Regency Stamp Auctions In St. Louis

This thread got referenced on the other SCF. The Oakwood Avenue address is the old address for the APS. I have no idea why there is a Yellow Pages listing for with that address, but I am confident, that regency is not there.

Scott ,thanks for that info.

Below is a copy of an email that from David Kol's attorney sent me on May 22. As a consignor in Regency's January auction, I've lost $10,000+ as a direct result of David Kols actions.

Here's the email...

"I have reviewed the messages back and forth between you and Mr. Kols. His message below is absolutely correct in all particulars. Regency has ceased operations and does not have any assets. Their senior secured lender has taken possession of all of its collateral and is liquidating all of the assets to pay down Regency's debt to that bank. The most likely scenario is that the senior secured lender will take a substantial, million dollar plus, loss on its loan to Regency. There are other lenders with a security interest in the assets of Regency who will probably receive nothing. Then there are numerous other unsecured creditors who will also not get paid. Mr. Kols has guaranteed all of the secured obligations and will lose everything personally and have to file a personal bankruptcy along with his wife Penney.

It appears that Mr. Kols returned the unsold item to you and it is just a matter of tracking it down. It also appears that you and many others are not going to get paid for the sold items. It is too bad that money is not available to pay all of the consigners, but that is the reality of the situation. It would be nice if the stamp business were to return to its former glory, but not a single person to whom I have spoken thinks that this will be the case. Given David's health situation I would appreciate it if any further communications could be made through me. This request does not include any correspondence regarding the return of your unsold item. Thanks.


David M. Dare
Herren, Dare & Streett
439 S. Kirkwood Road
Suite 204
St. Louis, MO 63122
(314) 965-3373
(314) 965-2225 fax
ddare@hdsstl.com"

Thanks for sharing. This is an enlightening email of the situation. Does one interpret that this before the owner's illness that the business was already in serious debt?

A sobering reminder to keep in mind when we recommend that folks use consigned auctions as a way to disposition collections.

I am trying to find restraint with the way this has unfolded. It bothers me that there appears to be blame being placed on 'the hobby dying'. Obviously a lot of risk was being passed onto others; hopefully everyone understood the situation before committing to the terms and conditions.

I also think we should consider the medical situation. Previously I have seen folks pass harsh judgements on people whose medical conditions may be influencing them as they close in on the end of their lives.

Speaking from some experience,'dying in slow motion' has some significant drawbacks. Facing your own mortality, dealing with feeling horrible most of the time, worrying about the impact on our family, and coping with medical conditions which are actually interfering with our ability to make decisions can all contribute to making poor decisions.
Don

Sorry Don ----I don't see it that way . There was a whole group around this one person who will suffer . Responsibility needs to be looked at for the damage he leaves behind .It sounds like this was a long time train wreck of many years . You don't go into debt over one or two auctions for millions of dollars .
Sorry to heard his medical condition and failing health but as we already understand this was a long time failing situation with the banks .
He didn't think to save his name and protect those around him ,his idea was to play "big man" and go out on top to the last minute . I am sure his financial troubles were already neck deep when he accepted his ASDA "man of the year" award . He is checking out and hurt a lot of people especially his wife because he wanted to be "big man" at the stamp shows .
My heart goes out to his wife and staff who will try to make sense out of the mess he left.

"The most likely scenario is that the senior secured lender will take a substantial, million dollar plus, loss on its loan to Regency"

Most likely, but not certainly. If so, they will write it off and can almost certainly better afford it then many of the people who will not get paid for stamps they sold in good faith.
A pretty cold letter.

This is not the first time that a stamp auction firm has gone bankrupt, and failed to pay consignors.

As a consignor, it can be a bit hard to know whom to trust your valuables with. I agree with Don that this, definitely should be used as a combination wake-up call to some, and a reminder to others, that you need to perform some due diligence prior to consigning to anyone.

Now, the question would be, how do you know, in advance, if a firm is on solid footing or not? Its not easy, of course - I don't think that a non-public firm is required to disclose its financial status. Others can correct me there. If you are a consignor, however, it doesn't seem as though it would be a bad thing, to ask the firm for some sort of financial disclosure to you, prior to you giving them your trust.

What did the philatelic press first report this? When did anyone first know? Rumors about slow payments to consignors have circulated in the dealer community for years. Would it have made any difference if problems had been reported sooner? Why were collectors left in the dark?

I suppose the same thing could be said about failure to report potential Internet fraud. It is one thing to fear reprisals from advertisers, but it is something else when some of the biggest on-line philatelic marketplaces don't bother to advertise in philatelic publications.

Just got a note from Siegel that they are moving their offices from 60 E 56th St to 6 W 48th St. They appear to be doing very well given the activity in their recent auctions and firms change location for all kinds of reasons, but just curious whether this new address appears to be comparable, an upgrade or a step down from the old. Of course, regardless of the location, there's no way to know what the new offices themselves look like versus the old, unless someone has been in them.

Oracle,
According to Google maps this is the outside



https://www.google.com/maps/@40.757...6656!6m1!1e1

Don

I don't like that blame is being put on the state of the hobby. Is it in tip top shape? No, but it isn't THAT bad.

I have not been to the new offices yet, but I suspect that they will be a bit smaller. Auctions do not usually bring out the dozens of people they once did; except for possibly a major name sale 10 people is a crowd. Everyone bids online or by phone and a huge auction room is not needed.

But the room would need a chandelier.

When Siegel sold Position 76 of the McCoy Block for the APRL, the visiting dignitaries doubled the crowd in the room. There was lively and active bidding, but all of the bidders were online or bidding by phone. Scott has an amazing library that will go with the staff to the new facility. Given the real estate market in NYC, I'd say the new digs will still be astronomical to those of us living in middle America. Monthly parking is more than the average rent in Bellefonte. The old space just happened to be in an area of Manhattan where redevelopment is happening at a rapid clip.