Maywood Municipal Code Ch. 7 Fire and Closing-Out Sales

For the purposes of this chapter, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases used in this chapter are defined as follows:

(a) "Advertise", "advertisement", "advertising", "publish", and "publication" shall mean any and all means, whether oral, written, lettered, or printed, used for conveying to the public notice of the conduct of a sale as defined in subsection (e) of this section, or notice of intention to conduct such a sale, including, but not limited to, oral or written announcements by proclamation or outcry, newspaper advertisements, magazine advertisements, handbills, written or printed notices, printed displays, billboard displays, posters, and radio announcements.

(b) "Inspector" shall mean an inspector appointed by or authorized by the Council.

(c) "Permit" shall mean a permit issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

(d) "Permittee" shall mean any person to whom a permit has been issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

(e) "Sale" shall mean:

(1) Any sale of, or any offer to sell to the public, or any group thereof, goods, wares, or merchandise on order, in transit, or in stock in connection with a declared purpose as set forth by advertising that such sale is anticipatory to, or to avoid, the termination, liquidation, revision, windup, discontinuance, removal, dissolution, or abandon-ment of the business or that portion of the business conducted at any location;

(2) Any sale advertised in any manner calculated to convey to the public the belief that, upon the disposal of the goods to be placed on sale, the business, or that portion thereof, being conducted at any location will cease, be removed, be interrupted, or be discontinued or changed;

(3) Any sale advertised to be an "Adjuster's Sale", "Adjustment Sale", "Assignee's Sale", "Bankrupt Sale", "Benefit of Trustees Sale", "Benefit of Administrators Sale", "Benefit of Creditors Sale", "Building Coming Down Sale", "Closing Sale", "Closing-Out Sale", "Creditors' Committee Sale", "Damaged Goods Sale", "End Sale", "Executors Sale", "Final Days Sale", "Fire Sale", "Forced Out Sale", "Forced Out of Business Sale", "Insolvent Sale", "Insurance Salvage Sale", "Last Days Sale", "Lease Expires Sale", "Lease Expiring Sale", "Liquidation Sale", "Loss of Lease Sale", "Mortgage Sale", "Outselling Sale", "Receiver's Sale", "Removal Sale", "Reorganization Sale", "Salvage Sale", "Selling Out Sale", "Smoke Sale", "Smoke and Water Sale", "Trustee's Sale", "Quitting Business Sale", "Wholesale Closing-Out Sale", "We Quit Sale", "We Give Up Sale", "Fixtures for Sale", or advertised by any other expression or characterization closely similar to any of the foregoing and calculated to convey the same meaning;

(4) Any sale advertised in a manner calculated to indicate that the goods, wares, or merchandise to be sold, or any part thereof, has been involved in any business failure or has been derived from a business which has failed, been closed, discontinued, or liquidated;

(5) Any sale accompanied by notices or advertising indicating that the premises are available for purchase or lease or are otherwise to be vacated; and

(6) Any sale accompanied by advertising indicating a business emergency or failure affecting the seller or any previous holder of the goods to be disposed.

(§ 1, Ord. 503)

No person shall publish or conduct any sale, as defined in subsection (e) of Section 5-7.01 of this chapter, without first obtaining a permit therefor from the Council in the manner provided in this chapter.

(§ 2, Ord. 503)

No permit to conduct a sale, as defined in subsection (e) of Section 5-7.01 of this chapter, shall be granted except upon a written application to the Council, signed and verified before a person authorized to administer oaths by the person who intends to conduct such sale, and each application shall set forth and contain the following information:

(a) The description by street location and the kind of building or the location at which such sale is to be held;

(b) The nature of the occupancy, whether by ownership, lease, or sublease and, if by lease or sublease, the effective date of the termination of such tenancy;

(c) A copy of all advertisements proposed to be used in connection with such sale and a statement of the means or methods of advertising to be used in advertising such sale;

(d) The facts in regard to the insurance, bankruptcy, insolvency, assignment, mortgage, foreclosure, administration, receivership, trusteeship removal, executorship removal, or other cause advertised to be the reason for the proposed sale; and

(e) An inventory or statement, in such form and in such detail as the Council may require, setting forth the amount and description of the goods, wares, and merchandise to be sold at such sale and, when required by the Council, the date of the acquisition of such goods, wares, or merchandise, the persons from whom obtained, and the place from which such goods were last taken.

The Council may require that all goods, wares, and merchandise listed upon the inventory or statement shall be so described in detail by the manufacturer's name and lot number, the individual number of articles so numbered, and the colors, sizes, and otherwise that the identity of such goods with the goods listed on such inventory can be readily determined.

(§ 3, Ord. 503)

No application for any such permit shall be accepted by the Council for filing unless accompanied by a filing fee in the amount of Two Hundred and no/100ths ($200.00) Dollars, no part of which shall be refundable; provided, however, in the event the applicant has been in business in the City for two (2) or more years continuously preceding the date of the application, and the applicant submits satisfactory proof to the City Clerk or such other official as may be designated by the Council that the applicant has lost his lease or is actually going to close, terminate, or remove his business from the City, no application fee shall be necessary for the issuance of such permit which shall be valid for a period of not to exceed sixty (60) days.

(§ 3, Ord. 503, as amended by § 1, Ord. 515, and § 2, Ord. 78-171, eff. June 27, 1978)

Upon the filing of the application, the Council may make or cause to be made an examination, audit, or investigation of the applicant and his affairs in relation to the proposed sale.

(§ 3, Ord. 503)

If the Council finds the statements in the application are true, that the inventory is complete, that the advertising set forth is not false, fraudulent, deceptive, or misleading in any respect, and that the methods to be used by the applicant in conducting the sale are not such as, in the opinion of the Council, will work a fraud upon the purchasers, the Council shall issue to the applicant a permit to conduct such sale in accordance with the provisions of this chapter; otherwise the Council shall deny the application and refuse such permit. The Council may refuse a permit because of the insufficiency of the information set forth in the application, but in such event the Council shall grant the applicant permission to file an amended application.

No application, however, shall be denied unless an opportunity for a hearing has been given the applicant by ten (10) days' notice in writing, personally served on the applicant or mailed to the applicant's place of business as set forth in such application in the manner prescribed by the Code of Civil Procedure of the State for the service of civil pleadings after a complaint is served.

(§ 3, Ord. 503)

Any permit issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall authorize the one type of sale named in the application at the place named therein for a period of not more than sixty (60) calendar days. The goods involved in the sale throughout the duration of the sale shall be definitely separated from any other goods displayed at or within the store or place of business. All advertising, signs, or notices referring to or calling attention to the sale shall be confined to the display of the goods involved in the sale; provided, however, the Council may, upon a verified application therefor, renew such permit for a period of not to exceed thirty (30) days upon the payment of a renewal fee in the amount of Fifty and no/100ths ($50.00) Dollars. Such verified petition for renewal shall set forth a complete list of the goods listed in the original application and remaining unsold and shall not contain any goods, wares, or merchandise not named in such original application. Upon receipt of such application for renewal, the Council shall cause an investigation to be made at once and, if satisfied of the truth of the statements therein contained, the Council shall grant such renewal, which shall be endorsed and signed as provided for the original permit. The Council may renew any original permit in the manner provided in this section not to exceed two (2) times upon the payment of the sum of Fifty and no/100ths ($50.00) Dollars for each such renewal; provided, however, the Council may not issue permits or renewals which will allow the conduct of any such sale at any one location for more than 120 calendar days in any one twelve (12) month period.

(§ 4, Ord. 503)

The Council shall have the power to revoke at any time any permit granted pursuant to the provisions of this chapter for the following reasons:

(a) Whenever any such sale or special sale is being conducted in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter or in such a manner as to deceive or defraud the public;

(b) The permittee has made any material misstatement in the application for such permit;

(c) The permittee has been guilty of any fraudulent practices in the conduct of the sale authorized by such permit;

(d) The permittee has failed to include in the inventory required by the provisions of this chapter the goods, wares, or merchandise required to be contained in such inventory;

(e) The permittee has added, caused to be added, or permitted to be added any goods, wares, or merchandise not described in the original inventory; or

(f) The permittee has violated any of the provisions of this chapter or the laws pertaining to advertising.

No permit shall be revoked for any cause set forth in this section until a written complaint has first been filed with the Council setting forth in ordinary, concise language the charge made against the permittee. Such complaint shall be verified by the oath of the person making the charge, such verification to be in the form prescribed by the Code of Civil Procedure of the State for verified pleadings in civil actions. The service of such complaint and the notice of hearing shall be in the form and manner prescribed by said Code of Civil Procedure for the service of complaints and notices.

(§ 6, Ord. 503)

Such permit shall be valid only for the advertising, representation, and sale of the particular goods, wares, or merchandise described in the original application therefor and at the particular time and particular place stated therein and by the particular applicant, and any renewal, replenishment, or substitution of such goods, wares, or merchandise or change of such time or place of such sale or change of person conducting the sale shall be unlawful and shall render such permit void. No person in contemplation of conducting any such sale or special sale or during the continuance of such sale shall order any goods, wares, or merchandise for the purpose of selling it at such sale, and any unusual purchase or additions to the stock of such goods, wares, or merchandise within sixty (60) days before the filing of such application for a license to conduct such sale shall be presumptive evidence that such purchase or additions were made in contemplation of such sale and for the purpose of selling them at such sale.

Each sale of goods, wares, or merchandise which was not inventoried and described in the original application shall constitute a separate offense under this section.

(§ 5, Ord. 503)

Any removal of any goods, wares, or merchandise inventoried and described in the original application form from the place of sale mentioned in such application shall cause such goods to lose their identity as the stock of any of the sales defined in Section 5-7.01 of this chapter, and no permit thereafter shall be issued for the conducting of a sale of any such goods, wares, or merchandise in such a manner as to identify it with the store, store name, store owner, or location referred to in the original application.

(§ 7, Ord. 503)

Upon the commencement and throughout the duration of any sale, as defined in Section 5-7.01 of this chapter, the permit issued by the Council shall be prominently displayed near the entrance to the premises. A duplicate original of the application and stock list pursuant to which such permit was issued shall at all times be available to the Council or to its inspector and investigators, and the permittee shall permit such inspector and investigators to examine all merchandise in the premises for comparison with such stock list.

(§ 8, Ord. 503)

Suitable books and records shall be kept by the permittee and shall at all times be available to the inspector and investigators. At the close of business each day the stock list attached to the application shall be revised, and those items disposed of during such day shall be so marked thereon.

(§ 9, Ord. 503)

The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to or affect the following:

(a) Persons acting pursuant to an order or process of a court of competent jurisdiction;

(b) Persons acting in accordance with their powers and duties as public officers, such as sheriffs and marshals; and

(c) Any publisher of a newspaper, magazine, or other publication who publishes any such advertisement in good faith without knowledge of its false, deceptive, or misleading character or without knowledge that the provisions of this chapter have not been complied with.

(§ 10, Ord. 503)