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Automotive Lifestyle
AUTOS: Kruse Auction License Revoked
Indiana commission cites 70 non-payment compaints from collector-car sellers; Dean Kruse license suspended.
Bob Golfen  |  Posted May 25, 2010   Indianapolis, IN
Company founder and owner Dean Kruse is a familiar sight on the auctioneer's podium of his collector-car auctions. (Photo: Kruse International)
Kruse International collector-car auctions is officially out of business as the Indiana Auctioneer Commission today permanently revoked its license, according to news reports.

The personal auction license of Dean Kruse, founder and owner of the Indianapolis auction business was suspended for at last two years, the commission decided after a three-hour hearing.

The session focused on complaints by at least 70 consigners that they have not been paid for their vehicles sold in Kruse’s nationwide auctions. Dean Kruse claims that most have been paid, although late. Kruse said he owes only about $320,000 to the consigners.

He told the commission that the lapses in payments were the result of buyers failing to pay the auction after selling their cars, with about $7 million still owed to the auction.

This Duesenberg model JN Rollston-bodied convertible sedan in fine condition was sold at a recent Kruse auction for less than half what was turned down for it in September. (Photo: Kruse International)
The commission rejected more-lenient suspension terms for Dean Kruse but decided against permanent revocation so that he would have a chance to pay back consigners in the future. He will be on probation for three years after the suspension ends and have 18 months to pay the outstanding debts to the sellers.

As well as the auction-license actions, the commission levied $35,000 fines against both Dean Kruse and the auction house. Kruse would be on probation for three years after his license suspension ends, according to terms of the agreement he made with the commission.

The hearings come after several years of strident complaints from consigners about Kruse’s failure to live up to its obligation to pay them for their sold collector cars in a timely manner after the conclusion of each auction.

Sellers have said that auction personnel have been unresponsive to their complaints about not being paid, and the auction also owes thousands of dollars to people who have hosted the events in their home towns. Blogs and web chatter have savaged the auction for its trade practices.

Dean Kruse is one of the best-known figures in collector-car auction business, holding the company’s signature auction in Auburn each Labor Day weekend since 1971. The company had held dozens of auctions around the nation, although they have been cut back severely in the past few years. The last Kruse auction was held March 13, and no more have been scheduled.

The upcoming Auburn auction is being handled by something called Auburn Auctions LLC, although detractors call it a “shell company” designed by Kruse to sidestep myriad legal issues.

Last week, Dean Kruse told the DeKalb (Ind.) Star that he was putting the auction up for sale.

Bob Golfen, Automotive Editor for SPEEDtv.com, is a veteran auto writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, who has driven and evaluated essentially every new vehicle sold in the United States. A lifelong car enthusiast with a passion for collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle, he annually attends and writes about Arizona's famous January collector-car auctions, focusing on Scottsdale’s monumental Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event and other Barrett-Jackson events. SPEEDtv.com fans email Automotive Editor Bob Golfen at

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