[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Orange 11-5-69 by Ord. No. 129-69.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Director of the Finance Department is hereby authorized
to grant a license to every such person as he shall think proper,
who shall be of good moral character and is a resident of the city
and citizen of the United States to carry on the business of pawnbroker
within the limits of the city for one (1) year from the date of issuance,
which license may be renewed upon payment of the license fee hereinafter
mentioned[1] and shall be in compliance with the other provisions of
this chapter and of the statutes of the state. No person shall hereafter
carry on the business of pawnbroker within the city without first
having received a license from the Director of the Finance Department.
Every person applying for a pawnbroker's license or renewal
shall, at the time of the making of the application, file with the
City Clerk a bond to the city, executed by such applicant, and two
(2) responsible persons (being residents and freeholders of the county)
as sureties, in the penal sum of two thousand dollars ($2,000), conditioned
for the faithful performance of the duties and obligations pertaining
to the business so licensed and for a faithful compliance with the
provisions of this chapter and of the statutes of the state, which
bond shall be approved by the City Council before such license shall
be issued. The Director of the Finance Department shall have full
power and authority to suspend or revoke any such license for cause.
[Amended 5-18-1982 by Ord. No. 16-82]
Every person licensed as a pawnbroker shall pay to the Director of the Finance Department, at the time his license or renewal thereof shall be so granted, the license fee as provided in Chapter 88, Fees.
Every license so to be granted shall state the purpose for which
the same may be so used, together with the number of the license,
the name of the person so licensed and the place in the city where
the business is to be carried on.
Every person so licensed shall cause such license to be exposed
in a conspicuous place in his place of business and shall keep a sign
on the outside, or in front of his shop or other place used by him
for carrying on such business, on which shall be plainly set forth
in conspicuous letters his name and his licensed business.
If case any pawnbroker licensed as aforesaid shall remove his
shop or place of business from the place designated in the license,
he shall immediately thereupon give notice thereof to the Director
of the Finance Department and have the same endorsed upon such license.
Every pawnbroker so licensed shall keep a book in which shall
be fairly written, at the time of making a loan, an accurate account
and description of the goods, articles or things pledged or pawned,
the amount of money loaned thereon, the time of pledging or pawning
the same, the rate of interest to be paid upon such loan and the name
and residence of the person pledging or pawning said goods, articles
or things. Such pawnbroker shall, at the time of making any loan,
deliver to the person pawning or pledging any goods, articles or things
a memorandum, note or ticket signed by him containing the substance
of the entry required by this section to be made in the book of the
pawnbroker, and no charge shall be made or compensation received by
any pawnbroker for any such entry, memorandum, note or ticket.
The record book shall at all times be open to the inspection
of the Director of the Finance Department, Chief of Police, City Attorney
or Judge of the Municipal Court, or any or either of them, and any
person who may 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 pawnbroker shall, under any pretense whatever, purchase or
buy any furniture, metals, clothes or other articles or things whatsoever
offered to him as a pawn or pledge.
No pawnbroker shall receive by way of pledge or pawn any goods,
articles or things from any minor, unless such minor shall present
a written order or consent from the parent or guardian of such minor,
which order or consent shall be kept on file by the pawnbroker and
a note thereof made in his book, and such order or consent shall be
subject to the same inspection as the books of the pawnbroker.
If any goods, articles or things shall be advertised in any
newspaper printed or published or circulating in the city as having
been lost or stolen, and if the goods, articles or things or any such
answering the description of the goods wanted or thing so advertised,
or any part or portion thereof, shall then be or thereafter come into
the possession of any pawnbroker, he shall forthwith give information
thereof in writing to the office of the Chief of Police and shall
also state from whom and when the same were received, and upon a demand
to view the same, the pawnbroker shall exhibit the same to the Director
of the Finance Department, Chief of Police, City Attorney, Judge of
the Municipal Court or any policeman who may be authorized by any
of the above-mentioned officers or Judges to make such demand.
No pawnbroker shall receive by way of pledge or pawn any goods,
articles or things whatsoever or deliver to any person any goods,
articles or things whatsoever theretofore left with him by way of
pawn or pledge between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. or upon
the first day of the week commonly called Sunday.
No pawnbroker shall ask, demand or receive any greater rate of interest than two percent (2%) a month, or fraction of a month, upon any loan, which rate of interest shall be endorsed upon the note, memorandum or ticket prescribed by § 147-7; nor shall any pawnbroker ask, demand or receive any fee or reward for a loan other than the interest allowed by this chapter, nor make any charge for storage, insurance or protecting any goods, articles or things pledged or pawned.
No pawnbroker shall make any loan on a separate or divided part
or parts of any article or thing, and which article or thing shall
have been offered, entirely or collectively, to him by way of pawn
or pledge.
No pawnbroker shall sell any pledge or pawn until the same shall
have remained one (1) year in his possession, and all such sales shall
be at public auction by a licensed auctioneer of the city and in some
public auction or salesroom in the city, and shall not be at the place
of business of such pawnbroker.
Notice of every such sale provided for by the preceding section
shall be duly advertised for at least five (5) days previous thereto
in at least two (2) daily newspapers circulated in the city, which
notice shall specify the time and place of sale and a description
of the goods, articles or things to be sold; and at such sale there
shall not be sold or offered for sale any goods, articles or things
whatsoever, except such as have been received by the pawnbroker by
way of pledge or pawn at his place of business. No pawnbroker shall
purchase any goods, articles or things whatsoever offered to him as
a pawn or pledge, except at the public sale thereof. No pawnbroker
shall sell, keep or offer for sale in his shop, or place of business
designated in his license, any goods or merchandise whatsoever which
have not been regularly received by such pawnbroker by way of pledge
or pawn.
The surplus money, if any, arising from such public sale of any goods, articles or things, as mentioned in § 147-16, after deducting the amount loaned by the pawnbroker thereon, the interest then due on the same and the expenses of the advertisement and sale, shall be paid for by the pawnbroker to the person who would be entitled to redeem the pledge or pawn in case no such sale had taken place.
No pawnbroker shall, during the continuance of his license as
such, receive or hold a license to carry on the business or trade
of keeper of a junk shop; and no keeper of a junk shop shall, during
the continuance of his license as such, receive or hold a license
to carry on the business of a pawnbroker.
[Added 5-18-1982 by Ord.
No. 16-82]
Any person who violates any of the provisions of this chapter
shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine not exceeding
five hundred dollars ($500.) or imprisonment for a period not exceeding
ninety (90) days, or both.
