Downey, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)

4 separately defines the physical "pawnshop" as any room, store or place where that business is conducted. Section 6542 requires a City permit before conducting a pawnbroking business, issued through the Chapter 4 permit procedure: a sworn application to the Chief of Police under Section 6402, an investigation into the applicant's moral character under Section 6403, and appeal rights to the City Council under Section 6404 if the permit is denied or later revoked. Once operating, Section 6538 requires an original and duplicate report of every item pledged, purchased, or accepted on the day it happens, filed with the Chief of Police no later than noon the following day, with a triplicate retained by the pawnbroker for three years.

1 spells out what a pawn report must contain beyond the general secondhand-dealer report: the pawn ticket number, the amount loaned against the pledge, the amount of any outright purchase, the hour of the transaction, and the true name, address and description of the customer, written legibly in English; a copy of this part of the Code must be posted conspicuously in the pawnshop. All such records and the pledged merchandise itself must stay open to inspection by any Downey police officer during business hours.

Section 6540 bars a pawnbroker from selling or otherwise disposing of pledged or purchased property for 30 days after taking it in, which functions as the redemption and stolen-property check window. A business licensed as a pawnbroker that also operates as a secondhand dealer or junk dealer at the same address needs a separate permit for each activity under Section 6543, since the Code treats each classification as distinct even when one owner runs more than one under the same roof.