123.02 LICENSE REQUIRED.

No person shall carry on or engage in business as a pawnbroker in the City without first having obtained a license therefor from the City and paying an annual license fee of $1,000.00 or a fee subsequently set by resolution of the City Council. Any person having several or separate places of business shall pay the license fee and procure a license for each place. The license provided for herein is valid only for the location designated in the application pursuant to Section 123.05 and shall be prominently displayed therein at all times. Upon any change in any of the information required to be submitted as part of the application, the licensee shall within three (3) days of such change notify the Police Chief of such change, in writing, and in the event of a change of address where doing business, the license shall be returned to the Police Chief and an amended license issued designating the new location. The amended license will be valid for the length of the time remaining on the original license. All licenses issued under this chapter shall expire one year after the original date of issuance. There shall be no automatic renewal. An application for renewal shall be filed and the fee paid not less than forty-five (45) days prior to the expiration of the current license.

123.03 EXEMPTIONS.

This chapter does not apply to or include the following:

1.   The sale of secondhand goods at yard sales, garage sales, or moving sales.

2.   The sale of secondhand books or magazines.

3.   The sale of goods at an auction held by a licensed auctioneer.

4.   The business of buying or selling only those secondhand goods taken as part or full payment for new goods and where such business is incident to and not the primary business of a person.

5.   A bulk sale of property from a merchant, manufacturer, or wholesaler having an established place of business or of goods sold at open sale from bankrupt stock.

6.   Goods sold at the public market, e.g., farmers market, etc.

7.   Goods sold at a bona fide antique, used furniture, or used clothing store, i.e., a business in which seventy-five percent (75%) of the business’s revenue is derived through the sale of antiques, used furniture or used clothes.

123.04 AFFIDAVIT REQUIRED.

Before any license required by this chapter is issued, the applicant therefor shall file with the Police Chief an affidavit that the applicant will observe and carry out the requirements of any provisions of this Code of Ordinances in force at the time of the application, or any provision of this Code of Ordinances passed thereafter and during the time the applicant’s license is in force, in relation to pawnbrokers or their business.

123.05 APPLICATION.

Any applicant for a pawnbroker license must complete an application form provided by the Police Chief. The application form shall contain the following information:

1.   Name, place of birth, date of birth, and home address of the applicant.

2.   Designation of location, including street and number, where business is to be transacted, plus name and address of the owner of the premises.

3.   A detailed drawing of the interior of the place of business and any other storage facilities used by the pawnbroker for storing items in the dealer’s possession.

4.   A statement as to whether, within the previous five (5) years, the applicant has been convicted of any felony or other crime relating to theft, damage or trespass to property, sale of a controlled substance, including the nature and date of the offense and the penalty received.

5.   Whether the applicant is a natural person, corporation, or partnership and:

   A.   If the applicant is a partnership, the names and addresses of all partners;

   B.   If the applicant is a corporation, the state of incorporation and the names and addresses of all officers and directors.

6.   If the applicant is an individual, the application shall be signed and sworn to by the person; if a corporation, by its President and Secretary.

The Police Department shall investigate and verify the facts set forth in the application. The applicant shall furnish to the Police Department such evidence as it may reasonably require in support of the statements set forth in the application.

123.06 SURETY BOND.

Each applicant for a license shall, before the license is issued to the applicant, file with the City Clerk a bond, with a surety approved by the Council, in the penal sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), conditioned that the applicant will comply with and observe the terms and conditions of all provisions of this Code of Ordinances relating to pawnbrokers or their business, will pay all costs, fines, and penalties incurred on account of the applicant’s failure to observe such provisions and will pay all damages resulting to any person by reason of the wrongful and knowingly purchase or receiving of any stolen property or property from any minor, which bond shall be approved by the Council and filed with the Clerk.

123.07 RECORDS REGISTER REQUIRED.

1.   Every pawnbroker is required to keep a record register in which the dealer accurately, intelligently, and legibly enters, in ink, in the English language, and at the time of purchasing or receiving any article or item:

   A.   The retail fair market value of the article;

   B.   The amount paid, advanced, or loaned for the article;

   C.   A detailed, complete, and accurate description of the article, including identifying marks;

   D.   The article’s serial number and model number, if any;

   E.   The name of the person from whom the article is purchased or received, his or her residential address and telephone number, date of birth, driver’s license or non-operator’s identification number, and height and general description as evidenced by a photograph and confirmed by a picture identification;

   F.   The date, time, and place of the transaction;

   G.   The time and date when the article is to be redeemed or bought back;

   H.   Any security interest or bill of sale taken, or receipt or pawn ticket given;

   I.   When, and by whom, an article was bought back or redeemed;

   J.   When, to whom, and how an article was disposed of.

2.   Every pawnbroker shall also record the date of disposition of the article or any part or portion thereof. The disposition report shall be located in the same book and at the same place where the receiving records for the article are located.

3.   Any person who fails to keep such records or fails to make the required entries therein, or intentionally or knowingly makes any false or unintelligible entry or any entry which the dealer has reason to believe is untrue, or who fails to make the inquiries necessary to enable the dealer to make such entries or any of them, or who fails to produce the records when requested, or who destroys or negligently permits such records to be destroyed or lost is in violation of this chapter.

4.   Every pawnbroker shall submit to the Police Department, by noon on Friday of each week, a record of each item received on pawn or purchased outright. Such record shall include all information required by subsection 1. A pawnbroker who fails to submit such record on each item received is in violation of this chapter.

123.08 WEAPONS.

If a pawnbroker receives as a pledge or purchase any revolver, pistol, blackjack, shotgun, rifle, or any kind of firearm whatsoever, the pawnbroker shall submit to the Police Department, within forty-eight (48) hours, all information pertaining to the transaction, including but not limited to the owner, the owner’s address, a description of a firearm and the firearm’s serial number (when applicable). All such transactions shall be fully compliant with all State and Federal regulations governing the purchase, sale, or trade of such weapons.