Kruse International loses Indiana auction license

T

Todd Merrifield

Not that they got a lot of pro-cars there anyway, but they always had a few every year, and I know more than a few people here enjoyed seeing this event.


Link:

Autoblog.com

This has been coming down the pike for a year now. From what I have gathered, Dean Kruse's story is that he had a long time tradition of releasing cars that were sold to trusted buyers without getting immediate payment, and when the economy tanked those buyers started stiffing him on payments, which prevented him from paying other sellers whose cars he had auctioned. Those sellers eventually filed complaints/lawsuits, and the rest is history. I think there is more to the story, because in the grand scheme of things it appears he was only in debt to people for $300,000 (not a huge sum in the collector-car world). The money was owed to 70+ individuals though, so the number of people wronged and the consequential lawsuits were enough for the powers that be to shut him down.

The Kruse International website currently says "Kruse International has no auctions currently scheduled at this time".
 
Arizona put them through the wringer this Spring to the point of almost not allowing them to have their annual sale. They had to post a bond and were audited by Az DMV to prove all sellers received their money within 30 days.
 
I just happened to be an innocent bystander when federal agents seized the proceeds of the Kruse Atlantic City auction in the early 1980s. They seem to have a history of poor accounting.
 
Larry Sears said:
They still had the spring Auburn car auction. It is now Auburn Auctions LLC
Click to expand...


I'm not real clear on this, I only know what I have read on the internet, but it appears Auburn Auctions LLC is a group put together by former/current Kruse employees for whatever reason. I am not clear on who holds the auctioneers license for that group, but they may have been operating under the same license with just a different name to avoid some of the negative press swirling around the Kruse name. The spring auction took place before Kruse's license was yanked. This is partially speculation on my part.
 
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