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

Section 6-1.222 sets a dedicated quarterly license tax of $16.00 for every person conducting, carrying on, or managing a pawnshop or acting as a pawnbroker in Modesto, a rate carried over unchanged from Ordinance No. 238-C.S. as last amended by Ordinance No. 2730-C.S. in 1990. Like every other business category in Title 6, Chapter 1, a pawnbroker must first obtain a license under Section 6-1.103 by completing an application under Section 6-1.108 that discloses the owner's name and address, the business address, and the type of business conducted; the license tax and application together determine the amount due under the Director's administrative classification power in Section 6-1.110.

Once issued, the license must be posted and exhibited in a conspicuous part of the pawnshop under Section 6-1.117, is not transferable to another owner or location under Section 6-1.118, and can be renewed annually under Section 6-1.120, except that the Director must refuse renewal if the licensee is delinquent in any charge or required report. The Director and any City police officer may enter the pawnshop free of charge at any reasonable time to demand the license certificate under Section 6-1.123, and a licensee who misrepresents any material fact to procure the permit violates Section 6-1.131.

Because pawnbrokers are expressly carved out of the City's separate Junk Dealers and Scrap Metal Recyclers ordinance (Section 4-21.03(a)(2)), the quarterly business license tax in Chapter 1 is the operative local licensing mechanism for pawnshops in Modesto, distinct from the state-level pawnbroker reporting duties under the Business and Professions and Financial Codes.