Duarte Municipal Code Ch. 5.24 Secondhand Dealers, Pawnbrokers and Junk Dealers

For the purpose of this chapter, the words and phrases used herein shall have the following meaning unless the context shows a different meaning:

PAWNBROKER. The term "pawnbroker" shall mean a person engaged in conducting, managing or carrying on the business of loaning money, for himself or for any other person, upon personal property, personal security, pawns or pledges, or the business of purchasing articles of personal property and reselling or agreeing to resell such articles to the vendors or their assignees, at prices agreed upon at or before the time of such purchase.

PAWNSHOP. The term "pawnshop" shall mean any room, store or place in which any such business is engaged in, carried on or conducted.

SECONDHAND DEALER. The term "secondhand dealer" shall mean a person other than an auctioneer, engaged in, conducting, managing or carrying on the business of buying, selling, or otherwise dealing in secondhand goods, wares or merchandise, and making two or more sales of secondhand goods, wares or merchandise during any one calendar month and whether or not such business and such sales are carried on in connection with a regular retail or other business.

JUNK DEALER. The term "junk dealer" shall mean a person having a fixed place of business in the city of Duarte, and engaged in, conducting, managing or carrying on the business of buying, selling or otherwise dealing in, either at wholesale, or retail of any old rags, old clothing, sacks, bottles, cans, papers, metal or other articles commonly known as junk.

JUNK COLLECTOR. The term "junk collector" shall mean a person not having a fixed place of business in the city of Duarte, who goes from house to house or from place to place gathering, collecting, buying, selling or otherwise dealing in any old rags, old clothing, sacks, bottles, cans, paper, metal or other articles commonly known as junk.

(Ord. 72 § 41, 1960)

No person shall engage in, conduct, manage or carry on the business of a pawnbroker, junk dealer, junk collector or secondhand dealer, or deal in secondhand merchandise either as a business or as a part of any other business without first applying for and receiving a permit therefor from the director of finance.

(Ord. 72 § 42, 1960)

No permit to engage in, conduct, manage or carry on any business defined in Section 5.24.010 shall be approved by the director of public safety, if the person for whom such permit is sought has failed, refused, or neglected to comply with any law or ordinance relating to or regulating the business for which such permit is sought. The director of finance shall not issue any permit or license to any person to engage in, conduct, manage, or carry on the business of pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, junk dealer, or junk collector, until the director of public safety shall have approved the issuance of such permit. No permit shall be issued to any junk collector for the purpose of collecting junk outside of the retail business district zones in the city of Duarte except for charitable purposes. No person shall collect or cause to be collected any junk from within the city and outside the retail business district zone in the city except for charitable purposes after approval by the director of public safety the director of finance.

(Ord. 72 § 43, 1960)

(Ord. No. 926, Exh. A, 11-12-2024)

Every person conducting or carrying on the business of a pawnbroker, junk dealer, junk collector, or secondhand dealer or dealing in secondhand merchandise, either as a separate business or in connection with any other business, shall pay an annual license fee as established by city council resolution for each place of business.

(Ord. 443 § 10, 1978: Ord. 72 § 44, 1960)

(Ord. No. 926, Exh. A, 11-12-2024)

(a) DUE DATES. Every pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, junk dealer and junk collector shall, on the first of the month, make out and deliver to the public safety department, on a blank form to be obtained from the public safety department, by such pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, junk dealer and junk collector, for such purpose, a full, true, and complete report of all goods, or things received on deposit, pledged or purchased during the period preceding the filing of such report.

(b) CONTENTS. Such report shall be in English and shall contain the name and place of business of the person making the same and the date and hour of the day when prepared. Such report shall show the hour of the day when each article was received on deposit, pledged or purchased, and the true name and address, as nearly as the same is known or can be ascertained by such pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, junk dealer or junk collector, of the person who left such article on deposit, or pledged or sold the same, together with a description of such person, and a statement as to whether such person is under the age of eighteen years. Such report shall also show the number of the pawn ticket, amount loaned, amount purchased, and a complete description of each article left on deposit, pledged or purchased. If any article so left on deposit, pledged or purchased has engraved thereon any number, word or initial, or contains any settings of any kind, such report shall contain such number, word, or initial, and shall show the kind of settings and the number of each kind.

(c) CONFIDENTIAL. The director of public safety shall cause all reports received pursuant to the terms of this section to be filed in a secure place, and the same shall be open to inspection only by members of the public safety department, or upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

(Ord. 72 § 45, 1960)

(Ord. No. 926, Exh. A, 11-12-2024)

Every junk dealer, or anyone engaged in the business of purchasing scrap metals for the purpose of reselling for the purposes of smelting or refining same, shall retain and keep on their premises, in a separate place designated for that purpose, all metals such as copper, brass or other metals, purchased by the individuals or dealers, in the following manner: the entire purchase of each day shall be put and kept in such designated separate place, and the day's purchase shall be kept in its original condition, for a period of thirty days after purchase or receipt of such copper, brass or other metals, and shall be at all times open to the inspection of the public safety department.

(Ord. 72 § 46, 1960)

(Ord. No. 926, Exh. A, 11-12-2024)

Every pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, junk dealer, and junk collector shall keep a complete record in the English language, of all goods, wares, merchandise or other things pledged to or purchased or received by him, which record shall contain all of the matters required to be shown in the reports referred to and described in Section 5.24.050. Every such record and all goods, wares, merchandise and things pledged to or purchased or received by any such pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, junk dealer or junk collector, shall be open, at all times, during business hours, to the inspection of the director of public safety or any public safety officer of the city of Duarte.

(Ord. 72 § 47, 1960)

(Ord. No. 926, Exh. A, 11-12-2024)

Every pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, junk dealer or junk collector shall maintain on the premises where the business is located, a sign plainly printed in English and of sufficient size so that the same may be easily read from the sidewalk in front of the place of business; stating that he is a pawnbroker, or secondhand dealer, or junk dealer, or junk collector. Where such business is conducted in an office building the sign shall be placed at the door of the office. Where said business is conducted in a department of any building the sign shall be placed at the entrance of the department.

(Ord. 72 § 48, 1960)

No person engaged in conducting, managing or carrying on the business of pawnbroker, secondhand dealer or junk dealer or junk collector or any agent or employee of any such person shall fail, refuse or neglect to file any report or keep any record in the form, in the manner, at the time and in all respects in accordance with the requirements of this chapter, or fail, refuse or neglect to exhibit to the director of public safety or any public safety officer of the city of Duarte immediately upon demand for the privilege of such inspection any such record or any goods, wares or merchandise or things pledged to or purchased or received by such person.

(Ord. 72 § 49, 1960)

(Ord. No. 926, Exh. A, 11-12-2024)

No pawnbroker or secondhand dealer shall sell or otherwise dispose of any article within thirty days after such article has been purchased or received by such pawnbroker or secondhand dealer.

(Ord. 760, § 1, 2001; Ord. 72 § 50, 1960)

No junk dealer or junk collector shall sell or otherwise dispose of any article or thing within three days after such article or thing has been purchased or received by such junk dealer or junk collector.

(Ord. 72 § 51, 1960)

The provisions of this chapter concerning records and reports shall not be deemed to apply to the purchase or sale by junk dealers or junk collectors of rags, bottles other than milk or cream bottles, secondhand sacks other than cement sacks, barrels, cans, shoes, lamps, or scrap iron, when bought or sold for scrap, stoves, or household furniture, when the reasonable value of such items is less than fifteen dollars.

(Ord. 72 § 52; May 31, 1960)

No person engaged in conducting, managing or carrying on the business of pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, junk dealer or junk collector, or any agent or employee of any such person shall accept any pledge of or loan any money upon personal property, or purchase or receive any goods, wares or merchandise or any article or thing, or in any manner whatsoever engage in or conduct any such business between the hour of seven in the afternoon of any day and the hour of seven in the morning of the following day.

(Ord. 72 § 53; May 31, 1960)

(Ord. No. 926, Exh. A, 11-12-2024)

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter every auction house manager, pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, and any merchant dealing in or offering for sale any item or items of secondhand jewelry or objects of art or similar merchandise which is identifiable by number, letter, phrase, mark, or other means of identification commonly recognized in trade, shall file with the public safety department the report required by Section 5.24.050 concerning any such item received from outside the state or received from any person, who, within thirty days prior thereto, received it from outside the state or brought it into the state. Records of such articles shall be kept as required by Section 5.24.070. Any such articles shall be kept for the time required by Section 5.24.100 before being sold.

(Ord. 72 § 54; May 31, 1960)

(Ord. No. 926, Exh. A, 11-12-2024)

If any person shall engage in, conduct, manage, or carry on, at the same time, more than one of the businesses defined and referred to in this chapter, such person shall be deemed to be engaged in, conducting, managing and carrying on such business separate and apart from the other such business, and such person shall comply in all respects with the provisions of this chapter relating to each of such businesses.

(Ord. 72 § 55 (part); May 31, 1960)

No one doing business as a personal property broker or pawnbroker with or without a license from the corporation commissioner of the state, shall conduct such business, or any part thereof, in the same establishment or place of business used for the transacting of any other business or in any retail or wholesale store. No entrance to or exit from a place of business used by any personal property broker or any pawnbroker shall open from or into any other place of business, but any such entrance or exit shall open directly onto a public street or public place, except that on any floor above the street floor in an office building an entrance to or exit from such place of business shall open directly onto the public hallway.

(Ord. 72 § 55 (part); May 31, 1960)

Whenever any section of this chapter shall require a report to the public safety department, or shall require a record of any secondhand article, or shall require the holding of such article for any stated period of time by any secondhand dealer, junk dealer, pawnbroker, or anyone engaging in any business in this chapter specifically referred to, it shall also include any merchant who receives for sale, attempts to sell, or displays for sale any such secondhand article for another person in expectation of receiving a commission, or fee, or gratuity, or regard therefor, or as an agent or broker, and each and every provision of this chapter shall thereupon be applicable to such person as though he were in the specific business mentioned herein.

(Ord. 72 § 56; May 31, 1960)

(Ord. No. 926, Exh. A, 11-12-2024)