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

Under § 8-73, anyone operating or managing a pawn shop or acting as a pawnbroker must complete and file a 'Buy-Form' covering each day's transactions with the Chief of Police, delivered or mailed within three hours after close of business. Section 8-73.1 requires the form to include full, true details of every item received, plus positive identification of the seller such as driver's license number or a fingerprint impression. Originals are kept on file by the Chief of Police for at least two years and open to peace-officer inspection under § 8-73.2, and licensees must separately preserve a copy for the same two-year period under § 8-73.3.

Disposal is restricted by two separate waiting periods: junk metal cannot be melted, destroyed, or sold until at least twenty-one days after the report to the Chief of Police (§ 8-73.7), while other pawned goods and merchandise carry a fourteen-day wait (§ 8-73.8). On top of those fixed periods, § 8-73.9 lets the Chief of Police place a hold order on any acquired property for up to ninety days, during which the licensee must retain the item until a written release issues. Section 8-73.12 requires pawned merchandise to stay exposed to public view and unaltered during the waiting period, and § 8-73.13 bars exporting any pledged or consigned goods from the City until the Chief of Police has inspected and released the property.