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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance-1977-0224 - Operation and Licensing of Pawnbrokers and PawnshopsINTRODUCED BY COUNCILPERSON CAVARRA ORDINANCE NO. 224 Series of 1976 TITLL AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE OPERATION AND LICENSING OF PAWNBROKERS AND PAWNSHOPS Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of 1Vheat Ridge, Colorado, that: Section 1. DEFINITIONS (a) A "pawnbroker" is any person, firm or corporation who (1) Engages in the business of lending money on deposit or pledge of personal property, other than choses in action, securities, or evidence of indebtedness; or (2) Purchase,, personal property with an expressed or implied agreement or understanding to sell it back at a stipulated price. Any pawnbroker may effect the purchase of secondhand personal property for resale purposes under the terms of this section by acquiring any pawn ticket of his own issue by transfer. A pawnbroker may supplement his business of pawnbroking by engaging in the sale of new merchandise purchased through ordinary channels of trade. (b) "Pawnbrokering" means the business of a pawnbroker as defined by subsection (a) of this section. (c) "Pledge" means any article or articles deposited with a pawnbroker as security for a loan in the course of his business as defined in the preceding paragraph. (d) "P1edoor" means the person who delivers a pledge into the possession of a pawnbroker. If a person discloses that he is or was acting for another, "pledger" means the disclosed principal. Section 2. LICENSE REQUIRED. It is unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to conduct the business of pawn- broker within the city limits unless such person, firm or corporation shall have first obtained a "pawnbroker's license" from the city. ORDINANCE NO. 224 Section 7. APPLICATION. All applicants for a pawnbroker's license shall file application for such license with the Citv Clerk on forms to be provided by the Clerk. Each individual applicant, partner of a partnership and officer, director and holder of ten percent or more of the corporate stock of a corporate applicant, and all managers, shall be named in each application form, and each of them shall be photographed and fingerprinted by the City Police Department; and each of them shall furnish three letters of character reference from residents of the city or the surrounding metropolitan area. Each individual applicant, and each partnership and corporate applicant shall in addition furnish as an attachment to and part of such application a current balance sheet and income account statements for the next preceding twelve-month period prior to the date of application. Section 4. APPLICATION FEE. Each applicant, whether individual, partnership or corporate, shall pay an application fee of fifty dollars at the time of filing of application. This fee shall be in addition to the annual fee. Section S. INVESTIGATION. On receipt of a properly completed application, together with all data required in connection therewith, and fingerprints and photographs, and the payment of the application fee, the Citv Clerk shall refer the application to the City Police Department for investigation of the background, character and financial responsibility of each individual applicant, and of the partners of a partnership, the officers, directors and holders of ten percent or more of the stock of a corporation, and each person named as a manager of a proposed pawnbroker's establishment. The City Police Department shall furnish the results of such investigation to the City Clerk, together with recommen- dations with respect to the granting or denial of license, and reasons therefor. - 1) - ORDINANCE NO. 224 Section b. DENIAL - SUSPENSTON - REVOCATION. The application of any applicant may be denied by the Mayor, or an existing license may be suspended or revoked by the Mayor after notice and hearing, if it appears that the individual applicant, or any partner of a partnership, or any officer or director of a corporation, or holder of ten percent or more of the stock of a corporatio,, or any manager of a pawnbroker's establishment, is not of such character as to reasonably assure that the operations of the pawnbroker's establishment will be conducted lawfully and in a manner which will not be detrimental to the public interest or well-being, or has been adjudged in any civil or criminal proceeding to have indulged in business or trade practices prohibited by law, or convicted of any felony or other offense involving moral turpitude and pertinent circumstances connected therewith, shall be considered in determining whether in fact the individual applicant, manager, partner, director or holder of ten percent or more of the applicant's stock is a person of good moral character at the time of the application, or time of review for possible suspension or denial. The fact that the individual applicant, partnership or corporation is not financially responsible may also be grounds for denial, suspension or revocation of a pawnbroker's license. As used herein, "financially responsible" means having sufficient income and assets to defray expenses and provide for liabilities of the business on the basis of sound fiscal management, as well as provide for the payment of debts in a timely manner as the same accrue or become due. Any pawnbroker having been found guilty of a violation of any of the provisions of this section may have his license suspended or revoked after notice and hearing. Such suspension or revocation shall be at the direction of the T1ayor, and further, at the discretion of the Mayor, and for good cause shown at a revocation or suspension hearing, may be stated in such terms that the - 3 - ORDINANCE NO. 224 pawnbroker shall not be eligible for relicensin" for the purpose of carrying on the business of pawnbrokering within the city limits at any future time. Section 7. TRANSFERABILITY section shall be nontransferable Licenses issued under this Any change in the partners of a partnership or in officers or directors or owners of ten percent or more of the corporate stock of a corporation shall result in termination of license of the partnership or corporation, unless such partnership or corporation, within thirty days of any such change, files with the City Clerk a written notice of such change and pays a twenty-five dollar fee. Such notice shall give the names of all new partners, officers, directors and all holders of ten percent or more of the corporate stock who were not previously holders of such amount of stock, all of whom shall be required to furnish, together with such notice, all of the information required to such persons in connection with an original application, and letters of reference, and each of such persons shall be photo- graphed and fingerprinted. In the event that the foregoing requirements are met within such thirty-day period, the Clerk shall refer such information to the Department of Public Safety, which shall conduct an investigation and make recommendations in the same manner and on the same basis as if the application were an original application. Grounds for denial of any such transfer of corporate ownership, partnership or management and termination of license thereon shall be the same as for denial of license under Section 6. Section S. CHANGE OF MANAGERS. In the event of a change in managers, disclosure shall be made and the new 11 manager shall be photographed, fingerprinted and furnish reference letters and be investigated as above provided. Failure of a manager to meet the standards and qualifications - 4 - ORDINANCE NO. 224 above prescribed shall be grounds for termination of license. Section 9. EXPIRATION AND ANNUAL RENEWAL. Lach license issued pursuant to this section shall be for the period of one year from the date of issuance, and application for renewal shall be made not less than thirty days prior to the expiration of the period for which the license is issued. Copies of current balance sheets and income statements shall be required with each application for renewal; and when application for renewal is received in proper form, together with an application fee in the amount of twenty-five dollars, the Citv Clerk shall refer such renewal application to the City Police Department for investigation and recommendation. Investigation shall be made by the City Police Department and recommendation shall be made to the City Clerk unless the Police Chief in his discretion, deems an investigation un- necessary, and elects to recommend renewal without such investigation. Section 10. LICENSE FEE. The annual license fee for carrying on the business of pawnbrokering shall be two hundred dollars, payable to the City Clerk in advance of the issuance of any license or renewal license, and shall be nonrefundable. Section 11 BOND REQUIRED. Every applicant for a pawnbroker's license shall furnish a good and sufficient bond with two good and sufficient securities to be approved by the Mayor in the amount of ten thousand dollars for the benefit of the people of the state and of any person or persons having rights, claims or actions against the pawnbroker; conditioned upon the safekeeping or return of all articles held in pledge by the pawnbroker, as required by law and ordinance, and the due observance of the provisions of this section; and no license shall issue or be renewed absent such bond; and the termination or cancellation of such bond shall be ground for summary suspension of the license and for revocation if a new bond is not furnished. - 5 - ORDINANCE NO. 224 Section 12. MAYOR'S APPROVAL nnUIRLn. The ;`Mayor shall have final authority to approve or deny any application or application for renewal, and to review any determination of the City Clerk made with respect thereto. The mayor in his discretion may issue the license or reject the application upon the basis of the criteria hereto- fore set forth, the recommendations of the City Police Department, the findings of the City Clerk, and his determination of whether the application has made a sufficient showing of good character, financial responsibility, experience and general fitness to command the confidence of the public and to warrant the belief that the business will be operated lawfully, honestly, fairly and efficiently. Section 13. TRANSFER OF LOCATION. No license shall be valid for any location other than the location for which issued. Section 14. BOOKS AND RECORDS. Every pawnbroker shall keep books and other records in a manner satisfactory to the Chief of Police in which shall be recorded contemporaneously with each loan transaction and in the order in which the loan transactions occur: The name and address of the pledgor and his (or her) sex, age, and social security number; or where the pledge is made by a person acting as an agent for a disclosed principal, the names and addresses of the principal and agent; an accurate physical description of the pledgor and other pertinent information about the pledgor such as make and license number of his automobile, if any; the date of the transaction; the amount and terms of the loan; the article or articles pledged; and the serial number of the loan. Such books and records shall be open to the inspection of any law enforcement agent, to the inspection of the Mayor, or any person who is duly authorized in writing by the Mayor, who exhibits such written authority to the pawnbroker. Upon the demand of such agent, the pawnbroker shall produce and show - 6 - ORDINANCE NO. 224 any article pledged in connection with any loan. The books and records of the licenses shall also reveal the date on which each loan was cancelled, whether it was redeemed, renewed or forfeited and sold. All such books and records shall have consecutively-numbered pages and shall. be recorded neatly, legibly and in ink, or typed by typewriter. Section 15. NOTIFICATION OF IMPENDING SALE OF UNREDEEMED PANNED ARTICLES. The pawnbroker shall retain the pledge in his possession six months after the maturity of the loan. Upon failure to redeem the pawned and pledged property within the time period above designated, all rights and title and interest of the pledgor and/or holder of the pawn tickets in and to such pawned property shall be forfeited to the pawnbroker, who shall thereby acquire such title to the same as was vested in such pledger or holder, and the debt becomes satisfied. Section 16. UNLAIUFUL TRANSACTIONS. It is unlawful for any pawnbroker to accept any articles in pawn or purchase any secondhand property by acquiring a pawn ticket by trans- Terence from the following: (1) Any person under twenty-one years of age; (2) Any person under the influence of alcohol, or any narcotic drug, or stimulant, or depressant, (3) Any person known to such pawnbroker to be a thief, or to have been convicted of a felony, without -first notifying the Chief of Police or an agent of the City Police Department. (4) Any person appearing to the pawnbroker to be in an abnormal mental state. Section 17. UNLAWFUL TO PAIVN CERTAIN WEAPONS. It is further unlawful for any pawnbroker to accept in pledge, buy, sell or display in his place of business any springknife, commonly called a switchblade, any knife whose blade is detachable from its handle, or any knife whose blades open by any mechanical means, any blackjack, billy club, brass ORDINANCE NO. 224 knuckles or other items commonly used for and designed for the purpose of heating or striking others. Section 18. SAFEKEEPING - INSURANCE. Any pawnbroker licensed and operating under the provisions of this section shall provide a safe place for the keeping of pledges received by him, and shall have sufficient insurance on the property held by him as pledgee, for the benefit of the pledcor of the property, to pay fifty percent of the real value thereof in case of fire, theft or other casualty loss, which policy shall be deposited with the Mayor. Neither the pawnbroker nor bonds- men shall be relieved from their responsibility by reason of such fire, nor from any other cause, save full performance. Section 19. FORM OF RECORD BOOK. The book to be kept by all persons making loans, as mentioned herein, shall be a hardbound book and shall be ruled in blank as per form here attached and made a part of this section. The entries therein shall be in the English language and have alphabetical index of the names and the pledgors. Such book shall be kept in a safe or other place that is reasonably safe from fire or theft. Section z0. HOURS. It is unlawful for anv pawnbroker to open for business or operate the establishment wherein the business of pawnbrokering is carried on after six p.m. or before eight a.m. on any day. Section -11. ACCEPTING LOST OR STOLEN ARTICLES. A pawn- broker who accepts in pledge any article or articles as security for a loan from a pledgor, who is not the owner thereof, obtains no title in the article or articles either by reason of the maturation of the loan or by transference of the pawn ticket to the pawnbroker by the pledger or holder thereof. Ignorance of the fact that the pledged article or articles were lost or stolen shall not be construed to affect the question of title; and if the pawnbroker shall sell such article to a third person, lie shall remain liable to the original owner in an action in the nature of trover. The lawful owner may, upon proving his ownership of the article or articles lost or stolen, and so - 8 - ORDINANCE NO. 224 pledged by any person having only color of title, claim the same from the pawnbroker or recover the same by means of an appropriate action in the nature of replevin. Section 22. NOTICE TO CITY POLICE DEPARTMI":T 01 STOLEN ITEMS. In the event that any person shall approach a pawnbroker and attempt to pledge or sell, to the pawnbroker, items which the pawnbroker has reason to believe have been stolen, it shall be the duty of the pawnbroker to immediately notify the City Police Denartment, giving a description of the person making such attempts, and the property that such person attempted to pledge or sell. It is an unlawful act for a pawnbroker to fail to notify the City Police Department under the situation described in this section, if it can be shown that the pawn- broker could reasonably have had knowledge that the items pawned were stolen or obtained in any other unlawful manner. Section 23. PENALTY. Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this Ordinance shall be guilty of a violation of this Ordinance and shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $300.00 and/or 90 days imprisonment in the County jail. Section 24 The provisions of this Ordinance are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the City of Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Section 25. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall take effect thirty days (30) after publication following final passage. INTRODUCED, READ, ADOPTED AND ORDERED PUBLISHED ON FIRST READING by a vote of 5 to 0, this 13th day of December , 1976 . READ, ADOPTED AND ORDERED PUBLISHED ON SECOND A,ID FINAL READING by a vote of 6 to 0, this 10th day of January . 1977 . Signed by the Mayor of Wheat Ridge, Colorado, on the 12th day of Janua , 197 7 . an Stites, Dlayor - j.eo ATTEST: El`i"se Brougham, City Clerk - 9 -