Cathedral City, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)

Section 5.72.010 of the Cathedral City Municipal Code puts pawnbrokers on a short list of businesses that need a permit from the city council itself, not staff. The same list includes secondhand dealers, bicycle rental or sales, carnivals, circuses, automobile wrecking, and bankrupt or damaged goods sales. Permits issue when the council finds that the applicant and the proposed participants are of good moral character, that the business will apparently be conducted in compliance with all applicable local, state or federal laws, that all state and federal licensing requirements apparently have been or will be complied with, and that the location will be desirable to the public convenience and welfare and in harmony with the elements and objectives of the general plan and other adopted city policies.

Once open, Chapter 5.44 governs daily operations. Under Section 5.44.010, every pawnbroker and every proprietor of a place where money is loaned on personal property for compensation delivers a report to the chief of police every day before twelve midnight, on a form approved by the Chief of the State of California Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation. The report covers all property received on deposit or purchased during the preceding twenty-four consecutive hours, the hour each item was received, a description of the person who left or sold it, and that person's true name and residence address. It must be written in English, clearly and legibly.

Section 5.44.020 requires property to be kept intact in its original state for thirty calendar days from receipt unless the chief of police or an authorized representative releases it sooner, and to be shown to police on demand. Section 5.44.040 requires the buyer or pawnbroker to demand identification and a signed true name and correct address, and Section 5.44.050 bans fictitious names, addresses or information. Under Section 5.44.030 the reports are kept in police department records and are not open to the general public.