When rogue auctioneers strike

Kenya: There are legal remedies for property owners who suffer the wrath of rogue auctioneers.

In some instances, auctioneers who are not licensed in line with the Auctioneers Act invade commercial or residential buildings and forcefully evict property owners.

There are also investors who have had this done to them despite having court orders stopping the process.

Nearly a decade ago, there was uproar when a man lost his life when auctioneers allegedly stormed his house to evict him forcefully.

It is also not new for some of the evictors to throw out property owners over alleged unpaid debts without following required legal procedures.

Interestingly, some auctioneers and their agents meet resistance from property owners who engage hirelings to guard their property from being repossessed or attached.

Scenes in some estates have turned ugly as hired youth armed with crude weapons attack the auctioneers who may be licensed and acting in line with the law.

Many argue that they mistook the licensed officers for thugs.

And they are not entirely to blame. There have been instances of gangs terrorising people as they masquerade as duly licensed auctioneers on legitimate business.

A number of  licensed auctioneers can also be blamed in such cases for failure to wear their identification cards as required by law while on duty. Perhaps, the most disheartening experience is when the property is sold at the fall of the hammer for less than half its original price.

Courts often order public sales when property owners default on payments thus incurring debts they can no longer pay.

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The date, time and place of every sale by auction must be advertised in the media, according to law.

Public sales have rules like those that forbid auctioneers to bid either personally or as an agent of another person.

While auctions are a bitter pill for investors whose properties are attached or repossessed, they are a blessing to others.

Prospective investors who want to acquire property on the cheap peruse newspapers for advertisements from auctioneers on public sales.

However, property owners have legal remedies against auctioneers who act unprofessionally.

 

Complaints can be made to the Auctioneers Board which hears disciplinary cases involving auctioneers who breach the law in line of duty. The disciplinary sessions are held bi-monthly.

The main mandate of the Auctioneers’ Board is to exercise general supervision over the business of auctioneers.

The board also holds interviews for new applicants seeking an auctioneer’s license in line with the Auctioneer Act of 1996.

Section 24 of the Act provides the board with procedures of instituting action against auctioneers who do not comply with the law.

Affected investors can forward grievances against auctioneers to the board by filing a complaint affidavit to the Auctioneer Registry, located at Milimani Law Courts, Nairobi.

For property owners who have been victims of rogue auctioneers, the law prohibits unlicensed auctioneers and the penalty is a fine not exceeding Sh100,000, imprisonment of not more than two years or both.

— The writer is an advocate of the High Court

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