Lakewood, WA Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)
Key Facts
- Citywide pawnshop cap
- 4 licensed pawnshops
- Transaction hours
- 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
- Closed holidays
- 5 major holidays, no pawn transactions
- Owner requirement
- Federal firearms license required
- Background lookback
- 7 years, felonies and specified crimes
- Wind-down hold period
- 120 days minimum
Summary
Lakewood, Washington caps pawnshop licenses at four citywide under LMC 5.12.060, requires owners and employees to pass criminal and firearms background checks, and bars pawn transactions before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.
5.12.060 Limitation on number of pawnbrokers. ... The current number of pawnshops (four) shall represent the maximum number of pawnshops able to be licensed by the City; provided, that any reduction in the number of licensed pawnshops shall reduce the maximum number of licensed pawnbrokers available in the City to the reduced number. ... 5.12.140 Prohibited transactions. No pawnbroking transaction, or any other part of such transaction, shall be carried on or conducted on any day before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m.; nor on New Year's Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 852, passed June 15, 2026).
Full Breakdown
023 adopt by reference. 02 LMC. 065 forces a reduction if a licensed shop relocates outside the City, has its license revoked, is purchased by another licensed pawnshop without continuing at the same location, or loses its site to eminent domain, though a shop destroyed by fire or flood may rebuild at the same site or, if no longer zoned for pawnshop use, relocate elsewhere in the City. 41 RCW. 076 imposes the same background standard on any employee working as a pawnbroker, with a narrow carve-out letting 18-to-20-year-old employees work if they avoid firearms transactions. 150's requirement that a closing pawnshop advertise its wind-down and hold outstanding loans for at least 120 days.
Violations & Fines
LMC 5.12.140 bars any pawnbroking transaction before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m., and entirely on New Year's Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day, though the store may stay open for ordinary retail sales on those days. LMC 5.12.170 requires immediate notification to the City's law enforcement department if serial numbers on inspected property appear defaced, changed or altered. Because Chapter 5.12 is a business licensing chapter enforced alongside Chapter 5.02 LMC, violations expose an operator to license suspension or revocation as well as the general licensing penalties in Chapter 5.02, and failing to meet the owner or employee background criteria in LMC 5.12.075 or 5.12.076 is independent grounds to deny or pull a license.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Lakewood
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Pawnbrokers in Nearby Cities
How other cities in this county handle pawnbrokers.