The Estate Sale With a Secret Reserve
You are a Maine auctioneer hired by the personal representative (PR) of an estate to sell 60 acres, a tractor, and household goods. The PR signs your standard listing contract, which says 'auction with reserve; seller may bid.' But the PR's email and your ad say 'absolute auction-no reserves, estate must sell.' Two days before the sale, the PR calls: 'My cousin will bid up to $250,000. If bidding stops below that, don't recognize the high bid; we'll withdraw and relist.' You have 40 registered bidders, including the cousin, who registered under a company name. A bidder calls asking whether the land is truly absolute. The PR also asks for the registration list 'to check who is coming.'
1. Identify the contract, agency, and disclosure conflicts in the PR's instructions, and state what you must tell the PR before the sale.
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The documents conflict: the listing contract says 'with reserve; seller may bid,' while the ad says 'absolute-no reserves.' You cannot run a secret reserve. If the sale is absolute, the PR cannot use the cousin to bid up to $250,000, cannot refuse to recognize a high bid, and cannot withdraw after bidding begins. If the sale is with reserve, the ad must say so clearly and any seller bid must be disclosed as permitted by law. The cousin's plan is a shill bid if undisclosed; it misleads bidders and breaches the PR's fiduciary duties. Tell the PR: choose one structure in writing now; if reserve, re-advertise and disclose the seller's right to bid; if absolute, no cousin bid and no withdrawal. Check any probate-court approval. If the PR refuses, cancel rather than conduct a misleading sale.
2. How should you handle the cousin's registration and the PR's request for the bidder list?
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Verify the cousin's identity and capacity. If the cousin is bidding for the seller or an heir, treat it as a seller-related bid: it may be taken only in a properly disclosed reserve auction, not as an undisclosed shill. If the cousin is a genuine independent buyer, document that. The registration list is not automatically the PR's to inspect; it contains bidder contact data and is confidential. Give the PR sale results for the estate's lots or a redacted bid history, not the full list, unless the contract or Board rule requires more. If the PR needs specific information for probate, provide only what is necessary and document the request.