curbstoning

n. the conducting of (streetside) business without a license, especially automobile sales and formerly real estate; among census-takers, falsifying information about a household. Subjects: English, Business, Crime & Prisons

Etymological Note: Both senses of the curbstoning come from the notion that the activity is performed on the street, at the curb.

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Citations: [1893 Washington Post (Aug. 10) “After Curbstone Brokers” p. 7: The regular dealers pay $50 a year license and complain that they daily encounter persons who pay no license, but watch for opportunities to make sales and frequently cause the regular brokers trouble by stepping in when sales are partly completed and claiming a part of the commission. As a first step to check this curbstone business, as it is called, the following letter was yesterday sent to the District Commissioners.] 1913 Modesto Evening News (California) (Mar. 27) “Worth Realty Measure” p. 4: The measure regulates realty dealers by prohibiting any one from selling land as agents for another without securing a certificate of license.…The passage of this act would effectually abolish “curbstoning,” and much of the unreliable tactics employed by irresponsible real estate sharks. 1980 Robert McG.Thomas Jr. New York Times (B3) (Nov. 13) “Commerce Secretary Is Told To Testify On Census Count”: One, Steven P. Glusman, a former enumerator and crew chief in Harlem, told of occupied buildings misclassified as vacant and of “curbstoning,” the practice of filling out forms without conducting the required interviews. 1988 Mark Albright St. Petersburg Times (Florida) (Feb. 8) “Going for good deals on wheels” p. 15E: Wholesalers prefer the state would turn its effort instead to putting so-called “curbstoners” out of business. Those are unlicensed hobbyists who park collections of used cars in vacant lots along the roadside and sell them in defiance of the law. 1990 Richard Levine New York Times (Sept. 22) “Can Heads Be Counted in a Dynamic City?” p. 25: There are follow-up visits to housing units where residents did not send in forms or mailed back incomplete ones and field inspections of addresses declared vacant or listed as having only one occupant, a danger signal that a “curbstoning” census worker may not have taken the trouble to look inside. 2004 Stephanie Hanes Baltimore Sun (Md.) (Nov. 20) “Time on the run, then time to pay”: By the late 1970s and early 1980s, prosecutors said, Schecter had learned how to “curbstone.” That was the street term for buying cars at auctions and from wholesalers, rolling back the odometers and then placing ads in newspapers, pretending to be the original owner.

Posted 30 Nov 04 | Permalink | Tell a Friend