Avondale, AZ Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)

Section 15-13 of the Avondale City Code, titled for auctioneers, junk dealers, pawnbrokers, and secondhand dealers, imposes a detailed reporting duty on anyone in the pawnbroker business. Within 24 hours of receiving any goods, wares, merchandise, or article on deposit, in pawn, pledge, trade, or exchange, or by purchase, the pawnbroker must deliver to the chief of police a full, true, and complete written report. That report must record the hour and date the item was received, the seller's signature, name and address as best as can be ascertained, and a physical description of the seller covering dress, sex, approximate height, age, complexion, hair color, and any distinguishing marks.

If the transaction generated a pawn ticket, the report must include the ticket number, the amount loaned or paid, the quantity, and a brief description of the item. Section 15-13(b) then imposes a mandatory holding period: no article can be sold or exchanged until it has been in the pawnbroker's custody for at least 72 hours after the required police report was delivered. For purchases over $100, the pawnbroker must additionally record the purchaser's name, address, and a description of what was bought, and retain that report for at least 30 days.

This reporting and holding regime functions as Avondale's local check on stolen-property trafficking through pawn transactions, giving police a 72-hour window to match reported items against theft reports before resale is legally allowed. The provision traces to the 1971 code (§ 11-1-44) and remains current in Chapter 15's general offenses article.