Lawmakers bid to require auctioneers to be licensed

Auctioneers would have to be licensed in Iowa if a bill that cleared the Senate becomes law. Marty Rogers of the Iowa Auctioneers Association says it’s a move to modernize the profession.The bill also calls for putting the proceeds of an auction in a trust rather than the auctioneer’s private bank account. Rogers says that would stop a situation where an auctioneer is killed and funds from a sale have to go to probate to be returned to their rightful owner.Rogers, who is from Conrad, Iowa, ran an auction yesterday in Minnesota.Auctioneers would pay two-hundred-50 dollars for a two-year license. Twenty-nine other states license auctioneers.