[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Central Square 4-11-2011 by L.L. No. 1-2011. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
The Village of Central Square hereby finds and declares the
need to protect its residents and visitors through greater supervision
of pawnshops and similar businesses. The Village of Central Square
recognizes that in recent years pawnshops have become used for sale
and redistribution of stolen property and that current research shows
that an increase in pawnshops is directly correlated to increases
of property crime. The Village of Central Square realizes its obligation
to protect the property and safety of its people and hereby regulates
such shops in accordance with Article 5 of the General Business Law
of the State of New York and the terms contained in this chapter.
When used in this chapter, unless otherwise expressly stated,
the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
Shall be a threaded, bound book wherein any alterations made
to the records would be obvious.
See "Pawnbroker."
Includes any person who loans money on deposit or pledge
of personal property, other than securities or printed evidences of
indebtedness, or who purchases personal property on condition of reselling
the same back to a person at a stipulated price or who, doing business
as a furniture warehouseman, loans and advances money upon goods deposited
with or pledged to him as collateral security therefor.
Any premises at which a pawnbroker conducts business as a
pawnbroker. The premises may alternatively be identified as a pawnshop.
No persons, firm or corporation shall engage in or carry on
a pawnbroker business without first procuring a license from the Village
Board of Trustees.
Any person, partnership or corporation intending to operate
a pawnbroker business in the Village of Central Square shall first
secure a license to do so by filing with the Village Clerk a written
application and license fee per Village fee schedule, in the form
of cash, certified or bank check payable to the Village of Central
Square. The application shall contain the following information:
A.
The address of the premises proposed to be licensed.
B.
Name, residence address and business address of the owner of the
building or premises upon or in which it is proposed to operate such
pawnbroker business.
C.
Name, residence address and business address of the proprietor and
any employee who is intending to operate such pawnbroker shop.
D.
Age and record of criminal convictions, if any, of each such proprietor,
manager and any employee to be employed upon such premises. Such application
must be updated and resubmitted to the Village with every new employee.
E.
If premises to be licensed are leased, copy of lease covering the
premises is to be furnished.
F.
Any additional information that may be required by the Board of Trustees.
A pawnbroker license may not be granted to an owner, operator,
or employee convicted of any felony, any offense relating to the theft
or receipt of stolen property, fraud of any sort, or any series of
convictions for petit larceny that would indicate a pattern of disregard
for laws related to personal property.
Upon receiving such application the Village Clerk shall present
the same to the Board of Trustees at its next regular or special Board
meeting for their consideration. It will be at the discretion of the
Board of Trustees as to whether a public hearing will be held before
final consideration of the license application. The Board of Trustees
shall review such application and shall make and file in its minutes
a decision to grant or reject such application within 60 days of the
presentation of such application. The Village Clerk shall immediately
thereafter notify such applicant of the Board's decision. (A
rejected application does not imply any refund of the application
fee.)
Such license, once issued, shall not be transferable and each
new owner or proprietor shall be required to be licensed and to maintain
and display such license in a manner open to public view on the licensed
premises before the commencement of business in such pawnbroker business.
No person engaged in a pawnbroker business shall keep more than
one house, shop or place for buying, selling, keeping or storing such
goods or articles by virtue of one license, without the written permission
of the Village Board of Trustees.
No pawnbroker shall employ any person to receive pledges or
make loans thereon who is under the age of 21 years.
Such license shall be renewable on June 1 of each year. To secure
renewal of such license, the licensee must make written application
in the form of a request for renewal to the Village Board of Trustees
at least 30 days before the expiration of such license. Such request
shall be accompanied with payment according to the Village fee schedule
in the form of cash, certified or bank check payable to the Village
of Central Square.
In the event a license under this chapter is granted at any
time after June 1 of any year, the amount of such license fee shall
remain as per the Village fee schedule.
Every person making application for a pawnbroker license hereunder shall file with the Village a bond in the penal sum of $10,000 conditioned for the faithful observance of the laws of the State of New York and local laws of this Village relating to pawnbrokers and further conditioned for the payment of any judgment recovered as set forth in § 167-20.
A.
Every pawnbroker shall keep a "book of record" in which shall be
clearly written with ink at the time any loan is made an accurate
account and description of the article or articles pawned, the amount
of money loaned thereon, the time of pawning the same, the rate of
interest to be paid on such loan and the name and residence of the
person pawning such article or articles. This record book and the
property pawned shall be available at all reasonable times for inspection
by the Mayor or Chief of Police or Village Judge or any other person
duly authorized in writing by any of said officials. Every pawnbroker
shall, at the time of making any loan, deliver to the person pawning
property a memorandum (pawn ticket) thereof containing the substance
of the entries contained in such record book. No charge shall be made
or received for any such entry in the record book or for such memorandum.
B.
Each pawnbroker shall enter in a book to be kept for that purpose
a true account of the sale of all goods sold by him at public auction,
showing the exact date when the articles were pledged, the name of
the person pledging the same, the date when the articles were sold,
the price received and the name of the auctioneer conducting the sale.
If any such pledged goods are sold at auction or otherwise for more
than the amount due thereon, the surplus shall be paid upon demand
to the person on whose account such goods were pawned or to his administrators,
executors and assigns. The fair proportion of the necessary costs
and charges of any such sale and advertisement may be deducted from
such surplus money.
C.
Any person who shall have pledged any unredeemed goods which have
been so sold, or his executors, administrators or assigns, shall at
all reasonable times be permitted to inspect the entry book of sales
as to entries relating to his pledge.
No pawnbroker shall, without reasonable cause, at any time before
a loan becomes due or at any time within three months after a loan
becomes due refuse to surrender any pawned article to any person who
shall tender the memorandum therefor, together with the amount borrowed
and the interest thereon.
A.
No pawnbroker shall receive in pawn any pistol, revolver or other
firearm, nor shall any pawnbroker knowingly receive in pawn any article
of wearing apparel.
B.
No pawnbroker shall receive in pawn any motorized vehicle such as
an atv, motorcycle, snowmobile, auto or truck, nor shall the pawnbroker
receive or keep on premises any tool or appliance containing volatile
fuel or fuel mixture (examples not limited to chainsaws, lawn mowers,
wood splitters, snowblowers, generators, weed eaters, rototillers,
power washers, leaf blowers, or other gas-driven tools, etc.) due
to potential pollution, fire hazard, and/or unsafe storage issues.
No pawnbroker shall sell any property pawned or pledged until
the same shall have remained one year in his possession. All sales
of the property pawned or pledged shall be at public auction, unless
otherwise agreed in writing. When sold at public auction, a notice
of every such sale shall be published prior to the sale on three separate
dates in a newspaper published each weekday and circulated in the
Village of Central Square, and such notice shall specify the time
and place at which said sale is to be held. No sale shall be made
at private sale until the expiration of 10 days after a notice of
intention to sell has been mailed by first class mail to the name
and address furnished at the time of making the loan.
No pawnbroker who has received any goods or property which has
been embezzled or stolen shall refuse or omit to exhibit it upon demand,
during the usual business hours, to the legal owner thereof or his
authorized agent or any authorized representative of the Chief of
Police.
A.
No pawnbroker shall, in any manner, receive any articles or property
in pawn from a minor, intoxicated or mentally incompetent person,
habitual drunkard or thief, known by him to be such.
B.
Said pawnbroker, at the time of purchase or time of taking in pawn
of any article, must make a report which contains the name and verified
street address of the person selling said item, including the seller's
age, height, weight, race and gender. The seller's address must
be verified by proper identification, showing the person described,
and the type of identification so used must be noted along with any
identifying numbers on said identification. "Proper identification"
shall mean any identification documents that contain the person's
name and either a photograph or physical description of said person
and street address (P.O. box address is unacceptable). Social security
cards, draft registration cards, voter registration cards and library
cards, etc., shall not be considered sufficient identification for
purposes of this chapter.
C.
Failure to so comply may result in revocation of license after notice
and hearing.
No pawnbroker shall transact business as such, except between
the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. No pawnbroker shall transact
business on Sunday.
Any person who shall recover judgment against any pawnbroker
licensed under this chapter for damage because of his misconduct as
such pawnbroker, after the return of an execution on said judgment
not wholly satisfied, may 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 grants leave so to do.
A.
No pawnbroker shall ask, demand or receive any greater rate of interest
than 3% per month or any fraction of a month for the first six months
and 2% per month for each succeeding month upon any part of a loan
not exceeding the sum of $100 nor more than 2% per month or any fraction
of a month for the first six months and 1% per month or any fraction
of a month for each succeeding month on any part of any loan in excess
of the sum of $100, and a notice containing a list of such rates of
interest as herein provided shall be conspicuously displayed within
the premises of such pawnbroker. A minimum interest charge of $0.25
per month may be made on any loan.
B.
No pawnbroker shall make any charge or service fee for parking, storing,
keeping or caring for any article, goods or thing pledged and upon
which a loan has been made.
C.
No pawnbroker shall receive or be entitled to any interest or charges
as provided by this chapter on any loan for any period of time exceeding
15 months from the date of the making of such loan.
D.
No greater rate of interest shall be demanded or received upon loans
made for a longer or a shorter period, and no interest or charges
shall be demanded or received, except charges for insurance where
persons desire to insure their pledges.
Each pawnbroker shall keep conspicuously posted in his place
of business a legible notice showing the rates of interest charged.
Said notice shall be displayed in such manner as to be plainly visible
to each person pledging goods therein.
A.
The pawnbroker must forward a written notice of the intended relocation
to the Village not less than 30 days prior to the anticipated relocation
date. The notice must include at a minimum the present name and address
of the licensed pawnshop, the anticipated date of relocation and a
sample copy of the notice to be mailed to pledgors on open pawn loans.
B.
Notice to customers. Written notices must be mailed to all pledgors
on open pawn loans at least 15 days prior to the date of relocation.
Notices at a minimum must identify the pawnshop, identify both the
old and new locations and the telephone number of the new location
and date the location is effective. The Mayor or his designee may
approve notification.
Every person carrying on or conducting the business of a collateral
loan broker under a license duly issued as hereinbefore specified
is hereby required to report in writing, daily, to the Chief of Police,
in such form as said Chief of Police may prescribe, all articles,
with a description thereof, on which he has made loans and all articles
or things whatsoever, including watches, jewelry, tools and furs,
which he has purchased during the 24 hours immediately preceding the
delivery of such report, together with the name and address of the
person or persons from whom such articles or things have been purchased
and the amount paid by the licensee therefor.
When a person licensed as a collateral loan broker shall refuse
or neglect to make the reports hereby required or shall make any false
entry in such report or in any manner report falsely or shall omit
to make a full and complete report or violate any provision of this
chapter, he or she shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine of
not less than $500, nor more than $1,000 or imprisonment for not more
than 15 days, or both. Each day of continued violation is a separate
and distinct offense. As any violation of this chapter may be a criminal
action, the primary Village official for enforcement shall be the
Chief of Police or his/her designee, any police officer or code enforcement
officer.
A.
No pawnshop shall be permitted within 500 feet of any school, park
or house of worship, and no closer than 500 feet to any other pawnshop
or adult entertainment location.
B.
To the extent that a pawnshop shall constitute a commercial use,
the same shall be permitted only in the C Commercial Zone and only
upon and after site plan review pursuant to the Land Use Code of the
Village of Central Square as a Type I — use as permitted by
a special use permit.
Any preexisting pawnbroker business located within the boundaries
of the Village of Central Square must apply for a license within 60
days from the effective date of this chapter. Failure to apply for
a license will subject all preexisting businesses to comply with the
terms of this chapter before being granted a license to operate.
The provisions of this chapter may be more restrictive than
Article 5 of the General Municipal Law, however in the event any provision
of this chapter is determined to be in conflict with Article 5 of
the General Municipal Law of the State of New York, the provisions
of the state law shall be controlling.
