LAPA Membership Profile

Freddie Phillips:  LAPA President

           
                      LAPA President Rev. Freddie Phillips                      

LAPA President Rev. Freddie Phillips Auctions Paul Dietzel / Chinese Bandits Football for over $27,500 on 4/21/12.

Louisiana Auction Experience:  President, Auction Sells Fast, LLC.  LA Auction License # 1662.

In early 2011, Rev. Phillips formed an auctioneer trade association in Louisiana, the Louisiana Association of Professional Auctioneers (LAPA).  What LAPA offers that is unique to any such trade association is videotaped administrative hearings of the Louisiana Auctioneer's Licensing Board (LALB) on LAPA's website.  Through them, auctioneers across the United States, as well as those in Louisiana, can readily see what may land an auctioneer in hot water with the LALB and also see first-hand what an administrative hearing is like.  In so doing, Rev. Phillips has maintained his steadfast resolve to provide auctioneers with continuing education even though the LALB abolished continuing education in 2009.  As of early 2016, links for these videotaped administrative hearings are provided to over 3,000 auctioneers across every state in the USA.

Rev. Phillips has also utilized LAPA as a means both for providing extensive guidance to consumers and for advocating for auctioneers.  Phillips has gone way above the call of duty by assisting auction consumers such as 84-year-old widow Betty Jo Story in recovering $4,102.29 in 36th Judicial District Court by assisting her in her pro se lawsuit against auctioneer Marlo Schmidt.  He also worked with her to recoup an additional $1,500 from Schmidt for her three-night stay in an assisted living facility which she incurred as a result of promises Schmidt made entailing how much she could expect to obtain from the auctioning of her home when those results failed to materialize. 

Though Rev. Phillips believes strongly in his trade association, LAPA, advocating for consumer protection, he also uses it as a platform for advocating for auctioneers, including his proposal for a mere $5 license renewal fee for Louisiana auctioneers in order for the LALB to reduce its large cash balance that it has accumulated over the last several years (nearly four years worth of revenues hoarded up in the LALB's cash balance as of early 2016).

Rev. Phillips served on the LALB from mid 2008 through January 2012, at which time he informed then-Governor Bobby Jindal that he did not wish to serve through Jindal's second term due to embarrassing LALB episodes such as him being asked four (4) times in a two-minute span if he was "carrying a weapon?"  Though he resigned from the LALB over such episodes, Phillips continued to attend LALB meetings, missing only the November 5, 2012 meeting at which two LALB Members responded to the roll call with "I's here."   During Rev. Phillips' tenure as a member of the LALB, he was never shy when it came to standing firm for integrity within the auction industry.  Many times, this caused him to take stands in opposition to known past problematic auctioneers, and his strong stands to uphold the integrity of the auction industry are well documented through articles like this Advocate article STRONGLY opposing the reinstatement of auctioneer Ken Buhler's license in 2010. 

Rev. Phillips also reported suspected payroll fraud on the part of LALB Executive Director, Sandy Edmonds (whom he also reported for conducting such payroll fraud within the Interior Design Board as well), and the ultimate outcome of his reporting and working with the State Office of Inspector General was this damming report by the IG's Office entailing that payroll fraud.  [Note:  The matter was initially reported by Phillips to the Legislative Auditor who, after conducting an investigation, referred the matter on to EBRP District Attorney Hillar Moore's Office for prosecution.  Moore's office, in turn, handed the matter on to the State Office of Inspector General.]

In addition to being an auctioneer, President and founder of LAPA, and serving as a past LALB Member, Rev. Phillips is a graduate of Inter-Baptist Theological Seminary in Houston, TX.  He graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Religious Education, and he also holds a Master's Degree in Theology from Southwestern Bible College in Fort Worth, TX.  He is the Founder/Pastor of the Outreach Center at Jehovah Ministry in Baton Rouge, LA.  He also sits on the Boards of the following religious organizations:  International Fellowship of Independent Interdenominational Churches, God's Comfort Ministerial Alliance, Faith City International Ministries, and Impart Ministries International.  Rev. Phillips is also a featured instructor at the Faith City Bible College and School of Ministry in Baton Rouge, LA.

Rev. Phillips is also a recognized expert in the field of appraising sports memorabilia as evidenced by this feature Advocate article detailing his appraisal expertise.

Rev. Phillips also holds the distinction of being the FIRST and, to date, the ONLY African American auctioneer in the history of Louisiana!

During his tenure as an auctioneer in Louisiana, Rev. Phillips has noted that the occupation has a dearth of minority representation within its ranks.  Rev. Phillips has himself encountered considerable turbulence as Louisiana's first and only African American auctioneer.  Nevertheless, he is committed to serving as a trail blazer in order that diversity may be greatly expanded within the auctioneering profession in Louisiana.  In fact, Fundamental Tenet Five (5) of LAPA, which calls for aggressive efforts to expand diversity in the profession, was a key motivating factor in Rev. Phillips' decision to work with fellow auctioneer Robert Burns to form LAPA.  As President of LAPA, Rev. Phillips has intentions to utilize his network of connections at Southern University in Baton Rouge to promote seminars designed to help students evaluate auctioneering as a vocation or as a side profession.  Rev. Phillips also plans to network with local PBS stations to air a program entitled "Auctioneering 101" to help explain what all the auction profession entails and encouraging other African American Louisiana citizens to consider pursuing an auction career. 

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