SEATTLE - Two of National Auto Auction Association (NAAA) committees, the Dealer Affairs and Institutional Sellers Affairs Committee projects, were approved for implementation and distribution throughout the auction membership base.

Chairpersons, Jane Morgan (Dealer Affairs) and Jay Fahrendorff, Diane Barton (Institutional Sellers Affairs) presented their proposals to the NAAA Board of Directors at the 2006 NAAA Spring and Quad Zone meeting held April 19-22 in Seattle.

The Dealer Affairs Committee was formed with members representing each corner of the NAAA Zone and remarketing industry. They were tasked to confront the need to uniform and consolidate the varying arbitration policies and procedures. The policy would address and resolve arbitration issues ranging from transaction responsibility, title details through an arbitration time limit, along with other standards. With the input, history and expertise from corporate and independent auction members, finance institutions, leasing organizations, and varying remarketing customers, the NAAA accomplished a well-rounded and fair general arbitration policy.

When the Institutional Affairs Committee asked institutional sellers to identify the industry's greatest need, one response heard over and over again was the need for a Uniform Vehicle Grading Scale. The auction industry's first-ever Uniform Vehicle Grading Scale was accepted at the Spring meeting in Seattle.

The vehicle condition grading scale is a tool used by remarketing customers and their patron NAAA auctions. Able to identify the condition of a vehicle sold on the block, it was developed to improve sale-day processes, potential arbitration issues, and clarify vehicle disclosures for the seller and purchaser.