Mountain View Municipal Code Art. I Closing Out Sales

For the purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:

Advertise, advertisement, publish, publication. "Advertise," "advertisement," "advertising," "publish," "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 herein or notice of intention to conduct such sale, including but not limited to oral or written announcements by proclamation or outcry, newspaper advertisement, magazine advertisement, handbill, written or printed display, poster and radio announcement.

Permit. "Permit" shall mean a permit issued pursuant to this article.

Permittee. "Permittee" shall mean any person to whom a permit has been issued pursuant to this article.

Sale. 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 the 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 abandonment, of the business or that of the business conducted at any location; and all sales advertised to be "adjuster's sale," "adjustment sale," "assignee's sale," "bankrupt sale," "benefit of administrator's sale," "benefit of creditors' sale," "benefit of trustees' sale," "building coming down sale," "closing out sale," "creditors' committee sale," "creditors' sale," "damaged goods sale," "end sale," "executor's sale," "final days sale," "fire sale," "forced out sale," "forced out of business sale," "insolvent sale," "insurance salvage sale," "liquidation sale," "loss of lease sale," "mortgage sale," "outselling sale," "receiver's 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 similar to any of the foregoing and calculated to convey the same meaning; and all sales advertised in a manner calculated to indicate that the goods, wares or merchandise to be sold, or any part thereof have been involved in any business failure, or have been derived from a business which has failed, been closed, discontinued, or liquidated; and all sales accompanied by notices or advertising indicating that the premises are available for purchase or lease, or are otherwise to be vacated; and all sales accompanied by advertising indicating a business emergency or failure affecting the seller or any previous holder of the goods to be disposed of.

(Ord. No. 175.411, 4/8/57.)

No person shall hereafter publish or conduct any sale of the type herein defined without first obtaining a permit therefor from the chief of police of the city in the manner hereinafter provided in this article.

(Ord. No. 175.411, 4/8/57.)

Any permit issued under the provisions of this article, except as otherwise hereinafter provided in Sec. 6.6, 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 and shall permit the sale of goods only which are set out in the application, all of which goods throughout the duration of the sale must be definitely separated from any other goods displayed at, or within the store or place of business and all advertising, signs, or notices referring to, or calling attention to the sale, must be confined to the display, or displays, of goods involved in the sale; provided, however, that the chief of police may, upon a verified application therefor, renew the permit for a period of not to exceed thirty (30) calendar days, upon the payment of a renewal fee in the amount of fifteen (15) dollars. Such verified petition for renewal shall set forth a complete list of 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 chief of police shall cause an investigation to be made at once, and if satisfied of the truth of the statements therein contained, the chief of police may grant such renewal, which shall be endorsed and signed as provided for in the original permit. The chief of police may renew any original permit in the manner above provided not to exceed two (2) times, upon the payment of the sum of fifteen (15) dollars for each such renewal; provided, however, that the chief of police may not issue permits or renewals which will allow the conduct of any sale, or sales, of any kind or kinds, named in this article at any one location for more than one hundred twenty (120) calendar days in any one (1) twelve-month period.

(Ord. No. 175.411, 4/8/57.)

The permit required by Sec. 6.2 shall be valid only for the advertising, representation and sale of the particular goods, wares or merchandise described in the original application thereof, 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 for such sale, or change of person conducting the sale, shall be unlawful and shall render such permit void.

(Ord. No. 175.411, 4/8/57.)

No permit to conduct a sale as defined in this article shall be granted except upon written application to the chief of police, 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 the following information:

(1) Description, by street location, and kind of building, of the location at which the sale is to be held.

(2) 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.

(3) 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.

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

(5) A detailed inventory or statement setting forth the amount and description of goods, wares and merchandise to be sold at such sale, and, when required by the chief of police, the date of acquisition of such goods, wares or merchandise, and the persons from whom obtained, and the place from which such goods were last taken.

(6) A statement as to the length of time, immediately preceding the date of the application, that such person has conducted the same business at the same fixed place within the city.

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

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

(Ord. No. 175.411, 4/8/57.)

The chief of police shall refuse an application in every case where, in the exercise of his sole discretion, he concludes that the ownership of the business with respect to which the application is submitted is the same or substantially the same as the ownership of a similar business located on the same premises with respect to which a permit had been granted under the provisions of this article within a period of five (5) years prior to the submission of the instant application. In determining whether the ownership of the said business is the same or substantially the same as that of the previous business, the chief of police shall be concerned with the identity of the respective principals and their relationship to each other rather than with the form of the respective business associations, and in determining whether the said business is similar to the previous business, the chief of police shall be concerned with their respective characters rather than their respective names or designations.

(Ord. No. 7.66, 2/14/66.)

No application for any such permit shall be accepted by the chief of police for filing unless accompanied by a filing fee in the amount of fifty (50) dollars, no part of which fee shall be refundable except that when an application for a permit to conduct a sale anticipatory to the actual and complete liquidation and termination of an entire business at one particular location is filed by a person who has conducted the same business at the same location in the city for a period of at least two (2) years immediately preceding the date of the application and if the chief of police is satisfied otherwise that all the conditions and requirements of this article are or will be complied with in accordance with the provisions hereof, the chief of police may accept such application for filing when accompanied by a filing fee in the amount of two (2) dollars, no part of which shall be refundable.

(Ord. No. 175.411, 4/8/57; Ord. No. 7.66, 2/14/66.)

If the chief of police finds that 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 will work a fraud upon the purchaser, the chief of police shall issue to the applicant a permit to conduct such sale in accordance with the provisions of this article; otherwise, the chief of police shall deny the application and refuse the permit. The chief of police may refuse a permit because of the insufficiency of the information set forth in the application, but in such event the chief of police shall grant the applicant permission to file an amended application.

(Ord. No. 175.411, 4/8/57.)

Each permit issued under the provisions of this article shall have printed, written or stamped on the face thereof, the following:

"This permit is granted by the Chief of Police of the City of Mountain View, and accepted by the Permittee upon the condition that such Permittee comply with and abide by all the provisions of Chapter 6, Article 1 of the Mountain View Code."

With a line thereunder for signature by the permittee and a witness.

At the time of the delivery of the permit, such statement must be signed by the permittee in the presence of an officer of the city, who shall sign as a witness.

(Ord. No. 175.411, 4/8/57.)

Upon commencement and throughout the duration of any sale, as herein defined, the permit 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 chief of police, or to his 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.

(Ord. No. 175.411, 4/8/57.)

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

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

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

(3) Duly licensed auctioneers, selling at auction.

(4) 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 article have not been complied with.

(Ord. No. 175.411, 4/8/57; Ord. No. 7.66, 2/14/66.)

During the pendency of the closing-out sales held under the provisions of this article the permittee engaged in such closing-out sale must at the end of each and every twenty-four (24) hours, forward to the chief of police by mail or otherwise, an itemized account of all sales made by him during such twenty-four (24) hour periods. This itemized statement shall be subscribed by the permittee conducting the sale, and any false or fraudulent itemized statement submitted by the permittee to the chief of police shall be deemed sufficient cause for the suspension or revocation of his permit from the chief of police.

(Ord. No. 175.411, 4/8/57.)

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 herein, and no permits thereafter will be issued for the conducting of a sale of any such goods, wares or merchandise in such manner as to identify them with the store, store name, store owner or location referred to in the original application.

(Ord. No. 175.411, 4/8/57.)

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 them at such sale, and any unusual purchase or additions to the stock of such goods, wares or merchandise within sixty (60) days before filing of such application for a license to conduct such a 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 as were not inventoried and described in the original application shall constitute a separate offense under this article.

(Ord. No. 175.411, 4/8/57.)

(Adopted by Ord. No. 175.411, 4/8/57. Repealed by Ord. No. 7.66, 2/14/66.)