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 photo identification.
DEALER
Any person, partnership, limited liability company, corporation,
or other entity who, either wholly or in part, 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
municipality or at varying locations.
MUNICIPAL CLERK
The statutory officer whose duties are defined in N.J.S.A.
40A:9-133 and shall refer to the duly appointed Clerk of the Borough
of Dunellen, or his Deputy Clerk.
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., N.J.S.A. 51:6-1 et seq., and/or N.J.S.A.
51:6A-1 et seq., gems, gemstones, coins and all forms of jewelry herein
contained.
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, pawned or exchanged.
SECONDHAND GOODS
Any article previously sold, acquired, exchanged, conveyed,
traded or otherwise formally owned, including, but not limited to,
goods such as antiques, gold, silver, platinum, or other precious
metals, jewelry, coins, gemstones, gift cards, cell phones, word processors,
GPS devices, computers, computer hardware and software, television
sets, firearms, cameras and camera equipment, video equipment, and
other valuable articles. For the purposes of this chapter, secondhand
goods shall not include goods transacted in the following manner:
A.
Judicial sales or sales by executors or administrators;
B.
Occasional or auction sales of household goods sold from private
homes;
D.
The occasional sale, purchase, or exchange of coins or stamps
by a person at his permanent residence 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 municipality where the dealer is required to register or who
intends to close out or discontinue all retail business within six
months.
No person, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, or other entity shall engage in the business of buying, selling, or pawning of precious metals or other secondhand goods, as defined above, within the jurisdiction of the municipality, without having first obtained a license therefore from the Municipal Clerk, which license shall bear a number issued by the Municipal Clerk. The application for a license to the Municipal Clerk shall set forth the name, date of birth, and address of the dealer, whether or not he or she is a citizen of the United States, and whether or not he or she has ever been convicted of any crime(s) or disorderly persons offense(s), and the date(s) thereof. Advertising in any print or electronic media or by sign that any of those articles or secondhand goods referred to in §
227-2 above are being bought in any location within the municipality shall constitute engaging in business as a dealer of secondhand goods for purposes of this chapter. No person, partnership, limited liability company, corporation or other entity shall place or cause to be placed any advertisement for purchase of such articles or goods without stating in the advertising the license number issued to a person or entity by the municipality. In any print advertisement, the license number shall appear in type no smaller than eight point in the lower-right-hand corner of the advertisement. In any advertisement in electronic media, the license number shall be visually or audibly stated. Failure to state or indicate the license number shall be a violation of this chapter and shall be subject to the penalties established in §
227-8.
For every reportable transaction between a dealer and the public,
the dealer shall be required to do as follows:
A. Require of each person selling or pawning precious metals or other secondhand goods acceptable identification as defined above in §
227-2.
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, made at the time of the transaction, 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, as set forth in §
227-2, 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;
(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, or any owner applied markings
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, 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 their 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 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 §
227-6.
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 §
227-6. 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.
A nonrefundable fee for initial application and license for a pawnbroker or a dealer in precious metals or other secondhand goods, as covered under this chapter, is $300. The annual renewal fee for a license is $300. 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, as provided by §
227-5D of this chapter. 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. In the event that the pawnbroker or dealer in precious metals or other secondhand goods fails to file a renewal application and pay the renewal fee by January 31 of each year, said license shall automatically be revoked.
Violation of any provision of this chapter by any dealer shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not in excess of the limitations of N.J.S.A. 40:49-5 or by a term of imprisonment or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days in addition to a suspension or revocation of operating license as provided in §
227-6E and §
227-6F above. 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 §
227-6E and §
227-6F above. 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.
No dealer within the Borough of Dunellen shall purchase any
precious metals or secondhand goods from any person under the age
of 18 years.