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No licensee shall remove, alter or obliterate any manufacturer's make, model, or serial number, personal identification number, or identifying marks engraved or etched upon an item of personal property that was purchased or received in pledge until such time that the licensee becomes the legal owner of the property. In addition, an item shall not be accepted for pledge or purchase where the manufacturer's make, model, or serial number, personal identification number or identifying marks engraved or etched upon an item of personal property has been removed, altered or obliterated.
(Amend Coun. J. 2-26-97, p. 40141)
No such licensee shall receive on deposit or pledge any personal property or other valuable thing, or shall buy any article of secondhand property, before the hour of 6:00 a.m. or after the hour of 9:00 p.m.
(Added Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465; Amend Coun. J. 2-26-97, p. 40141)
(a) No personal property received on deposit or pledge by any such licensed pawnbroker shall be sold or permitted to be redeemed or removed from the place of business of such licensed pawnbroker for the period of two business days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, after the copy and statement to be delivered to the superintendent of police shall have been delivered as required by this chapter.
(b) No personal property pawned or pledged shall be sold or disposed of by any such pawnbroker within one year from the time when the pawner or pledger shall make default in the payment of the interest on the money so advanced by such pawnbroker, unless by the written consent of such pawner or pledger.
(c) No licensee shall offer or give any inducement or payment for the consent of the pawner or pledger for the early sale or disposition of personal property.
(d) No article of secondhand property purchased by any such licensed pawnbroker shall be sold or removed from the place of business of such licensed pawnbroker for the period of 30 calendar days after the copy and statement to be delivered to the superintendent of police shall have been delivered as required by this chapter.
(Added Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465; Amend Coun. J. 2-26-97, p. 40141)
(a) No licensee under this chapter shall take or receive in pawn or pledge, for money loaned, or shall buy any property from a minor, or shall so take, receive or buy any such property, the ownership of which is in, or which is claimed by, any minor, or which may be in the possession or under the control of any minor.
(b) (1) No licensee under this chapter shall take any article in pawn or buy from any person appearing to be intoxicated or under the influence of any drug, nor from any person known to be a thief or to have been convicted of theft, burglary, robbery or armed robbery, and when any person is found to be the owner of stolen property which has been pawned or bought, such property shall be returned to the owner thereof without the payment of the amount advanced by the pawnbroker thereon or any costs or charges of any kind which the pawnbroker may have placed upon the same.
(2) No licensee under this chapter shall purchase or take in pawn any property which any law enforcement officer or any individual acting in behalf of a law enforcement agency explicitly represents to the licensee as being stolen or represents to the licensee such circumstances as would reasonably induce the licensee to believe that the property was stolen.
(c) No licensee under this chapter shall take or receive in pawn or pledge, for money loaned, or shall buy or otherwise transfer or receive, any firearm, ammunition, stun gun or taser from any person.
(d) No licensee under this chapter shall purchase, take or receive from any person in pawn or pledge, for money loaned, any catalytic converter that is not attached to a motor vehicle, or any portion of a dismantled catalytic converter that is reasonably identifiable as such. In addition to any other penalty provided by law, any person who violates this subsection (d) shall be fined not less than $1,000.00 nor more than $2,000.00 for each offense.
(e) (1) No licensee under this chapter shall purchase, take or receive from any person in pawn or pledge, for money loaned, any cell phone whose make, model and serial number is identified in a stolen cell phone database. Before purchasing, taking or receiving from any person in pawn or pledge, for money loaned, any cell phone, the licensee shall check the stolen cell phone database to verify that the cell phone is not a stolen or lost cell phone, and shall record in an inventory log the date and time of such verification, the make, model and serial number of the cell phone, and a unique inventory number for each such cell phone. The licensee shall attach a sticker to the cell phone with the corresponding unique inventory number contained in the inventory log. The log and the sticker attached to the cell phone shall be made available at all reasonable times, as defined in Section 4-4-290 of this Code, to inspection by authorized personnel of the department or any member of the City's Department of Police.
(2) A licensee under this chapter shall issue to any person who purchases a secondhand cell phone from the licensee a receipt, in a form provided by the commissioner, acknowledging that the cell phone is not identified, at the time of sale, in a stolen cell phone database as a stolen or lost cell phone. Such receipt shall include date and time of such sale, and the make, model and serial number of the cell phone.
(3) A licensee under this chapter shall report, within a reasonable time, to the Chicago Department of Police any secondhand cell phone that is brought to the licensee for pawn or pledge, and whose make, model and serial number is identified in a stolen cell phone database. Upon request, such licensee shall surrender such cell phone to any member of the City's Department of Police, if the licensee is in possession of the cell phone.
(Added Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465; Amend Coun. J. 2-26-97, p. 40141; Amend Coun. J. 6-25-14, p. 83727, § 6; Amend Coun. J. 5-6-15, p. 108540, § 2; Amend Coun. J. 9-6-17, p. 54980, § 1)
The commissioner of the department of business affairs and consumer protection, in consultation with the superintendent of police, is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations necessary to enforce the requirements of this chapter, including, but not limited to, rules and regulations mandating licensees to use digital cameras to photograph watches and jewelry, to store and maintain required photographic images in an electronic database maintained by the licensee, to transmit required photographic images to appropriate city officials for posting on the City of Chicago website, to use standardized form(s) provided by the department to maintain required records, and to comply with other reasonable and warranted record-keeping requirements designed to assist in the identification of stolen property.
(Added Coun. J. 9-8-10, p. 99259, § 9)
(a) Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter or any rule promulgated thereunder shall be fined not less than $2,000.00 nor more than $10,000.00 for each offense. Each violation in regard to a separate transaction shall constitute a separate and distinct offense to which a separate fine shall apply. Where the provisions of this chapter impose a requirement on a licensee, an unlicensed person engaged in the activity shall be subject to the same penalty for violating the requirement.
(b) In addition to any other penalty provided by law, any violation of this chapter or rule promulgated thereunder may result in license suspension or revocation in accordance with the requirements of Section 4-4-280 of this Code. If a person commits two or more violations within any 24-month period of Section 4-240-150, the Commissioner shall revoke that person's licenses. For purposes of this section: (1) "licenses" includes any and all licenses issued by the City of Chicago to engage in business operations at the location at which the violations occurred; (2) multiple offenses occurring on the same date shall be deemed a single violation while offenses occurring on separate dates shall be deemed separate violations; and (3) a "violation" may include a finding of liability or a finding sustaining the offense or offenses charged in the same or in any contemporaneous proceeding or evidence of any previously resolved final disposition against the licensee on a charge brought pursuant to any of the provisions of this chapter including, but not limited to, any finding of liability after adjudication on the merits, any default finding of liability, any uncontested finding of liability, any negotiated pre-hearing settlement of the charge, and any voluntary payment of the fine corresponding to the charge. Any revocation hearing shall be limited to the issue of whether the licensee's record and the resolution of any pending charges in the same or contemporaneous proceedings, if applicable, accurately reflect the existence of a sufficient number of violations to support the revocation decision. The licensee shall not be permitted to challenge the previously resolved violations themselves, nor any underlying facts asserted or determined therein.
(c) When any license issued pursuant to this chapter is revoked for any cause, no pawnbroker license shall be granted to such person for any premises for a period of four years thereafter. In the case of a legal entity, all persons who have a substantial ownership or controlling interest in the entity shall be subject to the prohibition in this subsection.
(d) When a pawnbroker license under this chapter is revoked for any cause, no pawnbroker license under this chapter shall be granted to any person for a period of one year thereafter for the premises described in such revoked license unless the revocation order was entered as to the licensee only.
(Added Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465; Amend Coun. J. 2-26-97, p. 40141; Amend Coun. J. 9-8-10, p. 99259, § 10; Amend Coun. J. 5-9-12, p. 27485, § 115; Amend Coun. J. 9-6-17, p. 54980, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 1-26-22, p. 43399, § 1)