Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood recently announced a judgment obtained against Finger Lakes Estate and Auction, Inc. (\u201cFinger Lakes\u201d) and its owner, Charles Dorsey, for fraudulently inducing consumers into giving up their personal property for auction sales and failing to return the proceeds as promised. <\/p>\n
According to a release received from the Attorney General\u2019s Office, the judgment requires Finger Lakes and Dorsey to pay $237,739 in full consumer restitution and $12,000 in civil penalties and costs, and retain a Trustee to handle all of the money from future auction sales to ensure that the proceeds first go to the consigning consumers.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew York consumers rely on companies to be trustworthy and responsible,\u201d said Attorney General Underwood, adding, \u201cNo matter the industry, my office will continue to protect New Yorkers from businesses that defraud their customers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finger Lakes Estate and Auction, Inc. is an estate and auction business that solicits and accepts personal property (\u201cconsigned items\u201d) from consumers and then sells them at auctions to the general public. Finger Lakes charges consumers a 15 to 35 percent commission and a transportation fee ranging from $100 to $250, promising the rest of the auction proceeds to the consumer. <\/p>\n
In the release, the Attorney General detailed that since October 2015, Finger Lakes and Dorsey sold property and failed to return any of the proceeds to 24 consumers, totaling $237,739 owed. They continued to take in property for auctions knowing that they would not be paying the proceeds over to the consumers. <\/p>\n
In one instance, Finger Lakes and Dorsey sold a consumer\u2019s 1965 Austin Healey antique automobile for $39,000. Even after a 20 percent commission and sales expenses from the consumer, all totaling over $9,300, and an additional $3,900 commission from the buyer, Finger Lakes and Dorsey failed to pay any of the proceeds over to the consigning consumer. <\/p>\n
After paying new consigning consumers their proceeds, the judgment also requires the Trustee to pay at least 20 percent of the remaining proceeds from future auction sales to the Attorney General\u2019s Office for restitution to the previously injured consumers. <\/p>\n