[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the
Township of Bristol 12-20-2012 by Ord.
No. 2012-06. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter is enacted for the following purposes: to promote
the safety, morals and general welfare of the inhabitants of Bristol
Township in their person and property by holding pawnbrokers accountable
for the proper reporting procedures deemed necessary by the Township
and its Police Department to assist in recovering the stolen property
of its inhabitants.
In interpreting and applying the provisions of this chapter,
minimum requirements for the promotion of the public safety, comfort,
convenience, and general welfare shall be followed. Where the provisions
of this chapter impose greater restrictions than those of any statute,
other ordinance or regulation, the provisions of this chapter shall
be controlling. Where the provisions of any statute, other ordinance
or regulation impose greater restrictions than this chapter, the provisions
of such statute, other ordinance or regulation shall be controlling.
This article shall not affect persons and entities selling items
covered by this article which have been purchased from dealers, manufacturers
or wholesalers who are normally in the business of manufacturing and/or
selling said items. On the other hand, this article does cover those
persons or entities purchasing the aforesaid items from the general
public for resale or use. This article shall not apply to the sale
of goods, wares and merchandise, the proceeds of which are to be applied
to or on behalf of any entity organized for charitable, religious,
educational, philanthropic or civic service organization or its sponsoring
organization. This article shall not apply to persons purchasing said
items at garage sales or yard sales.
A day on which business is done.
A pawnbroker, precious metals dealer, antique dealer and/or
secondhand dealer.
A valid identification document issued by a state or federal
government, bearing a photograph that gives identifying data, such
as name, date of birth, gender, physical description, and current
address of the person bearing the card.
Personal property, precious metals, antique and/or secondhand
or used good. MINOR—Any person under the age of 18.
An individual, partnership, association, corporation, or
other business entity. Including an itinerant merchant, doing business
in Bristol Township, that lends money in exchange for personal property
deposited by a pledger as security that can be sold if the loan is
not repaid within a specified period, and/or engages in purchase and
re-sale of any merchandise from a pledger or seller.
An article and/or articles deposited with a pawnbroker as
security for a loan or currency in the course of his/her business
as defined in the proceeding definition.
The person who obtains the loan from a pawnbroker and delivers
a pledge into the possession of a pawnbroker, unless such person disclosed
that he/she is or was acting for another, in which case a “pledger”
means the disclosed principal.
An item containing or being 10 karat gold or greater fineness,
silver, platinum, including, but not limited to, jewelry and silver
services.
An individual, partnership, association, corporation, or
other business entity including an itinerant merchant doing business
in Bristol Township that purchases or makes appraisals of precious
metals and their alloys for resale to refiners, brokers, or the public.
An individual, partnership, association, corporation, or
other business entity including an itinerant merchant doing business
in Bristol Township that purchases or makes appraisals of secondhand
or used good for resale or refining, or an individual who acts as
an agent for such individual, partnership, association, corporation,
or other business organization or entity.
One that is being purchased by or otherwise transferred to
a second or later end user.
The person who obtains payment from a dealer in return for
the sale of any merchandise to the dealer.
A purchase, sale or loan by any dealer.
Weekdays of Monday through Friday exclusive of holidays.
A.
License.
No person shall act as a dealer unless he or she has obtained a license
from the Bristol Township licenses and inspections department for
each location from which that person seeks to act as a pawnbroker.
B.
Registration.
No person shall act as a dealer unless he or she pays an annual registration
license fee for each location from which the applicant intends to
operate. This fee shall be set by resolution of Council.
C.
Pawnbroker
license. No license to act as a pawnbroker shall be issued by the
Bristol Township Licenses and Inspections Department unless the applicant
has been licensed first by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as required
by the Act of April 6, 1937, P.L. 200, 63 P.S. § 281, as amended.
A.
All dealers
are required to maintain records of all transactions, including, but
not limited to, pledges, loans, purchases and sales. Records shall
be kept in the English language.
B.
All records
shall include the following information:
(1)
Date
of sale.
(2)
Time
of sale.
(3)
Location
of sale.
(4)
Make.
(5)
Model.
(6)
Serial
number.
(7)
Model
number.
(8)
Detailed
description.
(9)
Color.
(10)
Special
markings of the pledge or sale item.
(11)
Currency
amount paid to pledger and or seller.
(12)
Photocopy
of the pledger/seller government identification.
C.
A color
photograph shall be produced for items without proper identifiable
marks and or numbers. A color photograph shall be produced for all
precious metals received.
D.
A copy of
all pledge and/or sale transactions containing this information shall
be retained at the location of business for a period of two years
after the date of transaction, payment, loan, or sale of the pledge,
whichever is later.
A.
All scales
or other devices used by dealers to weigh precious metals must be
of a type approved for commercial use in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
and must be inspected and sealed by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Ride
and Measurement Standards, Weights and Measures Division.
The dealer shall obtain the following information from the pledger
and/or seller for the purposes of establishing identification of each
pledger or seller, and a photocopy of verified government issued identification;
an accurate physical description of the pledger and or seller including
race, gender, eye and hair color, and identifying marks, if any.
A dealer may seize an item offered in a sale or pledge which
he/she has reason to believe is stolen property. The dealer shall
issue a seizure receipt to the person presenting such property in
pledge and shall immediately deliver seized property together with
a copy of the seizure receipt to the Bristol Township Police Department.
A.
Responsibility
of Township.
(1)
Bristol
Township shall enter into an agreement with an online entity which
operates an electronic database for law enforcement agencies for the
purpose of identifying stolen merchandise and persons suspected of
thefts.
(2)
The
entity chosen by Bristol Township to administer the electronic inventory
tracking system shall insure that all data remain secure and confidential
by providing each dealer login security protocols which meet current
industry standards, and shall employ state of the art technology to
protect the data from all forms of unauthorized access and malicious
intrusion.
B.
Responsibility
of dealer.
(1)
Each
dealer doing business in Bristol Township shall, within 30 days of
the adoption of this chapter, maintain an electronic inventory tracking
system which is capable of securely and confidentially uploading all
transactions via computer to the entity designated by the Township.
(2)
Daily
upload. No later than the conclusion of each business day, every dealer
must upload, in the manner specified by the Police Department, the
required tracking information for all transactions during the course
of business on that day.
C.
Fee. Bristol
Township, by virtue of this chapter, may require a fee, to be set
by resolution of Council, per location to defray the costs of the
internet accessible electronic inventory tracking system.
A.
All items shall be kept in unaltered condition, available for inspection by law enforcement officials in the course of their law enforcement duties, for 10 working days following a transaction by a dealer or a data upload as specified in § 142-7 above.
B.
Law enforcement
officials shall not require a search warrant to inspect the items),
unless the inspection is made during hours other than regular business
hours.
C.
During
the holding period, an item subject to the holding period shall be
segregated from other inventory to insure that it is not placed in
an area or section where personal property and or precious metals
are offered for sale. Where any item is held off the premises, the
dealer shall make the item available for inspection within 24 hours
after receiving a request for inspection by law enforcement officials.
D.
Any law
enforcement official who has reason to believe an item was not sold
or exchanged by the lawful owner may direct the dealer to hold the
item for a reasonable length of time that the law enforcement official
considers necessary to identify it.
All business transactions between dealers and minors are prohibited.
A.
Fines.
Any person and/or dealer who violates, fails, neglects, or refuses
to comply with any provision of this chapter shall pay a fine not
exceeding $1,000 and costs of prosecution per offense and, in default
of payment thereof, shall be subject to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding 30 days per offense. Each day that a violation of this chapter
continues shall be considered a separate offense.
B.
Dealer’s license suspension. In addition to the fines specified in Subsection A above, a dealer who violates any provisions of this section shall have his license(s) suspended.
C.
Suspension
of pawnbroker’s license.
(1)
If
pawnbroker’s license is suspended, the Bristol Township Licenses
and Inspections Department shall provide written notice of the suspension
to the Secretary of Banking for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The Secretary of Banking shall then conduct a hearing to ascertain
if the pawnbroker’s license shall be revoked.
(2)
If
the Secretary of Banking for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania revokes
the pawnbroker’s license, the pawnbroker shall be prohibited
from ever obtaining an operating license in Bristol Township, regardless
if the Secretary of Banking for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania reinstates
the pawnbroker’s license.
(3)
No
operating license shall be issued when any pawnbroker’s license
has been revoked by the Secretary of Banking for the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, where the pawnbroker retains a property interest
in the location where the operating license was suspended or the pawnbroker
retains a pecuniary interest in the corporation or any affiliated
business entities therein.
D.
Cease
operations.
(1)
During
any period of license suspension, the dealer shall cease operation
at each and every location of the dealer’s business.
(2)
Cease
operation order.
(a)
The Bristol Township Licenses and Inspections Department shall issue
a cease operations order for each business location operated by the
dealer whose license(s) has/have been suspended in accordance with
the Bristol Township Administrative Code.[1]
(b)
The cease operations order shall identify the prohibited operations
and shall state that the applicable license has been suspended for
violation(s) of the code.
(c)
The cease operations order shall be in force for the full period
of any license suspension, and shall set forth this period in the
order.
(d)
The Bristol Township Licenses and Inspections Department shall not
remove any posted cease operations order until the Bristol Township
License and Inspection Department is satisfied that all suspended
licenses have been restored, or the property interests in the location
have changed so that neither the person or dealer under license suspension,
nor any member of his immediate family, or in the case of a corporation,
the corporation or any affiliated business entities, retain a pecuniary
interest therein.
(e)
License at cease operation location. No person or dealer shall be
issued a license for a business location that has been posted with
a cease operation order, as long as any person under a license suspension
or revocation, or any member of the person’s immediate family,
or in the case of a corporation, the corporation or any affiliated
business entities, retain a pecuniary interest in the property at
that location.
