No person shall use, exercise or carry on the business, trade
or occupation of the buying, selling or pawning of precious metals
or other secondhand goods without complying with the requirements
of this chapter.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ACCEPTABLE IDENTIFICATION
A current valid New Jersey driver's license or identification
card, a current valid photo driver's license issued by another
U.S. state, a valid United States passport, or other verifiable U.S.
government-issued identification, which will be recorded on the receipt
retained by the dealer and subsequently forwarded to the local Police
Department on request.
DEALER
Any person, partnership, limited liability company, corporation,
or other entity who, either wholly or in part, advertises for and/or
engages in or operates any of the following trades or businesses:
the buying for purposes of resale of precious metals, jewelry, or
other secondhand goods as defined herein; pawnbrokers as defined herein;
itinerant businesses as defined herein. For the purposes of this chapter,
transient buyers, as defined herein, are subject to the same licensing
and reporting requirements as any other dealers.
ITINERANT BUSINESS
A dealer who conducts business intermittently within the
Township or at varying locations.
PAWNBROKER
Any person, partnership, association or corporation: lending
money on deposit or pledge of personal property, other than choses
in action, securities, or printed evidences of indebtedness; purchasing
personal property on condition of selling it back at a stipulated
price; or doing business as furniture storage warehousemen and lending
money on goods, wares or merchandise pledged or deposited as collateral
security.
PRECIOUS METALS
Gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and their alloys as defined
in N.J.S.A. 51:5-1 et seq. and N.J.S.A. 51:6-1 et seq.
PUBLIC
Individuals and retail sellers, not to include wholesale
transactions or transactions between other merchants.
REPORTABLE TRANSACTION
Every transaction conducted between a dealer and a member
of the public in which precious metals, jewelry, or any other secondhand
goods as defined herein are purchased or pawned.
SECONDHAND GOODS
Used goods such as antiques, gold, silver, platinum, or other
precious metals, jewelry, coins, gemstones, gift cards, any tools,
telephones, typewriters, word processors, GPS devices, computers,
computer hardware and software, television sets, radios, record or
stereo sets, electronic devices, musical instruments, sporting goods,
automotive equipment, collectibles, game cartridges, DVDs, CDs, and
other electronically recorded material, firearms, cameras and camera
equipment, video equipment, furniture, clothing, and other valuable
articles. For the purposes of this ordinance, secondhand goods shall
not include goods transacted in the following manner: i) judicial
sales or sales by executors or administrators; ii) occasional or auction
sales of household goods sold from private homes; iii) auctions of
real estate; iv) the occasional sale, purchase, or exchange of coins
or stamps by a person at his or her permanent residence or in any
municipally owned building who is engaged in the hobby of collecting
coins or stamps and who does not solicit the sale, purchase, or exchange
of such coins or stamps to or from the general public by billboard,
sign, handbill, newspaper, magazine, radio, television, or other form
of printed or electronic advertising.
SELLER
A member of the public who sells or pawns used goods such
as precious metal, jewelry, or other secondhand goods to a dealer.
TRANSIENT BUYER
A dealer, as defined herein, who has not been in a registered
retail business continuously for at least six months at any address
in the Township where the dealer is required to register or who intends
to close out or discontinue all retail business within six months.
For every reportable transaction between a dealer and the public,
the dealer shall be required to do as follows:
A. Require acceptable identification from each person selling or pawning
precious metals or other secondhand goods.
B. Require each seller to execute a declaration of ownership, which
shall contain the following certification: "My signature confirms
that I am the sole legal owner of and am legally authorized to sell
the goods being sold. By signing below I certify that I did not obtain
and do not possess the identified goods through unlawful means. I
am the full age of 18 years and the identification presented is valid
and correct."
C. Record and issue to each person selling or pawning such goods on
a sequentially numbered receipt:
(1) The name, address, and telephone number of the purchaser, including
the clerk or employee of the licensee making the purchase;
(2) The name, address, date of birth, and telephone number of the seller
or sellers;
(3) A photographed recording of the seller in a format acceptable to
the Chief of Police, along with a physical description of the seller,
including height and weight (approximate), hair color, eye color,
facial hair, if any, etc.;
(4) A photographed recording of the seller's presented acceptable
identification, in a format acceptable by the Chief of Police;
(5) A photographed recording of all items sold in a format acceptable
by the Chief of Police. When photographing, all items must be positioned
in a manner that makes them readily and easily identifiable. Items
should not be grouped together when photographing or imaging. Each
item should have its own photograph;
(7) A detailed, legible description of the item(s) and the manufacturer
and model of the item(s) if known; in the case of jewelry, the descriptions
must include style, length, color, design, and stones, if any; any
identifying marks, including numbers, dates, sizes, shapes, initials,
names, monograms, social security numbers engraved thereon, serial
numbers, series numbers, or any other information which sets apart
the particular object from others of like kind;
(8) The price paid for the purchase or pawn of the item(s);
(9) If precious metals, the net weight in terms of pounds troy, pennyweight
(troy) or kilograms/grams; fineness in terms of karats for gold, and
sterling or coin for silver, in accordance with N.J.S.A. 51:5-1 et
seq. and N.J.S.A. 51:6-1 et seq.;
(10)
The time and date of the transaction.
D. The information outlined in Subsection
C above must additionally be electronically documented through the use of an electronic database system authorized by the Chief of Police. Installation and training in this software will be made mandatory as of the effective date of this chapter, and licensing will be conditional upon compliance with proper use of the system as described herein. These records shall be subject to the inspection of any authorized police officer or any sworn law enforcement officer acting in the performance of his or her duty as set forth in Subsection
F below. Through the use of applicably required computer equipment, and using the electronic format approved by the Chief of Police, every dealer shall enter all reportable transactions into the electronic database by the end of the close of business on the same date as the purchase or receipt of property for pawn or consignment. The information entered must contain all pertinent information outlined in Subsection
C above.
E. In the event of a database failure, or a dealer's computer equipment malfunction, all transaction information is required to be submitted on paper forms approved by the Chief of Police within 24 hours from the date of purchase. In the event that paper forms are used, the dealer is responsible to enter all transaction information set forth in Subsection
C above into the database as soon as possible upon the dealer's equipment being repaired or replaced, or the database coming back into service. Failure by the dealer to properly maintain computer equipment in a reasonable fashion, or failure by the dealer to replace faulty computer equipment, may result in the dealer being cited for a violation of this chapter and subsequently being subject to the penalties for doing so, including revocation of the dealer's license as described in §
318-6.
F. It shall be the requisite duty of every dealer, and of every person in the dealer's employ, to admit to the premises during business hours any member of the Police Department to examine any database, book, ledger, or any other record on the premises relating to the reportable transactions of precious metals or other secondhand goods, as well as the articles purchased or received and, where necessary, relinquish custody of those articles as provided in §
318-6. Itinerant businesses and transient buyers will be responsible for notifying the Chief of Police of the address where these records and articles will be stored.
Each dealer covered under this chapter shall deliver a bond
to the Municipal Clerk executed by the applicant as principal and
executed by a surety company authorized to do business under the laws
of the State of New Jersey. The bond shall be subject to review and
approval by the Township Attorney, and shall be in the penal sum of
$10,000, conditioned for the due and proper observance of and compliance
with the provisions and requirements of all ordinances of the Township
in force or which may be adopted respecting the conduct of this business
and conditioned also that the bond shall be and remain for the benefit
of any person or persons who shall have received judgment against
the dealer licensed under this chapter, which damage shall be established
by a judgment of a court of proper jurisdiction. Said bond shall contain
the following language: "The obligation of this bond shall, in addition
to the Township of Little Egg Harbor, be and remain for the benefit
of any person who shall obtain a judgment against obligor as a result
of damage sustained in operation pursuant to any license granted under
this chapter." Said bond shall be kept for a minimum of one year from
the date of issuance of license and must be renewed annually along
with the license.
A nonrefundable fee for initial application and license under
this chapter is $300. The annual renewal fee for a license is $250.
These fees are separate from and in addition to any fees the dealer
must pay in relation to the mandatory electronic database system designated
by the Chief of Police. Payments are to be made in the manner directed
by the Municipal Clerk. A license is valid for a one-year period from
the date of its issuance.
Violation of any provision of this chapter by any dealer shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not in excess of $2,000 or by a term of imprisonment or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days, in addition to a suspension or revocation of the operating license as provided in §
318-6. Each and every violation shall be considered a separate violation. Each violation shall result in an additional suspension period. Any person who is found guilty of violating the provisions of this chapter within one year of the date of a previous violation and who was fined for the previous violation may be sentenced by the court to an additional fine as a repeat offender and, in addition, may be subject to revocation proceedings as provided in §
318-6G. The additional fine imposed as a repeat offender shall not be less than the minimum or exceed the maximum fine provided herein, and same shall be calculated separately from the fine imposed for the violation of this chapter.
Any person, partnership, limited liability company, corporation,
or other entity engaging in the business of a pawnbroker, or a dealer
in precious metals or other secondhand goods, shall conform to the
provisions of this chapter within 90 days following the effective
date of this chapter.