Albemarle County, VA Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)

Albemarle County Code § 8-703 sets a hard ceiling: the Director of Finance shall not issue licenses for the operation of more than ten pawnshops in the county, and must notify the County Sheriff each time a pawnshop license is issued so law enforcement knows who is operating. The cap sits inside Chapter 8's general business-license framework. 00 or less. Applications and taxes are due under § 8-201: before beginning business if not previously licensed, or by March 1 if renewing, with the Director of Finance authorized to grant extensions for reasonable cause and to charge a ten percent late penalty and interest on tax paid after the due date.

Failure to obtain a required license is unlawful under § 8-103(A) and is punishable as a class 2 misdemeanor; willfully filing a false return to defraud the county is a class 1 or class 3 misdemeanor depending on the tax amount involved. Because the pawnshop cap operates within this licensing structure, an applicant seeking an eleventh pawnshop license in the county has no statutory right to one under § 8-703, regardless of whether they otherwise qualify under Chapter 8's general requirements; the Director of Finance simply will not issue it once ten are outstanding.