[HISTORY: Adopted by the Council of the City of Mount Vernon 11-13-1957 as Ch. 30 of the General Ordinances, approved 11-15-1957. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Auctions and auctioneers — See Ch. 88.
Junkyards and junk dealers — See Ch. 157.
Peddling and soliciting — See Ch. 194.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
PAWNBROKER
Includes any person:
A. 
Lending money on deposit or pledge of personal property, other than securities or printed evidences of indebtedness; or
B. 
Dealing in the purchasing of personal property on condition of selling back at a stipulated price; or
C. 
Designated or doing business as a furniture storage warehouseman and lending and advancing money upon goods, wares or merchandise pledged or deposited as collateral security.
No person shall hereafter carry on the business of pawnbroker without having first obtained from the Mayor a license, countersigned by the City Clerk, authorizing such person to carry on the same in the manner and upon the conditions as hereinafter provided.
[Added 4-13-1989, approved 4-13-1989]
Every applicant for a license shall file, together with the application, fingerprints of both hands. The fingerprints shall be placed upon cards provided by the Commissioner of Public Safety and shall be taken under his/her supervision by a senior police officer, and at such a place as the Commissioner shall designate. The Commissioner of Public Safety shall have the authority to submit the fingerprints of the applicant, together with the required fees, to the Division of Criminal Justice Services or other appropriate agency for processing and investigation. No application for a pawnbroker's license shall be approved nor any license issued under the provisions of this chapter until after the commanding officer of the Bureau of Criminal Identification in the Department of Public Safety has reviewed and examined the criminal history record information disseminated by the Division of Criminal Justice Services. No license shall be granted to any applicant who has been convicted of any felony or any misdemeanor involving violence, dishonesty or deceit.
[Amended 1-14-1959, approved 1-15-1959; 9-14-2005, approved 9-15-2005]
The Mayor may, from time to time, grant to such persons as he shall deem proper and who shall produce to him satisfactory evidence of their good character a license authorizing such persons to carry on the business of pawnbroker, which license shall designate the premises in which such persons shall carry on said business, and no person shall carry on the business of a pawnbroker in the City of Mount Vernon without being duly licensed nor in any premises other than the one designated in said license, under a penalty of $500 for each day he or they shall exercise or carry on said business without such license or at any other premises than the one so designated. Any person receiving such license shall pay therefor to the City Clerk the sum of $350 yearly, for the use of the City, and every such license shall expire on January 1 of each year and may be renewed upon application to the Mayor each and every year, upon payment of the same sum and upon performance of the other conditions herein contained. Every person so licensed shall, at the time of receiving such license, file a surety company bond in the penal sum of $15,000, which bond shall be conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties and obligations pertaining to the business so licensed, and the Mayor shall have full power and authority to revoke such license.
If any person shall be aggrieved by the misconduct of any such licensed pawnbroker and shall recover judgment against him therefor, such person may, after the return unsatisfied, either in whole or in part, of any execution issued upon said judgment, maintain an action in his own name upon the bond of said pawnbroker in any court having jurisdiction thereof.
Every pawnbroker shall keep a book in which shall be plainly written, at the time of each loan, an account and description of the goods, articles or things pawned or pledged, the amount of money lent, the time of pledging the same, the rate of interest to be paid on such loan and the name and residence of the person pawning or pledging the said goods, articles or things, and shall fill out a card containing the description of the articles pawned, with any and all numbers and marks of identification contained thereon, and such card shall be filed with the Police Department within 24 hours after receipt of the article.
Every pawnbroker shall, at the time of each loan, deliver to the person pawning or pledging any goods, articles or thing a memorandum or note signed by him containing the substance of the entry required to be made in his book by the last preceding section, and no charge shall be made or received by any pawnbroker for any such entry, memorandum or note. The holder of such memorandum or note shall be presumed to be the person entitled to redeem the pledge, and the pawnbroker shall deliver such article to the person so presenting such memorandum or note on payment of principal and interest. Should such ticket be lost or mislaid, the pawner shall at once apply to the pawnbroker, in which case it shall be the duty of the pawnbroker to permit such person to examine his books, and upon finding the entry of said ticket, note or memorandum so lost and upon his giving to the pawnbroker an exact description of the article pawned, the pawnbroker shall issue a second or stop ticket for the same. If such pawner neglects so to apply and examine said books and receive such memorandum or note in the manner above stated, the pawnbroker will be bound to deliver the pledge to any person producing such ticket for the redemption thereof. This section is not to be construed as in any manner limiting or affecting such pawnbroker's common-law liability in cases where goods are stolen or other legal defects of title exist in the pledgor.
The said book shall at all reasonable times be open to the inspection of the Mayor, the Commissioner of Public Safety or any police officer, or of any person who shall be duly authorized in writing for that purpose by any or either of them and who shall exhibit such written authority to such pawnbroker.
[Amended 4-10-1981, approved 4-13-1981]
A. 
No pawnbroker shall ask, demand or receive any greater rate of interest than 3% per month or any fraction of a month, and a notice containing a list of such rates of interest as herein provided and in accordance with the Act of Congress entitled "Truth in Lending Act," 15 U.S.C.A. § 1601 et seq., and the regulations thereunder, as such Act and regulations may from time to time be amended, 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 receive or be entitled to any interest or charge as provided by this section on any loan for any period of time exceeding 15 months from the date of making such loan.
C. 
Effective September 1, 1983, the interest rate shall be 2% per month or any fraction thereof on each succeeding month after the first six months and shall apply to all pawn transactions entered into on or after such date.
[Amended 4-10-1981, approved 4-13-1981]
No pawnbrokers shall purchase, directly or indirectly, any secondhand furniture, metals, clothing or other article or thing whatever, offered to him as a pawn or pledge, nor shall it be lawful for any such pawnbroker, licensed as aforesaid, to engage in any secondhand business nor to receive in pawn or as a pledge any instrument or weapon mentioned in the first three subdivisions of § 265.05 of the Penal Law, except that a pawnbroker may purchase back any pledge offered for sale by him at public auction and may thereafter sell such pledge if the pledgor fails to redeem within 10 days or may purchase any pledge offered for sale by any other pawnbroker at public auction.
[Added 4-10-1981, approved 4-13-1981]
No pawnbroker or person in the employ of a pawnbroker shall receive or purchase any goods, chattels, wares or merchandise from, or make any loan or advance or permit to be loaned or advanced to, any child, actually or apparently under the age of 18 years, any money, or in any manner directly or indirectly receive any goods, chattels, wares or merchandise from any such child in pledge for loans made or to be made to it or to any other person or otherwise howsoever. It shall be no defense to a prosecution for a violation of this section that in the transaction upon which the prosecution is based the child acted as the agent or representative of another or that the defendant dealt with such child as the agent or representative of another.
[Amended 4-10-1981, approved 4-13-1981]
No pawn or pledge made with a pawnbroker shall be sold until the same shall have remained six months in his possession. All sales of defaulted pledges shall be by public auction with each such pledge being individually offered for sale and shall be conducted by licensed auctioneers within the State of New York. All bids for the purchase of any defaulted pledge offered at such sale shall be oral and expressed in dollars and cents without the use of any special signs, signals or motions, if less than 11 people attend such sale.
Notice of every such sale shall be published for at least six days previous thereto in a daily newspaper printed in the City of Mount Vernon, and also in a newspaper of the City where the sale is to take place and to be designated by the Mayor, and such notice shall specify the time and place at which such sale is to take place, the names of the auctioneers by whom the same is to be conducted and a description of the goods or articles to be sold.
The surplus money, if any, arising from any such sale, after deducting the amount of the loan, the interest due on the same and the expense of the advertising and sale, shall be paid over by the pawnbroker to the person who would be entitled to redeem the pledge in case no such sale had taken place.