Bill Text: NJ S1937 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires pawnbrokers to retain purchased property for not less than 20 days and record and report certain information.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-05-17 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Commerce Committee [S1937 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-S1937-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires pawnbrokers to retain purchased property for not less than 20 days and record and report certain information.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning pawnbrokers and amending R.S.45:22-1 and supplementing chapter 22 of Title 45 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.45:22-1 is amended to read as follows:
45:22-1. This article shall be known as the "pawnbroking law".
In this article, unless the context otherwise requires:
"Pawnbroker" means any person, partnership, association or corporation: (1) lending money on deposit or pledge of personal property, other than choses in action, securities, or printed evidences of indebtedness; [or] (2) purchasing personal property on condition of selling it back at a stipulated price; [or] (3) doing business as furniture storage warehouseman and lending money on goods, wares or merchandise pledged or deposited as collateral security; or (4) purchasing personal property without an agreement to sell the article back if the transaction occurs in an establishment where business is conducted under paragraphs (1), (2), or (3) of this definition.
"Pledge" means an article or articles deposited with a pawnbroker in the course of his business.
"Pledgor" means a person who delivers the pledge into the possession of a pawnbroker, unless such person discloses that he is or was acting for another, and in such an event "pledgor" means the disclosed principal.
(cf: R.S.45:22-1)
2. (New section) Every pawnbroker who purchases personal property without an agreement to sell the article back shall:
a. Verify the identity of the person selling property to the pawnbroker by requesting and examining a government-issued identification, which may include:
(1) a valid document issued by a government agency bearing the person's signature, a photographic image of the person's face, including a photographic image contained on a valid driver's license issued by another state, and a physical description of the person;
(2) a valid passport;
(3) a valid identification card issued by any branch of the armed forces of the United States; or
(4) a valid identification card issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services;
b. Make a clear copy of, and record, the government-issued identification presented by the person selling the property, before purchasing any property from that person;
c. Maintain, for at least five years, a record of all purchases of property, including:
(1) the date and time of purchase of the property;
(2) the name and address of the person delivering or selling the property;
(3) the type and number of the government-issued identification presented by the person delivering or selling the property, along with a copy of the government-issued identification;
(4) a description of the property purchased or a digital photograph sufficient to identify the property purchased;
(5) the price paid by the pawnbroker for the property purchased; and
(6) the signature of the person selling the property;
d. Deliver to the chief of police of the municipality in which the pawnbroker's business is located, a report of each item purchased during the previous business day. The report shall be delivered to the chief of police no later than 11 a.m. on the next business day, with the exception of Sundays and holidays. The report shall contain a complete copy of the record required in subsection c. of this section, and shall be delivered with the report of the deposit and redemption of goods and pledges required by R.S.45:22-34; and
e. Retain any property in the form in which it was purchased for a period of not less than 480 hours.
3. This act shall take effect on the 91st day next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires pawnbrokers to record and report certain information about purchased property, and to retain purchased property for at least 20 days. Under current law, pawnbrokers are required to record and report certain information about articles delivered to them as pledges for loans, but current law does not apply to property which, instead of being held as collateral for a loan, is purchased outright.
The bill requires pawnbrokers to verify the identity of any person selling personal property to the pawnbroker by requesting and examining the seller's government-issued identification. The bill requires pawnbrokers to make a clear copy of, and record, the government-issued identification presented by the person selling the property, before purchasing any property from that person.
The bill further requires pawnbrokers to maintain, for at least five years, a record of all purchases of property, including:
(1) the date and time of purchase of the property;
(2) the name and address of the person delivering or selling the property;
(3) the type and number of the identification presented by the person delivering or selling the property, along with a copy of the driver's license or other government-issued form of identification;
(4) a description of the property purchased or a digital photograph sufficient to identify the property purchased;
(5) the price paid by the pawnbroker for the property purchased; and
(6) the signature of the person selling the property.
Pawnbrokers must deliver a report containing the recorded information to the chief of police of the municipality in which the pawnbroker's business is located no later than 11 a.m. on the next business day.
