Koster's order halts business for auction house

ST. LOUIS -- Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster said Monday that his office has obtained a temporary restraining order prohibiting a suburban St. Louis auction house from doing business, citing complaints from dozens of customers about missed payments for auctioned items.

Koster's office is investigating Clayton, Mo.-based Ivey-Selkirk Auctioneers & Appraisers, and obtained an order in St. Louis County Circuit Court prohibiting the company from doing business. In addition to the order, a civil petition filed Thursday accuses the auction house of unfair business practices and making false promises.

Messages left Monday with Ivey-Selkirk were not immediately returned.

Koster said about 40 customers have complained to his office over the past several months, saying they were not paid for items the company auctioned on their behalf.

"We are examining very closely the circumstances that apparently led this company to cease doing business, leaving consumers without payment," Koster said in a statement. "Our priority is to protect consumers who never received the money they were owed."

The company's website says that Ivey-Selkirk auctions feature 18th- and 19th-century fine art and antiques and 20th century modern design work, fine jewelry, automobiles, decorative arts and collectibles.

Koster's petition seeks to permanently prohibit Ivey-Selkirk and owner Malcolm Ivey from providing auction services in Missouri. It also seeks repayment for customers, along with civil penalties.

The temporary restraining order prohibits the auction house from accepting consigned items, selling goods, removing anything from its office, destroying documents or spending funds received from current or former clients.

Ivey-Selkirk is one of the oldest businesses of its kind in the country. Ivey told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in February that the company was restructuring following the sudden departure of seven employees to start their own firm. He declined at the time to discuss his company's financial condition.