Chapter 5.64 — PAWNBROKERS AND SECONDHAND DEALERS

State Law reference— Provisions on pawnbrokers, Fin. C. §§ 21000-21209; provisions on secondhand goods, Bus. and Prof. C. §§ 21500-21639.

The following words as used in this Chapter shall have the meanings set forth in this Section unless otherwise clearly apparent from the context:

A.

"Pawnshop" or "pawn office" means and includes any room, store or place in the City in which the business of a pawnbroker is engaged in, carried on or conducted.

B.

"Pawnbroker" means and includes any person, other than banks, trust companies, or bond brokers, who may otherwise be regulated by law and authorized to deal in commercial papers, shares of stock, bonds

and other certificates of value, who keeps a pawn office, or engages in, or carries on the business of receiving jewelry, precious stones, valuables, firearms, clothing or personal property, or any other article or articles in pledge for loans, or as security, or in pawn for the repayment of monies, and exacts an interest for such loans, or who purchases articles or personal property and agrees to resell such articles so purchased to the vendors thereof, or their assigns, at prices agreed upon at or before the time of such purchases, respectively.

C.

"Secondhand dealer" means any person, co-partnership, firm, or corporation engaged in or conducting the business of buying, selling, trading, taking in pawn, accepting for sale on consignment, accepting for auctioning, or auctioning secondhand tangible personal property.

(ORD-13-0026, § 1, 2013; Ord. C-7423 § 24, 1996: Ord. C-6260 § 1 (part), 1986)

No person shall engage in, carry on, or conduct the business of a pawnbroker or secondhand dealer, without first having obtained a permit in accordance with this Title, and complying with any and all requirements and regulations as contained and set forth in this Chapter.

(Ord. C-7423 § 24, 1996: Ord. C-6260 § 1 (part), 1986)

A.

Each person, before obtaining a permit to carry on the business of a pawnbroker or secondhand dealer, shall make a written application to, and upon forms furnished by the Chief of Police, which shall be signed by the applicant. In addition to any other information which may reasonably be required by the Chief of Police, the application shall show the true name of the applicant, his/her fictitious name or names, if any, his/her age, his/her present address in the City or elsewhere, the name under which the applicant conducted any similar business, if any, and the place of his/her residence at such time within twelve (12) months preceding the date of the application. At the time the application is filed with the Chief of Police, the applicant shall be photographed and fingerprinted by the Police Department.

In the event the applicant is a corporation, an officer of the corporation shall furnish the information required above, and, in addition, shall furnish the names of all other corporate officers.

B.

The Chief of Police shall issue the permit to the applicant or deny the application within sixty (60) days from the date thereof. Grounds for denial of the application shall be:

The applicant has had a previous license or permit to engage in the business of a pawnbroker or secondhand dealer revoked or suspended by any jurisdiction;

The applicant, based upon his/her past penal record, would be a poor risk in the business of pawnbroker or secondhand dealer.

(Ord. C-7423 § 24, 1996: Ord. C-6260 § 1 (part), 1986)

A.

Every person maintaining, carrying on or conducting any business for which a permit is required by the provisions of this Chapter shall pay a permit fee in an amount established by the City Council by resolution adopted pursuant to Section 5.04.040.

B.

Any person desiring to conduct on the business of a pawnbroker shall file with the City a faithful performance bond as prescribed in regulations issued by the City Manager pursuant to Section 2.84.040.

C.

No permit issued under the provisions of this Chapter shall be transferable and no person shall conduct either the business of a pawnbroker or a secondhand dealer under the permit of another person, except as provided in this Chapter.

(Ord. C-7934 § 9, 2004; Ord. C-7423 § 24, 1996: Ord. C-6325 § 20, 1986: Ord. C-6260 § 1 (part), 1986)

Upon the expiration of any permit issued under the provisions of this Chapter to a pawnbroker or secondhand dealer, the holder thereof shall be entitled to a new permit for the ensuing year without making a new application and obtaining a new permit therefor upon the payment of the required permit fee; provided that at the time of tendering the required permit fee there are no permit revocation proceedings pending against the permittee; and provided further that a bond, as provided for in Section 5.64.040, has been furnished.

(Ord. C-7423 § 24, 1996: Ord. C-6260 § 1 (part), 1986)

A.

Every pawnbroker and secondhand dealer shall, at the time of purchase or pledge of any property, make out on forms, to be obtained from the Chief of Police for that purpose, a full, true and complete report of all goods or things received on deposit, pledged or purchased by him/her, and such report shall show the hour of the day each such article is received and the true name and address, as nearly as the same is known to, or can be ascertained by, the pawnbroker or secondhand dealer, and the personal signature of the person or persons by whom the article was left on deposit or pledged or sold, together with a description of the person or persons as may be required by the Chief of Police; that such report shall give also the number of

the pawn ticket, the amount loaned or the amount of the purchase, as the case may be, and a complete description of each article left on deposit or pledged or purchased. If any article so left on deposit or pledged or purchased bears any number, word or initial thereon or contains any settings of any kind, the description of the article shall contain the number, word or initial and shall show the number of settings and the number of each kind thereof.

B.

Every pawnbroker and secondhand dealer shall, on each day before the hour of ten a.m., deliver to the Chief of Police the original of the reports made out during the day preceding the filing of the reports.

C.

No person shall use a fictitious name or address when selling, pledging or leaving any property on deposit as provided in this Chapter.

(Ord. C-7423 § 24, 1996: Ord. C-6260 § 1 (part), 1986)

No person carrying on or conducting the business of a pawnbroker shall repledge or hypothecate any article that he/she has in his/her possession and received in the due course of his/her business, for the purpose of borrowing money or otherwise, without making a full and true report to the Chief of Police, as required by Section 5.64.070, of such articles so repledged and hypothecated, the person to whom so pledged or hypothecated, and the amount borrowed on same, together with the name of the original pledger.

(Ord. C-7423 § 24, 1996: Ord. C-6260 § 1 (part), 1986)

All daily reports to be filed with the Chief of Police as required in this Chapter shall be kept on file by the Chief of Police, which reports shall be open to inspection only by members of the Police Department or upon an order of a court of competent jurisdiction made for that specific purpose.

(Ord. C-7423 § 24, 1996: Ord. C-6260 § 1 (part), 1986)

The Chief of Police shall file all reports received pursuant to the terms of this Chapter, and the same shall be open to inspection only by members of the Police Department or upon an order of a court of competent jurisdiction made for that purpose, and every report and record required by the terms of this Chapter to be filed or kept shall be written or printed entirely in the English language in a clear and legible manner.

(Ord. C-7423 § 24, 1996: Ord. C-6260 § 1 (part), 1986)

Every person engaged in the business of a pawnbroker or secondhand dealer in the City shall keep a complete copy of the reports required by this Chapter, and every such record and all goods and things

pledged to, or purchased by, or received by any such pawnbroker or secondhand dealer shall be open at all times during business hours to the inspection of the Chief of Police or any Police Officer.

(Ord. C-7423 § 24, 1996: Ord. C-6260 § 1 (part), 1986)

The premises of all pawnshops and secondhand dealers shall, at all times when open or being prepared for public sale, be subject to police inspection by members of the Police Department in the pursuit of their official duties, and no person, shall hinder or obstruct any such authorized Police Officer in making such inspection. Premises, as used in this Section, means that area which is used to display or store the goods or personal property offered for sale to the public.

(Ord. C-7423 § 24, 1996: Ord. C-6260 § 1 (part), 1986)

A.

No pawnbroker or secondhand dealer shall sell or otherwise dispose of any article, goods or other thing within thirty (30) days after the purchase or receipt thereof.

B.

No pawnbroker or secondhand dealer shall sell or otherwise dispose of any article, goods or other thing within thirty (30) days of the date such articles are suspended from sale under the provisions of this Chapter unless sooner released by the Chief of Police.

(Ord. C-7423 § 24, 1996: Ord. C-6260 § 1 (part), 1986)

No pawnbroker or secondhand dealer shall purchase or take as a pledge, or otherwise, any goods offered him/her from any minor under the age of eighteen (18) years.

(Ord. C-7423 § 24, 1996: Ord. C-6260 § 1 (part), 1986)