Bayonne, NJ Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)

Bayonne City Code Section 4-24.2 defines a pawnbroker as any person, partnership, association or corporation lending money on deposit or pledge of personal property other than choses in action, securities or printed evidences of indebtedness, purchasing property on condition of selling it back at a stipulated price, or acting as a furniture storage warehouseman lending against pledged goods. Pawnbrokers fall under the same licensing chapter as other secondhand goods dealers: they must obtain a City Clerk license under Section 4-24.3, submit to a Chief of Police background investigation under Section 4-24.4, photograph and record each seller and item under Section 4-24.5, and enter every transaction into the city's approved electronic database the same day.

Section 4-24.6.a requires pawned jewelry to be held for at least 10 business days, the statutory retention period set by N.J.S.A. 2C:21-36(d), before it can be sold or melted, and Section 4-24.7 requires a $10,000 bond. Under Section 4-24.8, the nonrefundable initial application and license fee for a pawnbroker is $300, the annual renewal fee is $250, and each license runs for one year from issuance.