For the purposes of this chapter, unless otherwise apparent
from the context, certain words and phrases used in this chapter are
defined as follows:
"City"
shall mean the City of San Juan Capistrano.
"County"
shall mean the County of Orange.
"Coin-currency dealer"
shall mean a person dealing in a business where coins or
currency are bought, sold, traded, pawned, auctioned, or accepted
for sale on consignment at a price above the face value of such coins
or currency upon the basis, express or implied, that the value above
the face value is derived from the age, rareness, condition, mineral
content, or historical associations of the coins or currency.
Except for coins or currency, “coin-currency dealer”
shall not include a shop where secondhand merchandise, including,
but not limited to, jewelry or metals, is bought, sold, traded, pawned,
auctioned, or accepted for sale on consignment.
|
Shops which buy, sell, trade, pawn, auction, or accept for sale on consignment coins or currency at a price above the face value of such coin or currency and where secondhand merchandise, other than coins or currency, is bought, sold, traded, pawned, auctioned, or accepted for sale on consignment shall comply with Section 5-18.03 of this chapter as to such other secondhand merchandise.
|
"Secondhand dealer"
shall mean and include any person, partnership, or corporation
whose business is that of engaging in buying, selling, trading, taking
in pawn, accepting for sale on consignment, accepting for auctioning,
or auctioning secondhand personal property.
“Secondhand dealer” shall also mean any person who
owns or operates an auction or any other event at which two or more
persons offer secondhand personal property for sale or exchange and
where a fee is charged for the privilege either of offering or displaying
such property for sale or exchange, or for admission of prospective
buyers to the area where such property is offered or displayed for
sale or exchange, but shall not include a person who owns the land
on which the auction or event occurs if he has no control over such
auction or event and has no personal knowledge of any fact arising
from such auction or event which constitutes a violation of any provision
of this chapter.
|
(§ 1, Ord. No. 417, eff. February 17, 1981)
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to
engage in, conduct, manage, or carry on any of the following businesses,
practices, professions, or occupations of pawnbroker, pawnshop, junk
dealer, junk collector, secondhand dealer, or coin-currency dealer
within the City without first having obtained a license therefor in
accordance with this chapter.
(§ 1, Ord. No. 417, eff. February 17, 1981)
(a) Every
pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, junk dealer, and coin-currency dealer
shall report all personal property which he has purchased, taken in
trade, taken in pawn, or accepted for auctioning to the Sheriff-Coroner
not later than 12:00 noon of the date following the acquisition of
such property.
(b) Every
person, or the agent, employee, or representative of such person,
who buys, sells, holds, or receives in pledge any used or secondhand
merchandise, junk, metals, precious metals, antiques, or any personal
property shall obtain evidence of the identity of the seller, including,
but not limited to, such persons’ full name, signature, address,
telephone number, and driver’s license number, and shall ascertain
that the person selling or delivering the property has a legal right
to sell, dispose of, or pledge the property. The burden shall be upon
the purchaser of the property to show that before buying, receiving,
or otherwise obtaining such property, he made reasonable inquiry as
to its ownership.
(c) The
following property shall be excepted from the report requirements
of this section:
(1) Property acquired in good faith in a transaction involving the stock-in-trade
of another pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, or coin-currency dealer
who previously has made the reports required by this section of such
property included in the transaction, and who states in writing that
the reports so required have been made, and provided the acquiring
party submits a copy of such statements to the Sheriff-Coroner. Each
of the pawnbrokers, secondhand dealers, or coin-currency dealers involved
in such transactions shall retain a copy of such statements for a
period of three years, and they shall be available for inspection
by any law enforcement officer;
(2) Property acquired in a nonjudicial sale, transfer, assignment, assignment
for the benefit of creditors, or consignment of the assets or stock-in-trade,
in bulk, or a substantial part thereof, of an industrial or commercial
enterprise for the purpose of the voluntary dissolution or liquidation
of the seller’s business, or for the purpose of disposing of
an excessive quantity of personal property; or which has been acquired
in a nonjudicial sale or transfer from an owner of his entire household
of personal property, or a substantial part thereof; provided the
pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, or coin-currency dealer retains in
his place of business for a period of three years a copy of the bill
of sale, receipt, inventory list, or other transfer document which
shall be available for inspection by any law enforcement officer;
and provided, further, that the pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, or
coin-currency dealer notifies the Sheriff-Coroner within 10 days after
such acquisition that an exemption from reporting is being claimed
under this section. “Industrial or commercial enterprise”
and “owner,” as used in this subsection, shall not include
a pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, or coin-currency dealer;
(3) Property acquired in a sale made by any trustee in bankruptcy, executor,
administrator, receiver, or public official acting pursuant to law
or which property has been acquired in a sale made pursuant to the
liquidation of any lien in the manner authorized by law;
(4) Property acquired in good faith as part or complete payment for other
personal property by a person whose principal business is primarily
that of selling or trading personal property directly to the consumer;
provided, however, in such transaction no consideration other than
stock-in-trade shall pass from the business enterprise to the person
trading or exchanging the used item;
(5) Property acquired directly from a governmental body or agency by
purchase;
(6) Property otherwise previously reported by a pawnbroker, secondhand
dealer, or coin-currency dealer to any Federal, State, or local governmental
officer or agency by the authority of any other law as an acquisition
or a purchase or which has been reported as destroyed or otherwise
disposed of; and
(7) Property acquired as a gift by a donee for charitable or eleemosynary
purposes.
(§ 1, Ord. No. 417, eff. February 17, 1981)
(a) The
Sheriff-Coroner shall prepare and provide without charge forms to
persons or entities required to make reports pursuant to this chapter.
Such forms shall require such information as the Sheriff-Coroner may
deem necessary to identify the parties to each reportable transaction,
the property which is the subject thereof, and other details of such
transaction which may aid him in law enforcement.
(b) Every
pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, or coin-currency dealer shall keep
a complete record of all personal property pledged to, purchased,
received, or sold by him, which record shall contain all the matters
required to be shown in the reports referred to in this chapter. Every
such record shall be open at all times during business hours to the
inspection of any law enforcement officer. All reports and records
required by the terms of this chapter shall be written or printed
in the English language in a clear and legible manner.
(§ 1, Ord. No. 417, eff. February 17, 1981)
Every pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, and coin-currency dealer
shall retain in his possession for a period of 30 days all personal
property reported under the provisions of this chapter. The 30 day
holding period, with respect to such personal property, shall commence
with the date the report of its acquisition is made to the Sheriff-Coroner
by the pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, or coin-currency dealer. At
the written direction of any law enforcement officer, a pawnbroker,
secondhand dealer, or coin-currency dealer shall hold property which
the officer has reason to believe is stolen for a period not to exceed
90 days after the date of placing such hold. Such property may be
released at any time, but only upon the written authorization of the
Sheriff-Coroner. Such property shall be available at all times during
business hours for inspection by any law enforcement officer. Each
day all articles which were acquired or accepted the preceding day
shall be displayed for inspection.
(§ 1, Ord. No. 417, eff. February 17, 1981)
No pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, or coin-currency dealer shall buy, trade, accept on consignment or for auction, or loan money for property from any person under 18 years of age, unless such person is accompanied by a parent, guardian, or other person in the custody of the minor. Such broker or dealer shall obtain the written permission from the parent, guardian, or other person in custody of the minor before the broker or dealer may buy, trade, accept for consignment or auction, or loan money for property from such minor. The written permission shall be included with the report which is required by Section
5-18.04 of this chapter. The written permission shall include a statement that the minor is the owner of, or has been duly authorized by the owner of, the property to dispose of or pawn it, and the statement shall be executed either as an affidavit or as a declaration under penalty of perjury.
(§ 1, Ord. No. 417, eff. February 17, 1981)