than the one before it. Often used for lower quality merchandise.
SIMULTANEOUS BIDDING : A method used in Japan, now made easier through the use of electronic equipment. All bidders register the prices they will pay at the same time.
SPECIALIZED SALE : A sale devoted to one type of collected object, such as coins, dolls, guns.
SPECIFIC : Specific performance – a remedy in a court of equity compelling a person to carry out the terms of the agreement or contract, which was executed.
SPOTTERS : Auction company employees who assist the auctioneer by observing bids and relaying them to him/her.
STATUTORY : Relating to a statute; created or defined by statute; required by statute; conforming to a statute.
STOCK : In mercantile law, the goods and wares of a merchant or tradesman kept for sale and traffic.
STYLE : Primarily used to describe furniture that did not originate in a given period but that has design characteristics of that period.
SUBJECT TO CONFIRMATION : See RESERVE AUCTION. SUBLETTING : A leasing by lessee of a whole or part of premises during a portion of unexpired balance of his terms.
SUBROGATION : The substitution of one person in the place of another with reference to a lawful claim, demand, or right, so that he who is substituted succeeds to the rights of the other in relation to the debt or claim with its rights, remedies, or securities. The principle which lies at the bottom of the doctrine is that the person seeking it must have paid the debt under gave necessity to save himself loss. The right is never accorded to a volunteer. It is also said that its elements are: (1) that party claiming it shall have paid debt. (2)that he was not a volunteer, but had a direct interest in discharge of debt or lien. (3) that he was secondarily liable for debt or discharge of lien. (4) that no injustice would be done to the other party be allowance of the equity. Subrogation is of two kinds – either conventional or legal; the former being where the subrogation is express, by the acts of the creditor and the third person; the latter being (as in the case of sureties) where the subrogation is effected or implied by the operation of the law.
SUIT : A generic tern, of comprehensive significantion , and applies to any proceeding by one person or persons against another or others in a court of justice, in which the plaintiff pursues, in such court, the remedy which the law affords him for redress of an injury, or the enforcement of a right, whether at law or in equity.
SUMMONS : A writ, directed to the sheriff or other proper officer, requiring him to notify the person named that an action has been commenced against him in the court whence the writ issues, and that he is required to appear, on a named day, and answer the complaint in such action. Under code procedure a summons is not a process, but is a notice to defendant that an action against him has been commenced and that judgment will be taken against him if he fails to answer the complaint.
SURETY : One who undertakes to pay money or to do any other act in event that his principle fails therein. Everyone who incurs a liability in person or estate for the benefit of another, without sharing in the consideration, stands in the position of a “surety” whatever may be form of his obligation.
SWORN : Frequently used interchangeable with “verified”
SYNDICATE : An organization of all French auctioneers that functions as a professional society and as a mutual aid society.
TAX : In a general sense, any contribution imposed by government upon individual, for the use and service of the state, whether under the name of toll tribute, tallage , gabel , import, duty, custom, excise, subsidy, aid, supply or other name. In its broad sense includes assessments.
TAX SALE : Public sale of property at auction by governmental authority, due to nonpayment of property taxes.
TENANCY : The estate of a tenant.
JOINT TENANCY : The grand incident of joint tenancy is survivorship, by which the entire tenancy on the decease of any joint tenant remains to the survivors, and at length to the last survivor.
TENANCY BY THE ENTIRETY : Is created by a conveyance to husband and wife, whereupon each becomes seized and possessed of the entire estate and after the death of one the survivor takes the whole. SEVERAL
TENANCY : A tenancy which is separate and not held jointly with another person.
TENANTS IN COMMON : Where property is held by several and distinct titles by unity of possession. neither knowing his own severally, and therefore they all occupy promiscuously. The holding of an estate in land by different persons under different titles, but there must be unity of possession and each must have right to occupy the whole in common with his cotenants.
TENANT : In the broad sense, one who holds or possesses lands or tenement by any kind of right or title, whether in fee, for life, for years, at will, or otherwise. In a more restricted sense, one who holds land of another – one who has temporary use and occupation of real property owned by another person. The duration and terms of his tenancy being usually fixed by an instrument called a lease.
TENANT RIGHT : May be described as a right on the tenant to sell his holding or continue or renew his lease, according to his lease with landlord.
TENEMENT : Everything of a permanent nature which may be held; is not only applicable to lands and other solid object, but also to offices, rents, commons, franchises, etc.
TENERE : To retain; to hold; to have in possession. In relation to the doctrine of possession, this term expresses merely the fact of manual detention, or the corporal possession of any object, without involving the quest of title.
TEN-TEN SYSTEM : The commission system originated in Europe and now in use in the U.S. by which both the seller and the buyer pay the auctioneer a 10% commission, based on the purchase price.
TENURE : In its general sense, a mode of holding or occupying. Thus we speak of the tenure of office, meaning the manner which it is held; especially with regard to time, (tenure for life-tenure during good behavior), and tenure of land in the sense of occupation or tenancy, especially with reference to cultivation and questions of political economy.
TERM : A fixed period, a determined or prescribed duration.
TERMS : The period of time that an agreement is in effect.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS : ”Terms and Conditions” are something you will likely see at every auction you attend. They will vary a according to the type of commodity being sold and the auction company. What we are showing you here are some things that are typical and that you should know. Please be sure to check the Web site or on-site glossary for each individual auction.
TIE BIDS : When two buyers bid exactly the same amount at the same time. Resolved by the auctioneer who may try to get one bidder to move higher or re-auction the property.
TIME-INTERVAL AUCTION : A method that allows bidders a reasonable period of time to consider their bids. Used more commonly in foreign auctions with clocks, bells or candles signaling the end of the time period.
TITLE : The radical meaning of the word appears to be that of a mark, style, or designation. Rear property law – title is the means whereby the owner of lands has just possession of his property. The union of all elements which constitute ownership. Title may be defined generally to be the evidence of right which a person has to the possession of property. The word title certainly does not merely signify the right which a person has to the possession of property; because there are many instances in which a person may have the right to the possession of property, and at the same time have no title to the same. Absolute title as title applied to land, an exclusion title, or at least a title that excludes all others not compatible with it. An absolute title cannot exist at the same time with different persons or in different governments.
CLEAR TITLE : Meaning the land is free from incumbrances .
GOOD TITLE : Being one free from litigation, defects and gave doubts, comprising both legal and equitable titles and fairly deducible of record.
MERCHANTABLE TITLE : Marketable title.
TOUCIH-OF-HANDS BIDDING : The sale is to the bidder who is highest when each of the assembled buyers has had a chance to indicate his bid by shaking the auctioneer’s hand.
TRACK RECORD : Past auction sales records for works of a given manufacturer or craftsman.
TROTTING : A price-enhancing technique used by the auctioneer who has no bid or fewer and lower bids than he/she wants. He/she pretends that he/she has other bids to stimulate the bidding by legitimate bidders. An illegal procedure.
TRUST : A right of property, real or personal, held by one party for the benefit of another. There are many kinds of trusts. An obligation on a person arising out of confidence reposed in him to apply property faithfully and according to such trust. Trust companies. Trust deed. Trust deposit – where money or property is deposited to be kept intact and not commingled with other funds or property of bank and is to be returned in kind to depositor or devoted to particular purpose or requirement of depositor.
TRUSTEE’S SALE : A sale at auction by a trustee.
TYPES OF PAYMENT ACCEPTED : This can range from cash only to cashier’s checks or personal checks and credit/debit cards. Many times you will need a positive ID such as a driver’s license or other government ID when you register for the first time.
UNMARKETABLE : It being sufficient to render it so if ordinary prudent man with knowledge of the facts and aware of legal questions involved would not accept it in the ordinary course of business, but title need not be bad in fact.
UPSET PRICE : Commonly known as the reserve price.
USURY : An illegal contract for a loan or forbearance of money, goods, or things in action, by which illegal interest is reserved, or agreed to be reserved to taken. Usury does not depend or question whether the lender actually gets more than the legal rate of interest or not; but on whether was a purpose in his mind to make more than legal interest for the use of money, and whether by terms of the transaction, and the means used to effect the loan, he may by its enforcement be enabled to get more than the legal rate. Usury arises between borrower and lender.
VALID : Having legal strength or force, executed with proper formalities, capable of being rightfully overthrown or set aside.
VALUABLE : Of considerable worth in any respect; commanding or worth a good price.
VALUATION : The act of ascertaining the worth of a thing. The estimated worth of a thing.
VALUE : The utility of an object in satisfying, directly or indirectly, the needs or desires of Human beings, called by economists “value in use”; or its worth consisting in the power of purchasing other objects, called value in exchange. Any consideration sufficient to support a simple contract.
MARKET VALUE : Fair value of property as between one who wants to purchase it and another who desires to sell it – neither by force.
VENDEE : A purchaser or buyer; one to whom anything is sold.
VENDOR : The person who transfers property by sale – the seller; one who negotiates the sale, and becomes the recipient of the consideration. Title can come to the Vendee from another source and not the Vendor.
VERDICT : The formal and unanimous decision or finding made by a jury impaneled and sworn for the trial of a cause and reported to the court (and accepted by it) upon the matters or questions duly submitted to them upon the trial.
VERIFY : To confirm or substantiate by oath; to prove to be true; to affirm; establish the authenticity of.
VESTED : Fixed; accrued; absolute; not contingent. Having the character or giving the rights of absolute ownership; not subject to be defeated by a condition precedent.
VOID : Null; ineffectual; having no legal terse or binding effect; unable; in law to support the purpose for which it was intended.
VOLUNTARY : Unconstrained by interference; unimpelled by another’s influence; acting of oneself.
VOUCHEE : In common recoveries; the person who is called to warrant or defend the title is called the vouchee.
VOUCHER : A receipt, acquittance , or release which may serve as evidence of payment or discharge a debt, or to certify to the correctness of accounts.
VOUCHER TO WARRANTY : The calling one who has warranted lands, by the party warranted, to come and defend the suit for him. Also to vouch for someone – as to their whereabouts or creditability for a purpose.
WAIVER : The intentional or voluntary relinquishment of a known right. The renunciation, repudiation, abandonment, or surrender of some claim, right, privilege, or of the opportunity to take advantage of some defect, irregularity, or wrong.
WARRANT : In contracts – to engage or promise that a certain fact or state of facts, in relation to the subject matter, is, or shall be, as it is represented to be, in conveyancing – to assure that title to property sold, by an express covenant to that effect in the deed or conveyance. To stipulate by an express covenant that the title of a grantee shall be good, and his possession undisturbed.
WARRANT : A writ or precept from a competent authority in pursuance of law. Particularly a writ or precept issued by a magistrate, justice, or other competent authority, addressed to a sheriff, constable, or other officer, requiring him to arrest the body of a person therein named, and bring him to the court, to answer, or be examined, touching some offense which he is charged with having committed.
WARRANTY : A promise that a proposition of fact is true. To give a warrant.
WILL : The legal expression or declaration of a person’s mind or wishes as to the disposition of his property to be performed or take effect after his death. A “will” is not a sheet of paper, nor a number of sheets or pages, but consists of the words written thereon. To constitute “will , ” intention must appear that writer by document itself intended to make disposition of property effective only after death.
WITHDRAWL : Failure to reach the reserve price or insufficient bidding.
WITHDRAWN : The removal of lots from an auction due to damage, specifications from the seller, failure to reach the reserve price, or insufficient bidding.
WORLD RECORD PRICE : The top gallery or auction company price obtained for works of a particular artist or distinctive objects.
WRIT : A mandatory precept issuing from court of justice. A precept in writing, couched in the form of a letter, running in the name of the president, or state, issuing from a court of justice, and sealed with its seal, addressed to a sheriff or other officer of law, or directly to the person whose action the court desires to command, either as the commencement of a suit or other proceedings or as incidental to its progress, and requiring the performance of a specified act, or giving authority and commission to have it done.
X : In the written terminology of various acts and trades, where two or more dimensions of the same piece or article are to be stated this letter is a well known symbol equivalent to the word “by”. Thus the formulas “3 x 5 in.” will be understood.
YEARLING : A young animal past its first year and not yet two years old.
YIELD : Upon investment; proportionate rate which the income upon an investment bears to the total cost; in real property – to perform a service due to tenant to his landlord.