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HomeMy WebLinkAbout008 - 02/03/1966 - PROVIDING FOR THE REGULATION OF THE BUSINESS OF PAWNBROKING AND REQUIRING A LICENSE FOR SUCH BUSINES w ORDINANCE NO 8 , 1966 BEING AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE REGULATION OF THE BUSINESS OF PAWNBROKING AND REQUIRING A LICENSE FOR SUCH BUSINESS BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS Section 1 DEFINITIONS (a) Pawnbroker A pawnbroker is any person firm, or corporation who (1) engages in the business of Lending money on the deposit or pledge of personal property or (2) purchases 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 second-hand personal property for resale purposes under the terms of this chapter 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 or used merchandise purchased through ordinary channels of trade (b) Pledge 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 (c) Pledgor Pledgor means the person who delivers a pledge into the possession of a pawnbroker If such person discloses that he is or was acting for another Pledgor means the disclosed principal (d) Pawnbroking Pawnbroking means the business of a pawnbroker as defined in this chapter Section 2 LICENSE REQUIRED It shall be unlawful for any person firm or corporation to engage in the business of pawnbroking except as provided in and authorized by this chapter and without first having obtained a license from the city clerk of the City of Fort Collins Section 3 LICENSE FEE The annual license fee for carrying on the business of pawnbroking shall be fifty ($50 00) dollars, submitted together with application to the city clerk Section 4 BOND REQUIRED The licensee or applicant shall furnish a good and sufficient bond with a surety to be approved by the city clerk in the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500 00) conditioned for the faithful observance of the city ordinances on pawnbrokers and for the safekeeping or return of all articles held in pledge by such pawnbroker Section 5 GENERAL LICENSING PROVISIONS No license shall be issued by the city clerk until such application for license shall have been approved by the City Council upon recommendation of the Chief of Police No license shall be approved unless the City Council after investigation shall have found that the applicant possesses financial responsibility, character and general fitness so as to command the confidence of the public and to warrant belief that the business will be operated lawfully honestly fairly and efficiently for the purpose of this chapter Licenses shall be limited to use at the premises specified in the application Such license shall not be transferable Section 6 BOORS AND RECORDS Every pawnbroker shall keep books and records sufficient to identify each pledge together with the pledgor s name age current address, sex or any other pertinent information as may be deemed necessary by the police department to properly identify such pledgor All transactions shall be entered in a book of numerical sequence in the order in which they occur together with the date of each transaction, the amount length and terms of/the loan, the article or articles pledged, the serial number name make or model or other specific information as to make identification of the pledge readily ascertainable Such books and records shall be open to the inspection of any law enforcement agent of the city county or state during regular business hours and upon demand of such agent the pawnbroker shall produce and show any article pledged in connection with any loan The books and records of a licensee shall also reveal the date on which each loan was terminated, and whether it was redeemed, renewed, or -2- forfeited and sold Further all entries must be made in the English language in a legible manner and shall be preserved and made accessible for inspection for a period of two years after the redemption or forfeiture and sale of the pledge Section 7 SIGNATURE OF PLEDGOR The pawnbroker shall at the time of making the loan require the pledgor or his agent to write his signature in a pawnbook of duplicate pages bearing the serial number of the loan, and the pledgor shall then receive a copy of such transaction in its entirety as outlined in Section 6 Section 8 RELEASE OF PLEDGES The holder of the pawn ticket shall be presumed to be the person entitled to redeem the pledge and except as provided otherwise in this chapter the pawnbroker shall deliver the pledge to the person presenting the pawn ticket on payment of principal and charges and upon surrender of the pawn ticket —Section 9 LOSS OF TICKET If a pawn ticket is lost, destroyed or stolen the pledgor or holder thereof shall so notify the issuing pawnbroker in writing immediately upon discovery of such loss Before permitting the redemption of the pledge or issuing a duplicate ticket the pawnbroker may in addition to satisfying himself of the validity of the claim require the pledgor to make an affidavit of the alleged loss in writing, witnessed by two reputable residents of the community in the presence of a notary public Upon receipt of such affidavit in writing the pawnbroker shall permit the holder of the pawn ticket to redeem the pledge or the pawnbroker shall deliver to the pledgor or holder a aluplicate ticket and the pawnbroker shall incur no liability for so doing unless he has previously received written notice of an adverse claim Section 10 ADVERSE CLAIMS If more than one person shall claim the right to redeem a pledge the pawnbroker shall incur no liability for refusing to deliver the pledge until the respective rights of the claimants shall have been adjudicated If no action is brought against the pawnbroker by either party prior to the expiration of the -3- period for which he is required to hold the pledge, he may proceed to sell the pledge in accordance with the provisions of this chapter Section 11 INTEREST RATE -- COMMISSION No pawnbroker shall ask demand or receive any greater rate of interest, commission and compensation than the total rate of three per cent (37) per month or fractional part thereof computed upon the amount of money actually advanced provided, however that upon the first fifty dollars ($SO 00) or any part thereof, there may be made a charge of not to exceed ten per cent (107) per month or fractional part thereof, provided further that no loan of any amount less than ten dollars ($10 00) shall be made for less than the minimum compensation of one dollar ($1 00) per month or fraction thereof No other charge shall be made by said pawnbroker upon renewal of any loan or at any other time Any contract for the payment of a commission by the borrower for procuring the loan on personal property shall be null and void v Section 12 INTERMEDIATE PAYMENTS -- RECEIPTS Pawnbrokers shall accept intermediate payments upon loans which have not matured when presented with the pawn ticket, provided that no payment need be accepted which is less than ten per cent (107) of the unpaid principal balance, together with accrued charges The pawnbroker may elect to treat the amount tendered as a payment upon the existing loan or the pawnbroker may elect to renew the loan in which event a new pawn ticket in the lreduced amount shall be issued A receipt showing the date of the payment and the amount thereof shall be given for all moneys received on account of or in payment of pledged loans Section 13 NOTIFICATION OF IMPENDING SALE OF UNREDEEMED PAWNED ARTICLES The pawnbroker shall retain the pledge in his possession thirty (30) days after maturity of said loan If the pledgor shall fail or neglect for thirty (30) days after the maturity of said loan to redeem the pledge by repayment of the balance of the principal and payment of all accrued interest charges the -4- pawnbroker shall immediately thereafter mail a notice of the impending sale of the pledged article to the address shown on the pawn ticket Ten (10) days shall be allowed from date of notification for pledgor or his agent to appear with the pawn ticket and reclaim the article or make satisfactory payments upon same If the person who obtained the loan shall fail to redeem said pawned and pledged property within the ten (10) days designated in said notice, all right and title and interest of in and to such pawned and pledged property shall be forfeited to the pawnbroker who shall thereby acquire absolute title to the same, and the debt thereof become completely satisfied Section 14 EFFECT OF HOLD ORDER Any authorized police officer or law enforcement agent may order a pawnbroker to hold any article or articles deposited with or in custody of any pawnbroker for purposes of further investigation by the police department No sale or other desposition may be made of any article held by any pawnbroker while said hold order remains outstanding Any such hold order shall be effective for thirty (30) days only, unless a criminal prosecution is undertaken in reference to any such article or articles within such thirty (30) day period in which event the hold order shall be effective until said prosecution shall have been completed or dismissed Section 15 NO DEFICIENCIES OR SETOFFS PERMITTED The pawnbroker shall look to the property pledged for payment of the debt and in no event to the personal credit of the pledgor No setoff shall be allowed against a surplus or a deficit arising out of another loan transaction between the parties Section 16 UNLAWFUL TRANSACTIONS It shall be unlawful for any pawnbroker to accept any articles in pawn or purchase any second-hand personal property by acquiring aIpawn ticket by transference from the following (a) Any person under twenty-one (21) years of age, (b) Any person under the influence of alcohol, or any narcotic drug or stimulant, -5- (c) Any person known to such pawnbroker to be a thief, or to have been convicted of larceny or burglary, withoutfirst notifying the police department Section 17 HOURS AND HOLIDAYS It shall be unlawful for any pawnbroker to be open for business or to operate the establishment wherein the business of pawnbroking is carried on during the following hours and on the following days (a) After 6 00 P M or before 8 00 A M (b) On Sunday, (c) On January 1, commonly called New Year s Day on May 30 commonly called Decoration Day on July 4 commonly called Independence Day on the first Monday of September commonly called Labor Day on Thanksgiving Day, and on December 25, Christmas Day Section 18 RETURN OF STOLEN OR LOST PROPERTY A pawnbroker who accepts in pledge any article or articles as security for a loan from a pledgor who is not the owner thereof obtains no ownership in the article or articles either by reason of the maturation of the loan or by the nonredemption of the pledge 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 he shall remain liable to the actual owner Section 19 LIABILITY FOR PLEDGED PROPERTY A licensee shall be liable for the Loss of a pledge or part thereof or for injury thereto whether caused by fire theft, burglary or otherwise resulting from his failure to exercise reasonable care in regard to it, but he shall not be liable in the absence of an express agreement to the contrary, for the loss of a pledge or part thereof, or for injury thereto which could not have been avoided by the exercise of such care Section 20 INVESTIGATION For the purpose of discovering violations of this chapter, the Chief of Fbhce or his duly authorized representatives may at any time investigate the business and examine the books accounts papers and records used therein, of -6- (a) Any licensed pawnbroker in respect to such books, accounts papers and records required to be kept hereunder, (b) Any other person who engages in the business of a pawnbroker as defined in Section 1 of this chapter or who participates in such business as principal agent broker or otherwise and, (c) Any person whom the Chief of Police has reasonable cause to believe is violating or is about to violate any provision of this chapter whether or not such person shall claim to be within the authority or beyond the scope of this chapter Section 21 PENALTY CLAUSE In addition to the revocation or suspension of any license issued under the provisions hereof, any person firm or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable in accordance with the ordinances of the City of Fort Collins Introduced considered favorably upon first reading and ordered published this 6th day of January, A D 1966, and to be presented for final passage on the 23rt day of Februa7 A D 1966 C)-E 'Y fa ATTEST Ci y Cler Passed and adopted on final reading this ardi day of Fbbld&ry, A D 1966 a or ATTEST City Cler� -7-