[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Yonkers 12-28-1948 by G.O. No.
46-1948; amended in its entirety 7-2-1991 by G.O. No. 15-1991. Subsequent amendments
noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The Director of the Office of Licensing, who is also referred to as the Consumer Protection Officer in Article IIIA of the Charter, and shall include the designee of the Director, unless otherwise provided.
[Amended 7-18-1996 by L.L. No. 5-1996]
Includes any person, partnership, corporation or firm:
Loaning money on deposit or pledge of personal property, other
than securities or printed evidence of indebtedness;
Dealing in the purchasing of personal property on condition
of selling back at a stipulated price; or
Designated as or doing business as furniture-storage warehousemen
and loaning and advancing money upon goods, wares or merchandise pledged
or deposited as collateral security.
[Amended 7-18-1996 by L.L. No. 5-1996]
No person, corporation, partnership or firm shall hereafter
carry on the business of pawnbroker in the City of Yonkers without
first having obtained a license authorizing the carrying on of such
business in the manner and upon the conditions stated in the succeeding
sections of this chapter, to be issued by the Director of the Office
of Licensing.
[Amended 8-12-2004 by G.O. No. 5-2004]
A.
The Director may from time to time grant to such citizens as the
Director deems proper and who shall produce satisfactory evidence
of their good character a license authorizing such citizens to carry
on the business of pawnbroker, which license shall designate the premises
in which such person shall carry on said business, and no person,
corporation, partnership or firm shall carry on the business of pawnbroker
without being licensed nor in any other premises than the one designated
in said license.
B.
Any person receiving such license shall pay therefor to the Comptroller
of the City of Yonkers yearly the sum of $750, and every such license
shall expire one year from the date thereof and may be renewed on
application to the Director each and every year on payment of said
sum and upon performance of the other conditions herein contained.
[Amended 6-26-2012 by G.O. No. 7-2012]
C.
Every person so licensed shall, at the time of receiving such license,
file with the Director a bond to the City of Yonkers, to be executed
by the person so licensed and by a surety company authorized to transact
business in the State of New York, in the penal sum of $10,000, to
be approved by the Corporation Counsel, which bond shall be conditioned
for the faithful performance of the duties and obligations pertaining
to the business so licensed. The Director shall have full power and
authority to suspend and revoke such license for cause.
Any person aggrieved by the misconduct of any such licensed
pawnbroker, who shall recover judgment against him therefor, may,
after the return unsatisfied, either in whole or in part, of any execution
issued upon said judgment, maintain an action in his own name upon
the bond of said pawnbroker in any court having jurisdiction of the
amount claimed, provided that such court shall, upon application made
for the purpose, grant leave to prosecute.
Every licensed pawnbroker shall keep a book in which shall be
fairly written, at the time of such loan, an account and description
of the goods, articles or things pawned or pledged, the amount of
money loaned thereon, the time of pledging the same, the rate of interest
to be paid on such loan and the name and residence of the person pawning
or pledging the goods, articles or things and shall fill out a card
containing the description of the articles pawned, with any and all
numbers and marks of identification contained thereon, and such card
shall be filed with the Office of Licensing within 24 hours after
receipt of the article.
Every licensed pawnbroker shall, at the time of each loan, deliver
to the person pawning or pledging any goods, article or thing a memorandum
or note, signed by him, containing the substance of the entry required
to be made in his book by the last preceding section, and no charge
shall be made or received by any pawnbroker for any such entry, memorandum
or note. The holder of such memorandum or note shall be presumed to
be the person entitled to redeem the pledge, and the pawnbroker shall
deliver such article to the person so presenting such memorandum or
note on payment of principal and interest. Should such memorandum
or note be lost or mislaid, the pawnor shall at once apply to the
pawnbroker, in which case it shall be the duty of the pawnbroker to
permit such person to examine his books; and on finding the entry
for such memorandum or note so lost or mislaid and upon his giving
to the pawnbroker an exact description of the article pawned, the
pawnbroker shall issue a second or stop memorandum or note for the
same. In case such pawnor neglects to so apply and to examine said
books and receive such memorandum or note in the manner above stated,
the pawnbroker will be bound to deliver the pledge to any person producing
such memorandum or note for the redemption thereof. This chapter is
not to be construed as in any manner limiting or affecting such pawnbroker's
common-law liability in cases where goods are stolen or other defects
of title exist in the pledgor.
The book of a licensed pawnbroker shall be open to the inspection
of the Director, all Judges of the criminal courts, the police, or
any or either of them, or of any person who shall be duly authorized,
in writing, for that purpose by any or either of them and who shall
exhibit such written authority to such pawnbroker.
No licensed pawnbroker shall ask, demand or receive any greater
rate of interest than allowed under the laws of the State of New York
or this section, whichever is less. Maximum rates of interest allowed
pursuant to this section are 3% per month, or any fraction of a month,
for the first six months and 2% per month for each succeeding month
upon any loan not exceeding the sum of $100 or 2% per month for the
first six months and 1% per month for each succeeding month on any
loan exceeding the sum of $100.
No licensed pawnbroker shall purchase any secondhand furniture,
metals, clothing or other article or thing whatever offered to him
as a pawn or pledge, nor shall it be lawful for any such pawnbroker,
licensed as aforesaid, to engage in any secondhand business nor to
receive in pawn as a pledge any instrument or weapon mentioned in
§ 265.00 of the Penal Law.
No licensed pawnbroker shall sell any pawn or pledge until the
same shall have remained in his possession for one year, and all such
sales shall be at public auction and not otherwise and shall be conducted
by licensed auctioneers of the City of Yonkers or, if the sale of
such pawns or pledges is authorized to be held in an adjoining City,
by licensed auctioneers of any such City.
A.
No pledge shall be sold unless written or printed notice of intention
to sell with a statement of the article or articles to be sold has
first been mailed by letter addressed to the pledgor at the address
given at the time of pledging at least 10 days prior to the sale.
B.
Notice of every such sale shall be published for at least six days
previous thereto in the official newspapers of the City of Yonkers.
C.
The Director may authorize the pawnbroker to hold the sale of pledges
in an adjoining City, in which event the notice of sale shall be published
for at least six days previous thereto in the official newspapers
of the City of Yonkers and in two daily newspapers of the City where
the sale is to take place, such daily newspapers to be designated
by the Director.
D.
Such notice of sale shall specify the time and place at which such
sale is to take place and the name of the auctioneers by whom the
same is to be conducted, together with a statement of the class of
pledges to be sold and the inclusive dates and numbers of the pawn
tickets of the pledges to be sold.
E.
If the pledge, at such sale, shall be purchased by the pawnbroker,
the pledgor shall be entitled to redeem the same within 10 days thereafter
by tendering to the pawnbroker the amount of the loan with interest
thereon.
The surplus money, if any, arising from any such sale, after
deducting the amount of the loan, the interest then due on the same
and the expense of advertisement and sale, shall be paid over by the
pawnbroker to the person who would be entitled to redeem the pledge
in case no such sale had taken place.
