[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Alderman of the City of Derby 8-14-1997.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
Any person, partnership, limited liability company or corporation who
engages in the business of loaning money upon deposits or pledges of wearing
apparel, jewelry, ornaments, household goods or other personal property, or
of purchasing such property on condition of selling the same back again at
a stipulated price, is hereby defined for purposes of this chapter as a pawnbroker.
This chapter shall not apply to loans made upon stock, bonds, notes or other
written or printed evidence of ownership of property or of indebtedness to
the holder or owner of any such securities.
It shall be unlawful for any person or entity to engage in the City
of Derby in business as a pawnbroker, as defined by the laws of the State
of Connecticut and the ordinances of the City of Derby without a license therefor,
pursuant to Section 21-40 of the Connecticut General Statutes and this chapter.
No license shall be issued under this section by the Chief of Police to any
person who has been convicted of a felony. The Chief of Police may take the
fingerprints of any applicant for such license and, if such fingerprints are
taken, shall submit such fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation
for a national criminal history records check.
Applications for a pawnbroker's license shall be made to the Chief of
Police of Derby on forms provided by said Chief. Said application shall be
reviewed by the Chief of Police, who shall grant or deny said license. Said
license shall only be refused for cause, which cause shall be one which would
be sufficient to revoke a license as provided by C.G.S. Section 21-40. Upon
approval by the Chief of Police, said license shall be issued. Said license
shall be valid for one year, commencing on the first day of an application
for a renewal to the office of the Chief of Police. The person so licensed
shall pay, for the benefit of any such city, to the authority for granting
such license a license fee of $50 and $25 per year thereafter for renewal
of such license and shall file with the Mayor's office of such city a bond
to such city with competent surety, in the penal sum of $2,000, to be approved
by such licensing authority and conditioned for the faithful performance of
the duties and obligations pertaining to the business so licensed.
The application for a pawnbroker's license shall contain the following
information:
A.
The name, age, and address of the applicant in the case
of an individual; in the case of a partnership, the names and addresses of
the partners, the persons entitled to share in the profits thereof, or a club,
the date of incorporation, the names and addresses of the officers and directors,
and if a majority in interest of the stock of such corporation is owned by
one person or his nominees, the name and address of such person(s);
B.
The citizenship of the applicant, his place of birth
and, if a naturalized citizen, the time and place of naturalization;
C.
The fingerprints of the proposed licensee;
D.
An inventory of goods, wares and merchandise on hand
at the time the application is made.
E.
The location and description of the premises or place
of business which is to be operated under such license.
F.
A statement whether applicant has made similar applications
for a similar license on premises other than described in this application,
and the disposition of such application.
G.
A statement that the applicant does beneficially own
the premises or does have a lease thereon for the full period for which the
license is to be issued.
H.
A statement that the applicant has never been convicted
of a felony as prescribed in the Connecticut General Statutes, Section 53a-25,
Felony: Definition, Classification, Designation.
(1)
Section 53a-122 Larceny First Degree or 53a-123 Larceny
Second Degree or 53a-124 Larceny Third Degree.
(2)
Section 53a-138 Forgery First Degree or 53a-139 Forgery
Second Degree.
(3)
Section 53a-134 Robbery First Degree or 53a-135 Robbery
Second Degree or 53a-136 Robbery Third Degree.
(4)
Section 53a-101 Burglary First Degree or 53a-102 Burglary
Second Degree.
(5)
Section 53a-106 Possession of Burglar's Tools.
(6)
Weapons: Section 29-34, False Information or 29-35, Carrying
of pistol or revolver without permit, or 29-36, Altering or removing identification
mark
(7)
Violation of any Connecticut Statute regarding pawnbrokers.
(8)
Convicted of violating any municipal or county pawnbrokers
ordinance.
I.
A statement that if a partnership, all members of the
partnership shall be qualified to obtain a license; and whether a previous
license obtained in any other state or subdivision thereof or by the federal
government has been revoked, and the reason therefor.
In the event that the licensee shall change any of the addresses stated
in the application during the term for which the license issued, such licensee
shall notify the license collector of such change not later than one day after
such change.
All operations carried on pursuant to said license shall be in accord
with the provisions of Sections 21-39 through 21-47 of the Connecticut General
Statutes.
A.
No pawnbroker or loan broker or person who loans money
on the deposit or pledge of wearing apparel, jewelry, ornaments, household
goods or other personal property or purchases such property on condition of
selling the same back again at a stipulated price or purchases such property
from a person who is not a wholesaler shall take, receive or purchase such
property without receiving proof of the identity of the person depositing,
pledging or selling the property. Such identification shall include a photograph
and an address, if available on the identification, and an identifying number.
Any person who willfully violates any provision of this subsection shall,
for a first violation, have committed an infraction and for a second or subsequent
violation committed within two years of a prior violation be guilty of a Class
A misdemeanor.
B.
Each such pawnbroker or person carrying on such business
of loaning money on the pledge of personal property or of purchasing such
property on condition of selling the same back again at a stipulated price
or of purchasing such property from a person who is not a wholesaler shall
maintain a recordkeeping system, deemed appropriate by the Chief of Police
in cities and by the Selectmen in towns, in which shall be entered in English,
at the time he receives any article of personal property by way of pledge
or purchase, a description of such article, the name, residence, proof of
identity as required in Subsection A and a general description of the person
from whom, and the day and hour when, such property was received. Such recordkeeping
system and the place where such business is carried on and all articles of
property therein may be examined at all times by any state policeman, by any
municipal police officer, by the Selectmen of the town or any person by them
designated or, if such business is carried on in a city, by the Chief of Police
of such city or any person by him designated. Any state policeman or municipal
police officer of the town or city where the business is carried on who performs
such an examination may require any employee on the premises to provide proof
of his identity.
C.
Each such pawnbroker shall, at the time of making loan
on a pawn or pledge, of personal property or of purchasing such property on
condition of selling the same back again at a stipulated price or of purchasing
such property from a person who is not a wholesaler, deliver to the person
who pawns, pledges or sells such property a memorandum or note containing
the entry required to be made in his record keeping system by the provisions
of Section 21-41. Each such pawnbroker shall pay for any property received
by pawn, pledge or purchase only by check, draft or money order and shall
not pay cash for any such property except when the pawnbroker cashes a check,
draft or money order for the person who is pawning, pledging or selling the
property. When the pawnbroker cashes a check, draft or money order, he shall
require proof of the identity of the person presenting the check draft or
money order in accordance with subsection (a) of Section 21-41. Any person
who willfully violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a
Class A misdemeanor.
D.
Each such pawnbroker shall make, weekly, a sworn statement
of his transactions, describing the goods received and setting forth the name
and residence and a description of the person from whom the goods were received,
to the Chief of Police in cases of cities and boroughs, and in other cases
to the Town Clerk of the town in which such pawnbroker resides. Any such pawnbroker
who willfully fails to make the report required by this section shall be fined
not more than $100.
E.
No pawnbroker or person who loans money on the deposit
or pledge of personal property shall take or receive, for the use of money
loaned on personal property, any more than the following rates: For the use
of money amounting to $15 or less, 5% per month or fraction thereof; for the
use of money exceeding $15 in amount and not exceeding $50 in amount, 3% per
month or fraction thereof; for the use of money exceeding $50 in amount, 2%
per month or fraction thereof.
F.
No pawnbroker shall sell or dispose of any personal property
left with him in pledge for money loaned in less than two months from the
day when the same is left in pledge as aforesaid. All such property may be
sold or disposed of at the premises of such pawnbroker or at public sale after
advertisement in a daily newspaper published in the town in which such pawnbroker
carries on business, at least once two days before the date of the sale or
sales, which advertisement shall state the numbers of the pledge tickets representing
the property offered for sale, and the date or dates when such tickets were
issued.
A.
Any person, corporation, limited liability company or
partnership which engages in the business of a pawnbroker, or in any business
described in Section 21-39, as amended by § 130-1 of this chapter
unless licensed according to law or after notice that its license has been
revoked or which violates any of the provisions of this chapter or neglects
to keep a book in the English language or to make the entries therein as provided
by law or refuses to allow the same to be inspected by the proper officers
or receives an article of personal property by way of pawn or pledge from
any minor, knowing or having reason to believe him to be a minor, shall be
fined not more than $50 for the first offense and not more than $100 for the
second offense and, for the third offense, shall be fined not more than $500
or imprisoned not more than six months, or both, shall be guilty of a Class
O felony, and also shall forfeit treble the amount loaned on the property
so pleaded to any person injured thereby who sues therefor.
B.
Any person, corporation, limited liability company or
partnership which willfully violates any of the provisions of this chapter
for which no other penalty is provided or neglects to keep a recordkeeping
system in the English language or to make the entries therein as provided
by law or refuses to allow the same to be inspected by the proper officers
or receives an article of personal property by way of pawn, pledge or purchase
from any minor, knowing or having reason to believe him to be a minor, shall
be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
Whenever property is seized from the premises of a pawnbroker by a law
enforcement officer, such officer shall give the pawnbroker a duly signed
receipt for the property containing a case number, a description of the property,
the reason for the seizure, the name and address of the officer, the name
and address of the person claiming a right to the property prior to the pawnbroker
and the name of the pawnbroker. If the pawnbroker claims an ownership interest
in such property, he may request the return of such property by filing a request
therefor with the law enforcement agency in accordance with the provisions
of Section 54-36a of the Connecticut General Statutes.
It shall be the duty of every pawnbroker to report to the police any
article pledged with him, or which it is sought to be pledged with him, if
he shall have reason to believe that the article was stolen or lost, and found
by the person attempting to pledge it, in the case of a lost article.
Any provision herein which is determined to conflict with Connecticut
General Statutes Sections 1-39 through 21-47 shall be void.
