Flannery v. Jones

Citations

• 180 Pa. 338
• 36 A. 856
• 1897 Pa. LEXIS 926

Syllabus

<p>Public sales — Puffing or fictitious bidding — Fraud—Custom—Evidence.</p> <p>On a bill in equity to set aside a public sale, because the owners ran up the price by secret bidding, evidence that puffing or fictitious bidding at public sales was customary is properly rejected.</p> <p>The employment of puffers by owners, to bid up property selling at auction, with a view to raise the price, is a fraud upon bona fide bidders, and will avoid the sale at the option of the purchaser.</p> <p>Where an auctioneer at a public sale announces at the instance of the owner that the sale is no sham sale, and that the property will be sold to the highest bidder without reserve, and the auctioneer secretly bids for one of the owners, the sale will be set aside at the instance of a bidder to whom the property was knocked down.</p>