[tirebird]

Well, first of all, I'm not a lawyer or clairvoyant but this mess is just beginning. The storm is "an act of god", so that provides legal protection to the auctioneer. Secondly, I've never sold a car at auction so I'm not sure of the "boilerplate" in the sellers contract protecting the auction house from claims of this type of damage. Thirdly, if some owners were foolish enough to "go bare" and have an expensive car at this event without insurance(if that's possible), then they're going to be hunting for someone else to make them whole for their foolish decision. Fourthly, even if the owners have insurance to cover the damage, it doesn't mean that the insurance companies themselves won't be hunting for someone else to reimburse them for damages. I'm not familiar with Arizona law, but "negligence" is a legal term that has broad meaning. Did the auction house look at weather forecasts? Did the auction house take reasonable steps to protect the cars in light of this storm? Was the tent structure designed to withstand what type of wind event? Had this type of storm ever hit Scottsdale before and if so, did the auctioneer know about that possibility? I'm not blaming anyone here or saying R&S are responsible, but when you have high dollar damage to many high dollar owner, the legal system starts to heat up. Now, maybe R&S have their own insurance to cover this type of event and everything will be paid in quiet settlement conferences. Maybe it won't have to because it doesn't have any legal responsibility for this damage. Even with that possibility, everyone loses from this terrible event. R&S loses money with reduced sales. The owners, of damaged cars, have to deal with diminished value. The buyers don't get a chance to bid on a pristine undamaged great car.