Janesville, WI Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)

Janesville Code of General Ordinances Ch. 12, Art. X regulates pawnbrokers alongside junk and secondhand dealers. Section 12-270 defines a pawn broker as any person who lends money on the deposit or pledge of an article, or who buys an article under an agreement to resell it later at a stipulated price, with exceptions for garage sales and charitable-organization transactions. Section 12-269 requires a City license before doing business as a pawnbroker. Section 12-272(c)(2) sets a pawnbroker-specific financial safeguard: the applicant must provide the City Clerk a bond of $1,000.00 with not less than two sureties, kept in force for the entire license term, to answer for compliance with municipal ordinances and state or federal pawnbroker law.

The Police Department investigates every applicant under Section 12-272(b), and a license may only issue if the applicant lacks a significant arrest or conviction record. Licenses run from July 1 through the following June 30 under Section 12-272(d)(2) and cannot be transferred. Once an item is pawned, Section 12-277(b) requires the pawnbroker to hold it on the premises for not less than 30 days, longer than the 14-day hold that applies to ordinary secondhand goods, unless the owner known to the pawnbroker redeems it first.

Every pawn transaction also requires a detailed customer receipt kept three years under Section 12-274 and a digital photograph of unmarked items under Section 12-275(b).