Loading...
The term "pawnbroker" includes any person or members of a corporation or firm who loans money on deposits or pledge on personal property or other valuable thing, other than securities or printed evidences of indebtedness, or who deals in the purchasing of personal property or other valuable things on condition of selling the same back at a stipulated price. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 14-16.)
Editor’s note-1998 L.M.C., ch. 13, §1, amending 1997 L.M.C., ch. 27, §1, reads as follows:
"(a) Notwithstanding any provision of Chapter 8, Chapter 59, or any other County law to the contrary, the Director of the Department of Permitting Services must not issue or allow the transfer of a certificate of use and occupancy between July 22, 1997, and September 30, 1998, for any nonresidential use of property by a pawnbroker.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of Chapter 8, Chapter 59, or any other County law to the contrary, any certificate of use and occupancy issued between July 22, 1997, and September 30, 1998, for the nonresidential use of property by a pawnbroker is void.
(c) Subsections (a) and (b) do not prohibit the Director from issuing a use and occupancy certificate for the nonresidential use of property ("new location") by a pawnbroker that holds a valid use and occupancy certificate for the use of another property ("current location") in the County if:
(1) both the current location and the new location are owned by the same property owner;
(2) the new location adjoins the current location directly or through one or more properties owned by the same property owner;
(3) the total floor space (square footage) of the new location is not more than 100 percent larger than the total floor space of the current location; and
(4) the pawnbroker surrenders the use and occupancy certificate for the current location when the Director issues a certificate for the new location.
(d) In this Act, pawnbroker means a pawnbroker as defined in Section 30-7 of the County Code or Section 12-101(e) of the Maryland Secondhand Precious Metal Object Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act." 1998 L.M.C., ch. 5, § 1 and 1997 L.M.C., ch. 40, §1, previously amended 1997 L.M.C., ch. 27, §1.
(a) The council is hereby authorized to provide by law for the regulation and licensing of pawnbrokers and their activities, as it shall deem necessary to promote the public health, safety, morals and welfare of the community.
(b) Any regulation adopted under this section shall be adopted under method (3) of section 2A-15 of this Code. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 14-17; 1970 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 2; 1984 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 34.)
The council is hereby authorized and empowered to provide by law for the licensing and conduct of any sale which is advertised to be a termination of business or a cessation of the operation of such business or a transfer to a new name or any other such sale in connection with which there is any representation by the individual, partnership, voluntary association or corporation conducting such sale, that the sale is being conducted or is required or compelled to be conducted, for reason of economic or business distress, or inability to continue business for any reason; or any other expression or characterization closely similar to any of the foregoing and calculated to convey to the public the information or belief that upon the disposal of the goods to be placed on sale, the business being conducted at any location will cease, or be discontinued, or otherwise be vacated or transferred, surrendered or handed over to a successor in business or conducted under a new name; or a sale in anticipation of, or in avoidance of termination, liquidation, revision, windup, discontinuation, conclusion, dissolution or abandonment. (1968 L.M.C., Ex. Sess., ch. 4, § 1; 1970 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 2.)
(a) Definition.
(1) In this section, "closing-out sale" means any sale in connection with which the person conducting the sale represents that the sale is being conducted, or must be conducted, for reasons of
(A) economic or business distress,
(B) inability to continue business at the same location, or
(C) the age or health of an owner of the business.
(2) "Closing-out sale" includes any sale advertised, represented or held under the designation of "going out of business," "discontinuance of business," "selling out," "liquidation," "lost our lease," "must vacate," "forced out," "removal" or any similar designation, but does not include the closing out of an item of merchandise.
(b) License required.
(1) A person must not advertise or offer for sale in the County merchandise under the description of “closing-out sale” or merchandise damaged by fire, smoke, water or otherwise, unless the owner of the business obtains a license to conduct the sale from the Director of the Office of Consumer Protection.
(2) The owner of the business where the proposed sale will take place must file an application with the Director, in writing and under oath, at least 14 days before the opening date of the sale, disclosing all relevant facts relating to the sale, including:
(A) the first and last dates of the proposed sale;
(B) the date when the owner of the business intends to stop the operations of the business at the location or locations listed in the application;
(C) a complete inventory of the merchandise to be sold;
(D) a list of all persons with an ownership interest in the business if the business does not have publicly-traded shares;
(E) the text of all advertising that will be placed in print or electronic media in connection with the proposed sale; and
(F) all details necessary to locate exactly and identify the merchandise to be sold.
(3) If the Director is satisfied from the application that the proposed sale is consistent with the proposed advertising, the Director may issue a license, upon payment of a fee in an amount set by regulation under method (3).
(4) The Director must not issue a license if the person conducting the proposed sale or any owner of the business had authority, alone or with others, to stop the operations or change the location of a business that conducted a closing-out sale within the previous 3 years unless:
(A) the proposed sale will be conducted under the direction of a federal bankruptcy trustee; or
(B) the person conducting the proposed sale or any owner of the business did not have a significant ownership or managerial role in the previous closing-out sale.
(c) Buying new stocks for closing-out sale prohibited.
(1) A person must not order any merchandise for the purpose of selling it at a closing-out sale.
(2) Any unusual purchase and additions to a stock of merchandise within 60 days before an application for a license to conduct a closing-out sale is filed, while the application is pending, or during the sale is prima facie evidence that the purchases and additions to stock were made for the purpose of selling them at the sale. An unusual purchase or addition to a stock of goods is a purchase or addition not made in the ordinary course of business.
(d) Penalty for violation of this section. Any violation of this section is a class A violation. Each day a violation continues is a separate offense. (Ord. No. 6-166; 1972 L.M.C., ch. 16, § 5; 1980 L.M.C., ch. 32, § 1; 1983 L.M.C., ch. 22, § 36; 1992 L.M.C., ch. 3, § 1; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 13, § 1; 2005 L.M.C., ch. 26, § 1.)
Editor’s note-The Court of Appeals held in Jakanna Woodworks, Inc. v. Montgomery County, 344 Md. 584, 689 A.2d 65 (1997), that § 30-10 is invalid because it impermissibly infringes upon the constitutional rights of merchants to engage in truthful and non-misleading commercial speech. The Court also found that § 30-10 does not directly advance the County’s interest in protecting consumers from deceptive advertising and is invalid as a prior restraint that (1) grants a governmental official unfettered discretion to suppress protected speech, and (2) fails to place an adequate limitation on the amount of time the official may take to determine whether to grant or deny a permit.
2005 L.M.C., ch. 26, §§ 2 and 3, state:
Sec. 2. Regulations. A regulation which implements a function transferred to the Office of Consumer Protection by this Act continues in effect until otherwise amended or repealed, but any reference to any predecessor department or office must be treated as referring to the Office of Consumer Protection.
Sec. 3. Transition. This act does not invalidate or affect any action taken by the Department of Housing and Community Affairs before this Act took effect. Any responsibility or right granted by law, regulation, contract, or other document, and which is associated with a function transferred by this Act from the Department of Housing and Community Affairs, is transferred to the Office of Consumer Protection.
The council shall fix and enforce a uniform schedule of fees for licensing any class of business or enterprise as it may deem necessary, or the county executive by regulation, adopted under method (3) of section 2A-15 of this Code, may establish such fees, not to exceed the reasonable costs of licensing and enforcement. All fees so determined shall be collected and paid over to the director of finance for the use of the county. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 14-19; 1927, ch. 702, § 3; 1970 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 2; 1984 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 34.)
The County Executive may, under Method 3, adopt regulations governing the consumption of alcoholic beverages on “public property” as that phrase is defined in Title 19, Subtitle 2 of Article 2B of the Maryland Code. (1978 L.M.C., ch. 17, § 1; 1984 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 34; 1984 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 21; 2010 L.M.C., ch. 49, § 1.)
(a) The County selects a uniform license fee for a trader’s license under Section 17-1807.1 of the Business Regulation Article of the Maryland Code.
(b) The trader’s license in the County must be $15 under Section 17-1808(b) of the Business Regulation Article of the Maryland Code. (2020 L.M.C., ch. 26, §1.)
Sec. 3. Submission of Selection. On or before October 1, 2020, the Director of Finance or the Director’s designee must notify the State, using a form provided by the State Comptroller and the State Department of Assessments and Taxation, of the County’s selection of a uniform trader’s license fee under this Act.
Sec. 4. Revocability of Selection. Under Section 17-1801.1 of the Business Regulation Article of the Maryland Code, the selection of a uniform $15 trader’s license fee is “irrevocable”. However, the County reserves its right to revoke its selection if the State amends Sections 17-1807.1 or Section 17-1808(b) of the Business Regulation Article, including if the State raises the license fee above $15.