Placerville Municipal Code Ch. 20 Pawnbrokers

"Pawnbroker" shall include any person, firm or corporation, 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 loan or 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 or any other charge for such loans. (Ord. 1114, 4-26-1977)

Every person conducting, managing or carrying on the business of pawnbroker shall pay an investigative fee as set by resolution of the city council in addition to all other license taxes and fees required. (Ord. 1300, 5-25-1982)

It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in, or carry on or conduct, or to permit to be carried on, engaged in or conducted, within the city of Placerville, the business of any pawnbroker, whether as a separate business or in connection with any other business, or to advertise the same by means of signs or notices on buildings or windows, or by distribution of printed circulars or by public display, or otherwise in any manner whatsoever, unless there exists a valid permit therefor, granted and existing in compliance with the provisions of this chapter. (Ord. 1114, 4-26-1977)

The application for such permit shall set forth, and such permits shall set forth, the exact nature of the business to be carried on, and such application shall be accompanied by the signatures of three (3) citizens; certifying to the good moral character and reputation of the person or persons making such applications. (Ord. 1114, 4-26-1977)

The application shall be filed with the chief of police and at the time of filing such application, the applicant and all persons to be directly or indirectly interested in the permit if granted, including all members of any firm or partnership, shall be fingerprinted by the police department, and if any such person shall be found to have been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving theft, obtaining money or property by false pretense, embezzlement, receiving stolen property or violating any provisions of this chapter or any other law regulating pawnbrokers, the application for such permit shall be denied. The investigating official to whom such application shall be referred, shall be the chief of police. In addition to the grounds set forth in this section, any permit may be revoked upon the recommendation of the chief of police establishing the fact that such permittee has, or has had, in his possession any stolen article without there having been made a record of such article as hereinafter in this chapter provided. (Ord. 1114, 4-26-1977)

No permit shall be issued for any business if the applicant therefor is under eighteen (18) years of age or an alien, nor, if the applicant is a firm, partnership or corporation, if any member of such firm or partnership is under eighteen (18) years of age or an alien, or any officer or director of such corporation is an alien. (Ord. 1114, 4-26-1977)

Every person managing, maintaining or conducting the business of any pawnbroker in the city of Placerville, shall keep, or cause to be kept, at the store or place of business, a well bound book containing a record in which shall be legibly entered in the English language, in ink, at the time of every purchase, sale, exchange, pledge, pawn, or other transfer of possession of any article, or loan thereon, a description of such article received or delivered in such transaction, sufficient to identify the same, including serial number and all particular or prominent marks of identification that may be found on such property, the signature, address, age, sex and description of the person receiving, delivering, or transferring the property or who is otherwise dealt with, the amount of money paid or received in such transaction, and the rate of interest, if any, and the date and hour of the transaction. (Ord. 1114, 4-26-1977)

The record of transactions required by the provisions contained within section 5-20-7 of this chapter, shall be open for inspection by the police department at any time during business hours, and the police department shall also have the right to thoroughly inspect the premises, store or place where the business so recorded is being conducted at any time in search of any lost or stolen property, or to compare the entries kept in such records with the article or articles located on such premises or place of business. All persons in charge of such business, and the agents and employees thereof, shall render to the police department such assistance as may be reasonably necessary to enable such inspection or search. The person in charge of such business shall each day excepting holidays furnish or cause to be furnished, to the chief of police at nine o'clock (9:00) A.M., a legible and complete copy of such record, and the chief of police shall upon receipt of such reports cause the same to be permanently filed in the offices of the police department and the same shall be open for inspection only to the police department of the city of Placerville or upon an order of the court duly made for that purpose. The original will be forwarded to the department of justice by the police department. Said reports shall be made upon forms to be furnished by the police department at cost. (Ord. 1114, 4-26-1977)

It shall be unlawful for any person maintaining or conducting the business of any pawnbroker, secondhand jewelry dealer, secondhand dealer, or exchange dealer, or any agent or employee thereof, to purchase or take any goods or article or thing offered to him by any minor, or knowingly purchase or take any goods, article or things from any servant or apprentice without first ascertaining that such article or thing is the property of the person delivering the same, or that such servant or apprentice has the authority from the owner to deliver or sell such property. (Ord. 1114, 4-26-1977)

It shall be unlawful for any person conducting or maintaining the business of pawnbroker, secondhand jewelry dealer, or exchange dealer, or any agent or employee thereof, to keep or cause to be kept such place of business open except between the hours of seven o'clock (7:00) A.M. and eleven o'clock (11:00) P.M. (Ord. 1114, 4-26-1977)

Every person managing, maintaining or conducting the business of a pawnbroker in the city of Placerville shall keep or cause to be kept, at the store or place of business, receipt books as hereinafter described. Such books, shall be kept in addition to the record of transactions required by section 5-20-7 of this chapter, and shall consist of duplicate sheets of white paper not less than four by seven inches (4x7") in size and bearing consecutive numbers. One of each of said duplicate pages shall be so perforated as to enable its removal. One of the aforesaid books shall be kept for the recording of, and the receipting for, sales, and there shall be printed at the top of the perforated sheet, in colored type, not less than three-eighths (3/8) of an inch in height, the following words: "This is a sale and not a pledge". One of the aforesaid books shall be kept for the recording of, and the receipting for, pledges, and there shall be printed at the top of the perforated sheet, in colored type, not less than three-eighths (3/8) of an inch in height, the following words: "This is a pledge and not a sale". (Ord. 1114, 4-26-1977)

It shall be unlawful for pawnbrokers to make any purchase, exchanges, pledge, pawn or other transfer of possession of any article, unless the same is recorded in one of the record and receipt books required by the provisions of section 5-20-11 of this chapter, setting forth the name and address of the pawnbroker, a description in the English language of the article involved in such transactions, the date of the sale, the name of the customer with whom such transaction is made, the rate of interest charged, if any, the term of redemption, if any, and the same shall be signed by the pawnbroker, or his agent making such transactions. The perforated sheet, which shall be the duplicate shall, after being filled out as herein provided, be delivered to the person with whom the transaction is made. The original thereof shall be kept by the pawnbroker for a period of at least two (2) years next following the date of the transaction, and shall during such time, be available at all times during business hours for inspection by the Placerville police department. Any alteration of such duplicate sheet shall constitute a misdemeanor. (Ord. 1114, 4-26-1977)

Notification of any change in circumstances or information given in the application for a pawnbroker's permit shall be filed with the city clerk forthwith. No change in the location of the place of business or personnel of the permittee shall be permitted without prior permission of the city of Placerville. No permit issued under the provisions of this chapter shall be transferred. (Ord. 1114, 4-26-1977)