[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of Falls Township 7-17-2012 by Ord. No.
2012-02. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A day on which business is done.
A pawnbroker, precious metals dealer, antique dealer and/or secondhand dealer. For purposes of this chapter only, dealer shall not be defined to include a person or persons engaged in a "yard sale" as that term is defined in Chapter 142 of the Code of Ordinances of Falls Township.
A valid identification document issued by a state or federal
government, bearing a photograph that gives identifying data, such
as name, date of birth, gender, physical description, and current
address of the person bearing the card.
Personal property, precious metal, antique and/or secondhand
or used good.
Any person under the age of 18.
An individual, partnership, association, corporation, or
other business entity, including an itinerant and/or transient merchant,
doing business in the Township of Falls that lends money in exchange
for personal property deposited by a pledger as security that can
be sold if the loan is not repaid within a specified period and/or
engages in purchase and resale of any merchandise from a pledger or
seller.
An article or articles deposited with a pawnbroker as security
for a loan or currency in the course of his/her business as defined
in the definition of "pawnbroker."
The person who obtains the loan from a pawnbroker and delivers
a pledge into the possession of a pawnbroker, unless such person discloses
that he/she is or was acting for another, in which case "pledger"
means the disclosed principal.
An individual, partnership, association, corporation, or
other business entity, including an itinerant and/or transient merchant,
doing business in the Township of Falls that purchases or makes appraisals
of precious metals and their alloys for resale to refiners, brokers,
or the public.
An item containing or being of ten-karat gold or greater
fineness, silver, platinum, including, but not limited to, jewelry
and silver services.
An individual, partnership, association, corporation, or
other business entity, including an itinerant and/or transient merchant,
doing business in the Township of Falls that purchases or makes appraisals
of secondhand or used goods for resale or refining, or an individual
who acts as an agent for such individual, partnership, association,
corporation, or other business organization or entity.
One that is being purchased by or otherwise transferred to
a second or later end user.
The person who obtains payment from a dealer in return for
the sale of any merchandise to the dealer.
A purchase, sale or loan by any dealer.
Weekdays Monday through Friday, but not including national
holidays.
A.
License. No person shall act as a dealer unless he or she has obtained
a license from the Township Manager for each location from which that
person seeks to act as a pawnbroker. Said license shall be prominently
displayed so that it is easily visible to members of the public.
B.
Registration. No person shall act as a dealer unless he or she pays
an annual registration license fee of $200 for each location from
which the applicant intends to operate.
C.
Pawnbrokers license. No license to act as a pawnbroker shall be issued
by the Township Manager unless the applicant has been licensed first
by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as required by the Act of April
6, 1937, P.L. 200, 63 P.S. § 281, as amended.
D.
Dealer in precious metals licensed. No license to act as a dealer
in precious metals shall be issued by the Township Manager unless
the applicant has been licensed first by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
and/or the County of Bucks as required by 73 P.S. § 1932,
as amended.
A.
All dealers are required to maintain records of all transactions,
including but not limited to pledges, loans, purchases and sales.
Records shall be kept in the English language.
B.
All records shall include the following information:
(1)
Date of sale;
(2)
Time of sale;
(3)
Location of sale;
(4)
Make;
(5)
Model;
(6)
Serial number;
(7)
Model number;
(8)
Description;
(9)
Color;
(10)
Special markings of the pledge or sale item;
(11)
Currency amount paid to pledger and or seller; and
(12)
Photocopy of the pledger/seller government identification.
C.
A color photograph shall be produced for all items and/or for all
precious metals received. The color photograph shall be of sufficient
clarity to enable identification of the item(s).
D.
A copy of all pledge and/or sale transactions containing this information
shall be retained at the location of business for a period of two
years after the date of transaction, payment, loan, or sale of the
pledge, whichever is later.
A.
All scales or other devices used by dealers to weigh precious metals
must be of a type approved for commercial use in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania and must be inspected and sealed by the Pennsylvania
Bureau of Ride and Measurement Standards' Weights and Measures Division.
The dealer shall obtain the following information from the pledger
and/or seller for the purposes of establishing identification of each
pledger and/or seller:
A.
A photocopy of verified government-issued identification;
B.
An accurate physical description of the pledger and/or seller, including
race, gender, eye and hair color and identifying marks, if any;
C.
A clearly visible thumbprint of the pledger and/or seller on a form
approved by the Falls Township Police Department; and
D.
A color photograph of the pledger and/or seller. The color photograph
shall be of the front of the pledger and/or seller's face, not his
or her profile. When possible, the individual's torso should also
be visible in the photograph.
A dealer may seize any item offered in a sale or pledge which
he/she has reason to believe is stolen property. The dealer shall
issue a seizure receipt to the person presenting such property in
pledge and shall immediately deliver such seized property, together
with a copy of the seizure receipt, to the Falls Township Police Department.
If property is identified as stolen either by the Police Department
or an individual claiming ownership of the subject property, the dealer
shall immediately notify the Police Department, and such property
shall be held until there is a final resolution as to the ownership
of the subject property.
A.
Responsibility of Township.
(1)
The Falls Township Police Department shall enter into an agreement
with an online entity which operates an electronic database for law
enforcement agencies for the purpose of identifying stolen merchandise
and persons suspected of thefts.
(2)
The entity chosen by the Falls Police Department to administer the
electronic inventory tracking system shall insure that all data remain
secure and confidential by providing to each dealer login security
protocols which meet current industry standards, and shall employ
state-of-the-art technology to protect the data from all forms of
unauthorized access and malicious intrusion.
B.
Responsibility of dealer.
(1)
Each dealer doing business in the Township of Falls shall, within
30 days of the adoption of this chapter, maintain an electric inventory
tracking system which is capable of securely and confidentially uploading
all transactions via computer to the entity designated by the Falls
Township Police Department pursuant to Section A herein.
(2)
Daily upload. No later than 24 hours after the completion of the
transaction, every dealer must upload, in the manner specified by
the Police Department, the required tracking information for all transactions.
This section shall apply regardless of whether the twenty-four-hour
time limit falls in a working day, a weekend day, or a national or
religious holiday. It shall not be a defense that a dealer did not
comply with this section because the day following the transaction
was not a working day.
A.
All items shall be kept in unaltered condition, available for inspection by law enforcement officials in the course of their law enforcement duties, for 10 working days following a transaction by a dealer or a data upload as specified in § 169-7 above, whichever occurs last.
B.
Law enforcement officials shall not require a search warrant to inspect
the item, unless the inspection is made during hours other than regular
business hours.
C.
During the holding period, any item subject to the holding period
shall be segregated from other inventory to insure that it is not
placed in an area or section where personal property and/or precious
metals are offered for sale. Where any item is held off the premises,
the dealer shall make the item available for inspection within 24
hours after receiving a request for inspection by law enforcement
officials.
D.
Any law enforcement official who has reason to believe any item was
not sold or exchanged by the lawful owner may direct the dealer to
hold the item for a reasonable length of time that the law enforcement
official considers necessary to identify it.
All business transactions between dealers and minors are prohibited.
A.
Fines. Any person and/or dealer who violates, fails, neglects, or
refuses to comply with any provision of this chapter shall pay a fine
not exceeding $600 and costs and, in default of payment thereof, shall
be subject to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 30 days. Each
day that a violation of this chapter continues shall be considered
a separate offense.
B.
Dealer's license suspension. In addition to the fines specified in Subsection A above, a dealer who violates any provisions of this section shall have his license(s) suspended.
C.
Suspension of pawnbroker's license.
(1)
Pursuant to the Act of April 6, 1937, P.L. 200, 63 P.S. § 281,
as amended, if a pawnbroker's license is suspended, the Township Manager
shall provide written notice of the suspension to the Secretary of
Banking for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Secretary of Banking
shall then conduct a hearing to ascertain if the pawnbroker's license
shall be revoked.
(2)
No operating license shall be issued when any pawnbroker's license
has been revoked by the Secretary of Banking for the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, where the pawnbroker retains a property interest
in the location where the operating license was suspended or the pawnbroker
retains a pecuniary interest in the corporation or any affiliated
business entities therein.
D.
Cease operations.
(1)
During any period of license suspension, the dealer shall cease operation
at each and every location of the dealer's business.
(2)
Cease operations order.
(a)
The Township Manager or his designee shall issue a cease operations
order for each business location operated by the dealer whose license(s)
has/have been suspended in accordance with the Township of Falls Code.
(b)
The cease operations order shall identify the prohibited operations
and shall state that the applicable license has been suspended for
violation(s) of the Code.
(c)
The cease operations order shall be in force for the full period
of any license suspension and shall set forth this period in the order.
(d)
The Township Manager or his designee shall not remove any posted
cease operations order until he is satisfied that all suspended licenses
have been restored, or the property interests in the location have
changed so that neither the person or dealer under license suspension,
nor any member of his immediate family, or, in the case of a corporation,
the corporation or any affiliated business entities, retain a pecuniary
interest therein.
E.
License at cease operations, location. No person or dealer shall
be issued a license for a business location that has been posted with
a cease operation order, as long as any person under a license suspension
or revocation, or any member of that person's immediate family, or,
in the case of a corporation, the corporation or any affiliated business
entities, retain a pecuniary interest in the property at that location.
The provisions of this chapter are severable, and if any of
its provisions shall be held unconstitutional or invalid for any reason,
the decision of the court shall not affect or impair any of the remaining
provisions of this chapter. It is hereby declared to be the intent
of the Falls Township Board of Supervisors that this chapter would
have been adopted had such unconstitutional or invalid provisions
not been included herein.
