As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ACCEPTABLE IDENTIFICATION
Any verifiable United States government-issued identification,
including 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.
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.
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 51:6-1 et seq.
PUBLIC
Individuals and retail sellers, not to include wholesale
merchants, that engage in transactions with 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 merchandise including, but not limited to, 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 chapter, secondhand goods
shall not include goods transacted in the following manner:
A.
Indicial sales or sales by executors or administrators;
B.
Occasional or auction sales of household goods sold from private
homes;
C.
Auctions of real estate; and
D.
The occasional sale, purchase, or exchange of coins or stamps
by a person at his 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.
For every reportable transaction between a dealer and the public,
the dealer shall:
A. Require of each person selling or pawning precious metals or other secondhand goods acceptable identification as defined above in §
429-2, which will be recorded on the receipt retained by the dealer and subsequently forwarded to the local police department or request.
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 eighteen 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, as set forth in §
429-2, 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. 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 and
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 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 failing to doing so including revocation of the dealer's license as described in §
429-8.
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.
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 as surety. The bond shall be subject to
review and approval by the Municipal Attorney, as defined in N.J.S.A.
40A:9-139, 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 municipality 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 City
of Clifton, 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.
Violation of any provision of this chapter by any dealer shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not more than $2,000, or by a term of imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days, or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days in addition to a suspension or revocation of operating license as provided in §
429-8 above. Each and every violation shall be considered a separate violation. Each violation may 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 §
429-8. 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.