Memo - Amendments to the Pawn ShopMemorandum
To: City Council
From: Jim Genellie
Date: November 17, 2011
Subject: Amendments to the Pawnshop Ordinance.
The state of Minnesota made some changes to the statutes regulating pawnshops.
The City's ordinance needs to be revised accordingly.
The City's current ordinance states that the Redemption Period, the amount of time
a person who pawns an item has to redeem the item before it may be forfeited and
sold, be at least 60 days. State law was changed to make it 60 days. State law also
was changed to allow an individual who pawns an item to get it back at any time
within 60 days. The City's current ordinance has a waiting period of 72 hours.
State law changed the holding period from 21 to 31 days for items purchased or
accepted in trade by the pawnshop. The holding period is the amount of time that
the pawnshop must retain an item that was purchased from a customer prior to
reselling the item. When Hopkins redid the Pawnshop Ordinance in 2002, the City
first proposed a 30 day holding period. Pawn America requested a shorter period of
time and it was changed to 21 days for the second reading. State law has now
made it 31 days.
Staff is recommending that the following changes be made to the current Pawnshop
Ordinance:
1180.25 Redemption Period. Any person pledging, pawning, or depositing an item for security must
have a fflifl:.,.0 of sixty (60) days from the day of that transaction or any renewal or extension, to redeem
the item before it may be forfeited and sold. Licensees are prohibited from redeeming any item to anyone
other than the person to whom the receipt was issued or, to any person identified in a written and notarized
authorization to redeem the property identified in the receipt, or to a person identified in writing by the
pledger at the time of the initial transaction and signed by the pledger, or with the approval of the Police
Department. Written authorization for release of property to persons other than the original pledger must be
maintained along with original transaction record.
1180.27 Holding Period. Any item purchased or accepted in trade by a licensee must not be sold or
otherwise transferred for twenty one (244 thirty-one Q 1) days from the date of the transaction.
\Worksession Memo - Pawnshop.doc